Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Were you raised by a gun guy?

My Dad was not a gun guy like I am, but he appreciated guns. Had an H&R 999 .22 revolver, his Dad's. 22 special pump, and a M99 .300 Savage, all open sighted. He shot very well; I watched him shoot quite a few raccoons, skunks, and a couple badgers that were bothering chickens and graneries on the farm. He thought that ne could kill anything that walked with that .300, and I believed him. Dad supported my interest, and I still remember the thrill when he woud let me shoot the H&R or the .22 special. My Mom's brother, my Uncle Bill, was the one who really took me under his wing with hunting. Growing up on a farm in eastern MT, all I had to do was step out of the house, walk past the corrals, and be hunting. It was a good childhood.

Guys, I’ve enjoyed reading your backgrounds and stories.

To add to my earlier post.

I can’t remember NOT having a BB gun or pellet rifle. I got proficient (good enuff) with a BB gun
to the point of hitting a quarter in the air regularly....no bs.
Dad bought a Tube fed, bolt action .410 for me when I was young enuff that it hurt to shoot.
Part of that was too long LOP, I still have it.

We bird (quail) hunted more than anything else... deer were RARE.
Today deer are a nuisance and Quail are rare.

My Dad was a great influence on me per guns & hunting even tho most of my
life he only had that 760, 06. He died of a brain tumor in 98 at 72 yo.
I still miss him.

Jerry

Dad saw guns as a tool. He brought home a Model 47 Winchester for me when I was five to teach me to shoot a rifle, and an H&R Topper in .410 when I was seven to teach me wing shooting. I used it for pheasants and he had an old Model 37 Winchester in 20 gauge for the same purpose.

I've enjoyed this thread too, great idea for a post!

My dad was an avid target shooter and hunter. His dad was an avid target shooter and hunter. Dad and Grandpa were both reloaders. Both hunted with Model 70 Winchesters. I still have Dad's though I have re-barreled it twice. Dad competed in benchrest, high power, and "F" class. He hunted in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, British Columbia, Yukon, and NWT. He taught me about reloading when I was 12 years old and bought me my first big game rifle when I was 14, along with a Lee Loader for it. Later on, I taught Dad to fit and chamber his own barrels. Attempts to get him to do fine stock work werea dismal failure! On my mother's side my grandfather hunted with a Rocky Gibbs 270 and took me to meet Rocky when I was 15. My mother hunted and killed deer, elk, and black bear. I guess you could say guns and hunting are in my blood. GD

My Dad started out as a bit of a gun nut. Before the farm and kids came along he had a few. A pre 64 model 70 30-06, a model 64 30-30, a Winchester 67 22 LR and a model 1873 44-40 and for a shotgun he had an Ithaca 37 20 gauge. After he started farming and the kids started coming along, he got rid of all but the 67 and the Ithaca. Much to my disappointment. He simply didn’t have time as a dairy farmer raising livestock and kids to indulge his gun interest.

As I grew and developed a strong interest in shooting, hunting, fishing and trapping, he was able to speak gun with me up to a point. In later years he would often call me to ask about some obscure gun or round he’d read of in a book. It kept me on my toes. I certainly miss my frequent phone conversations with him. Seems like never a week goes by but what I have a story I’d like to share or a corny joke.

Dad never did anything to stifle my outdoor and gun interests. He made sure I had time to shoot on the high school rifle team, hunt, fish and trap as the farm chores allowed. We had 85 acres of woods on our farm and I had the run of a dozen nearby farms with similar amounts of woods. Some of them had steams and ponds. It was a great place to grow an outdoorsman.

Dad did teach my brother and I to shoot and taught us firearms safety. He wasn’t a shotgunner so that I had to learn on my own. After the farm sold Dad did a little hunting with me but he had lost his right eye and never shot enough after the accident to develop any real confidence.

I was raised in a household fairly devoid of guns and hunting. My Dad and my grandfather had given it up before I was able to enjoy it with them. Grandpa and my Great-Grandpa were both enthusiastic bird hunters. Dad was a trap shooter and occasional pheasant shooter. It was all over before I got there.

All my shooting and hunting experience came from hanging out with older friends after college. The hunting was mostly self-taught.

It is great!

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Thanks guys. Glad you like it

Bob B257

Did U ever hear of a Paragraph ?
Whew !

Jerry

My Dad is 91 and love him like a father. He wasn't a true gun guy but took me bowhunting when I was only 8...deer gun when I turned 12. Well before I turned 10, Dad had a High Standard (Sears) 22 auto rifle that I so much looked forward to shooting. One day he took me aside and said he felt he should trade the 22 for a recurve bow to give to a guest evangelist who had traveled from Kentucky to preach at our church. The preacher had a very simple bow he used as an object lesson on aiming true in life. Dad explained all this to me before he did it but promised me a new 22 rifle when I turned 12 which he made good on. About a year after receiving the Ithaca 49 for Christmas, I traded for a Remington 22 bolt gun and later a 10-22; all without parental approval and have been buying and trading ever since. I blame my Dad for making me a looney!

Well not really but.....
My dad loved fishing, and took me probably before I could walk. We spent lots of times outdoors even though I grew up in the city. Once I started reading Outdoor Life and Sports Afield and doing book reports at school reading any hunting book in library (they actually had hunting and gun books in library back then), I started talking with my dad about hunting. He grew up in small southern Illinois town where his dad was a coal miner, and he said as a kid used to hunt squirrels and rabbits with a 22 to feed the family. But the mines closed and his family moved to Chicago for work, my dad went to war, and had never owned any guns.
Due to my interest, I was suprised with a 22 single shot one Christmas. Me and dad would go to indoor range to shoot, and took a few trips back to where he grew up to hunt squirrels. This inspired my dad I guess to get a couple shotguns for hunting pheasant and rabbits. I got a Ted Williams 20ga pump from Sears and my dad bought a new Rem 870 12ga. I can remember him saying he must be crazy for spending $90 on a shotgun! I still have his 870 and man has it accounted for tons of small game, and a few deer after I got a slug barrel for it after he passed.
I so miss the times we spent together hunting, shooting and fishing. He died at 64 ten days after retirement....what a frickin pity!
That 870 was the only gun he ever owned. I've had several hundred go thru my hands at this point.
So, I guess dad was not a gun guy, but he gave me the start to enjoy them.

My father hunted a lot when I was a kid, deer, birds, rabbits. He duck hunted almost every morning of the week during the duck season. My uncles hunted a lot too. My father wasn't a gun guy by any means, he only ever owned a .22 (Reminton 521 T), a shotgun (16 gauge Ithaca 37, later a 12 gauge Remington 58) and a pistol (Hi Standard G-380).
One of his brothers reloaded for his .270. I'm probably the only real gun guy from my generation. My brothers don't reload and only own 15 to 20 guns each, including rifles, handguns and shotguns. My two sons have a lot of guns and reload.

Interesting...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_37

I was at the range on Saturday and two guys were sighting in their Card shoot guns. Both bolt action 12 gauges with scopes and custom 32" barrels. A lot of money just to win a meat tray or a frozen turkey if you're lucky

My father had only a 30-06 and a 12ga for all my youth. He hunted frequently before he had a house full of children. With more restrictions, less game and higher licensing fees he hung it up. At least that is what he told us…

He worked most weekends and holidays for the overtime pay to keep a roof over our head and clothes on our back. The man really sacrificed many years of his life to take care of his family. I did not understand when I was young but now that I am older with kids in the house I fully understand, respect and appreciate all the sacrifices he made for us.

After we all left home he has gotten back into it a lot and his collection is impressive. Still not an active hunter like he was before children but definitely a gun guy!

My Dad was a WWII guy.He said he had enough of guns and shooting.Both my Gramps and Uncles were hunters and shooters and took me under their wing.

Being from a pioneer family, guns were something everyone in my family had. My paternal grandfather was chief deputy of our county and had quite a collection. The first thing my dad did when he got to Europe in WWII was trade his M1 for a Springfield (he had no love of those new fangled automatics). My mom's dad was somewhat of an outlaw (made for some interesting family gatherings) and although he didn't have many guns, was an avid hunter. He took one of his biggest deer at 93. He had my brothers and I hunting quail at a very tender age with a single shot hammer 410, a true lesson in humility.
My brothers and I all started helping dad reload as soon as we could be relied on to do any chore like case trimming. My oldest brother was an avid reloader and the real loony of the family and went on to be a design engineer at RCBS.
I am not a loony because I only buy guns for a good reason. I just keep coming up with more reasons!

My dad had been a cavalry scout back when they actually used horses and went thru all of WWII as an infantry first sergeant.

He started me out with a single shot .22 rimfire and once I was squared away on its safe handling would send me out with a single round saying "bring me back a sage rat". Naturally, I'd come back empty handed and then he'd sit me down and ask questions about the shot. What was the sight picture when the gun fired? Did I squeeze the trigger? How far away was I? Where was the sun? Was I above or below the target? Did I use cover to get close? Then he'd send me back out with another round and tell me to focus and hone on one particular skill. When I started consistently bringing back a sage rat for every round fired, he then would give me 2 rounds and send me out saying "bring me back a Magpie". Then I graduated to bringing back rabbits with the single shot.

The day I brought back a coyote he moved me up to the M1 Garand. From .22 rimfire to .30-06 at twelve years old.

I still have that .22 single shot.