Not only does Junior trapshoot, he was excited about teaching me to do it too. I’m always up to do something new and interesting, so I was all for it. So on Saturday, when the club had a practice day to warm up for the next day’s League shoot, he picked out a shotgun from their collection that fit me well enough. I gathered up some of my grampa’s shells which my dad had just given me, and we tried it.

We didn’t get any pictures of me doing it, because I needed him right there to teach me, not twenty feet away and behind the camera, but I did OK. He started me slowly, shooting a box on the ground so I could feel the gun. It seemed to shoot exactly where I pointed it, so after a couple of those, we went on to the flying clays.

I was more than a little nervous about that part. There were other people out there and I was feeling shy, and it looked so complicated, this hitting a moving target thing, that I was a little intimidated. When I hit the first one, I felt better, and went on to not do too badly, especially for a first time out. I wasn’t counting and neither was he, but he guesses I hit fifteen or so of the twenty-five, and that’s not too shabby for the first time picking up a shotgun.

It’s not easy though. Some things are so very different from shooting a rifle, which is what I know, that I’m going to have to unlearn as much as I learn from scratch. You don’t aim a shotgun, for instance, but you point it. I’m really not sure of the distinction myself, but he said he could tell when I was aiming. I guess I stop moving it, and you can’t do that, you have to keep swinging it while you shoot to get the shot patterned into a stream that will intersect with the target.

After my introduction to it, I was sporting rubber arms and a bruised shoulder, so we stopped before I started not liking it. A little teaching at a time will give me time to think on what I’ve learned, and let it sink in a little. And it’s going to take a lot of sinking in, I can tell. It was fun though, and I enjoyed getting to actually feel what he does up there. It made me watch him the next day a little more intelligently.

 

 
And the next day was fun too. I hadn’t yet been to a League shoot, where they’re competing with a team. I brought the camera out and took pictures of the whole team on one station. The light wasn’t great and I wanted to watch for once, so after those first photos, I put the camera down and did just that. I could see a little more of what he was actually doing, and let some of his previous days’ lessons sink in to my head. That’s how I learn best; all the classroom experience in the world doesn’t do much for me if I don’t get out there and get my hands on something. Once I know what questions to ask, the answers mean a little more to me. 

I would have been happy enough just being a cheerleader for him for a while longer, especially since I bring my own hobby along to the shoots (the photography.) He’s pleased that I wanted to pick a gun up and try it though, and I am too. We don’t have to share all of the same interests exactly, but it’s good to know what floats your partner’s boat, and it’s good to share a passion here and there outside of the bedroom. What good would a long life together be, if you didn’t like to spend time with each other outside of the house? You can’t be naked all of the time; you have to be able to enjoy each other’s company for the other 23 hours a day. Fortunately, we share a lot of things. I can see a lot of years with this man, building foundations.