My Dad’s Advice On Shotgunning
My dad always had guns around from day-one, when I came home in a cradle. I was taught about them and learned to shoot at an early age. I was given my first .22 when I was 10 or 11. Guns were just normal in my life.
Some of my favorite memories from childhood were dove hunting trips with Dad. He was a superlative hunter and shot. My first shotgun was something I could shoulder easily, a bolt action .410. I was young and my father did not want a bunch of shots coming from me at the time, plus a single shot induced better selection and aim. I did not hit much at first, but got better. By the time I was in high school, I could hit a thrown beer can with my .22 rifle in the air 8 out of 10 times. Now, I do not shoot because (a) my shooting eye has deteriated too much and (b) I’ve lost interest. I gave all my guns (about a dozen) and gun safe to my son, but when he moved to NYC, I got them all back. Now they are moldering in the attic.
Back to the thread starter. When I got big enough, I started using a 12 gauge for dove hunting, following my father’s advice, “Son, I’ve always followed the rule that ‘The more lead’s in the air, the more chance you have of hitting somethin’.’” Bumpstock advocates had nothing on my dad. He also insisted on using shells with 1 1/4 oz. #7 1/2 shot in our shells rather than 1 1/8 oz., which is so ubiquitous now. I believe the 1 1/4 oz. shells are called pigeon load and are almost impossible to buy now. I have no idea why, as they make sense. Of course now, they are trying to take away lead shot altogether last I heard. Like I say, I don’t hunt anymore, so perhaps I’m wrong about that. Last time I wandered over to the ammo shelf in the store, they seemed to even have a bunch of 1 oz. boxes. What the hell is with that?
A few years ago, when I still hunted, my partners were fond of organizing dove hunting trips to Mexico. Talk about issues bringing in guns, plus ammo was illegal to import there. Strickland gun laws, yet Mexico is the second most violent gun society in the world, next to Syria. After my first trip, I decided my customary 12 gauge was beating me up because of the massive shooting on one of these trips, so I bought a nice 20 gauge Benelli. Not as much “lead in the air,” but a lot easier on the shoulder.
