Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How do you get past this?

Prayers sent that he makes it back OK for good.

first thread i've read in a long time that had good useful advise, tell your son thank you for his service Mike.

Sounds like you've already reconciled then. Let the 243 go and enjoy your time together. Thank him for risking his life to keep my Family's safe.

Agreed. Thanks to all!

Mike,

Good on you for looking for some perspective from this crew.

Smokepole and Mac come closest to the mark in my view.

You seem like a smart guy so you probably already know this, but I guarantee you that after the first comms with him post taking fire from those heathens, you will never think of that .243 again.

You will simply pray every day that he comes back in the best shape possible.

Trust me on this.

Good luck to your son.

My son crossed the border out of Kuwait into Iraq at about 2 oclock in the morning on the night the war started. My self i would just forget about that 243. Trust me you will have other things to think about. I know.

If this is all you have to worry about in life....

Who gives a [bleep].

I wonder if the OP has ever sold one a rifle he now wishes he hadn't? I suppose his son may have just done it for his first time.

I think I can answer with a conclusive YES.

Could be that guns are not all that important to him.

I have a friend who gave his son in law a very special rifle. Son in law trashed it. Meant about as much to him a a new claw hammer.


Not saying that is the case with your son, just an example of things meaning more to us than someone else.

Could be that there are other ways of going about spending time together.

I think we all have. I know I made plenty of mistakes when I was young, and made more when I am not so young. He will grow up fast and it sounds like he is a position to mature rapidly. Love him with all your heart and enjoy the time you have together.

so much good advice in this thread. Unfortunate about the rifle, but your son is more important, so enjoy your son's visit,

My son left today for his AIT school, so please thank him from me for his sevice.

Sincerely, Keith

so much good advice in this thread. Unfortunate about the rifle, but your son is more important, so enjoy your son's visit,

My son left today for his AIT school, so please thank him from me for his sevice.

Sincerely, Keith

i like that idea, !

EXACTAMUNDO...move on...

Your son is being deployed to that hellhole and you're worried about a fuc king gun?

Priorities bro...

Nothing too it Man, it's a rifle, shake your Son's hand and have a drink with him before he leaves and pray like hell you get to do that again on his return trip home.

It's a gun. Aint a person here that sold one and wished they didn't. You may never see him again. Who cares about the gun. Tomorrow my daughter leaves to live in Cairo Egypt, actually New Cairo. She has taught english for six months at an American owned school . The kids are mostly from parents that work for oil industry, American military and the American Embassy, I think. There are a lot of Americans there non the less. Many are Egyptian kids there though. I will drop her off at the airport tomorrow, and am well aware there is a chance although a small chance I wont ever see her again.

Please tell your son I am in his debt for his service, and pass along my thanks, as well. You should be very, very proud of this young man.

Then, may I suggest you take just one more step back for a little more perspective?

Your son is coming to you to spend the last bit of time before his deployment with you. What a blessing! Have you asked him what HE would like to do? Have you thought how you might show him how much this gesture means to you? What would you like him to have as a memory of your relationship while he is serving? Does he want to go to the range, or do YOU want him to go to the range. Is it about him, or is it about you?

What he does may not be what you would do, or what you would like him to do, but it is HIS life now, to live HIS way. How would it be to get the know the man he is becoming during this visit?

Mike74,

There is little I can add to what many others have said. I will share this:

My grown children have made many choices and decisions since leaving our home. Some of those choices were ones that my wife and I were definitely not happy about. We remind ourselves that we raised them the best we could, and now they are adults and responsible for their own lives and decisions. "Their lives, their choices, and their consequences". All you can do is raise them. Then it is up to them.

My wife has a tendency of getting too worried and emotional, sometimes, about something that is going on in one of the kid's lives. I remind her that it is not our problem. They are both married (one divorced) with kids of their own now. Overall they are doing fine. We are glad to offer advice when asked, but otherwise we try to treat them as responsible adults and not like our "children". Their tastes are different then ours. Some of the gifts that we gave them, things that were meaningful to us, were not appreciated by them. As an example, we have some antique furniture that has been in the family for generations. But the young people these days only want "new" stuff. They don't like the antique furniture at all. That fact is a concern for my wife and I. It is what it is.

You said, "Well I know he wants to shoot my 45-70. He even bought his own box of ammo he wants to try in it. I only use 405 grains and he wants to see what 300 grains are like. So shooting we will go. He's bringing a new Bergara .308 he wants me to try and I'll have the Henry .22 lever action along for some fun."

So he does want to shoot with you. That is great. You haven't seen his new Bergara yet. I expect that you will be quite impressed with it. And you can compliment him on his good taste in choosing it. I am biased, because I have one and I am very pleased with it. The action feels very smooth and strong, and the machine work and fit and finish are very good. And I bet it will shoot very well. I suggest that you buy a couple of boxes of .308 ammo before he arrives, and tell him you would like to shoot some groups with his new rifle to check it out. It will make him feel good to know you are interested in his new rifle. And if you are lucky, he may ask you to keep it safe for him while he is gone overseas.

I wish the very best for both of you, and hope you have a special time together during his visit.

I just re-read your initial post, so I see that he may already be there with you. I hope you are having a great visit.

If you have time for a movie, take him to see "The Darkest Hour" about Winston Churchill and World War II. It is definitely Oscar material.

https://www.tribute.ca/trailers/darkest-hour/22439/