Introducing the little ones to shooting

[Harry Collins]

My grandson, Webb, had an epiphany in his shooting! At ten yeas old he was shooting what the other grandsons had started with, a 20 gauge Youth Mossberg pump. The shells were very lite so he wouldn’t flinch. Opening day of Dove Season we were at a shoot that had started in 1948. It’s where I shot my first dove with Papa’s Parker. The handy little Trojan had been in that field 78 consecutive years for opening day. It was in that field Papa gave me the gun. Webb was plugging away with no success and asked if he could shoot Papa’s Parker. Something clicked about missing in front and the birds started to fall. He ended up with four plus one un-retrieved. The next day the Parker was all his, again with me mentoring, i.e. no low birds, no far birds, etc. He came out of the field with four birds and one lost having shot 19 times. He had about as many birds as everyone else. Pap (me) is very proud of his shooting and gentlemanleness. Before I lost sight in my right eye and cataracts plaguing me, I barely missed a shot with that little gun. I always felt as if Papa’s hands were guiding the barrels. Perhaps he is guiding them for Webb.