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This year at Shiloh, our children and their friends are at ages where they want to be involved in everything we do. Kirk’s oldest boy Levi has been shooting since he was young. His two best friends Jordon and Logan have less experience, and need more guidance and instruction. One of these boys lost his father early this spring. His father’s Shiloh was given to him. The other, shoots a rifle belonging to his father, which previously had been a “wall hanger.” Neither boy had participated in black powder shooting.
Albert Einstein said, “Teaching should be such that what is offered
should be perceived as a valuable gift and not as hard duty.”
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I
was contemplating topics to write about for our 2004 catalog, when it
occurred to me how important America’s youth are to the shooting and
hunting industries. As parents, it is imperative we pass onto our
children, the significance of family values. We must take the time to
teach our children to shoot, and encourage their involvement in
silhouette shooting, long ranch shooting and hunting. The sport of
shooting relies on upcoming generations for its survival. G.K.
Chesterton stated, “Education is simply the soul of society as passes
from one generation to another. “ Our children will pass onto their
children the lessons learned from us.
At
Kirk and Heather’s home, the boys went through “Sight 101” classes, and
then graduated to the casting of bullets, cutting and sizing brass and
the proper techniques of loading. In Kirk’s little reloading room, they
had more laughs than any one could have imagined. Together, the boys
were becoming groomed and they were excited. Along with the boys, Kirk
was also teaching his best friend and several other gentlemen how to
re-load, spot for the shooter, and call shots, and how to read wind. The
shooting family began to grow. What started as a group of four traveling
to compete the long-range match in Broadus, Montana, ended up as a group
of eleven shooters. There were no big expectations. They were just going
to have a good time and to have a learning experience. They returned
home with wonderful memories, and an addiction that would last forever.
When
our family travels to silhouette matches we gaze down the shooting line
and we see adults. We rarely see a child. This year for the first time,
a shooter from Utah brought his daughter to Butte, Montana. She had
asked to accompany him to this particular shoot, and then told him she
wanted to be his spotter. Normally, she did not care much for shooting,
so he jumped at the opportunity. Knowing this daughter wanted to be with
him, made it easy to come to the decision, his score would be of not
great importance that day. Although at first she was nervous, as the day
progressed, his daughter discovered she enjoyed spotting. She became so
enthusiastic, that while waiting for her father’s turn to shoot, she
would jump into their truck to set silhouette targets. When I spoke with
this gentleman, he and his new “partner” were headed to Blackfoot, Idaho
for a shoot. They joy in his voice at the possibility of a
new
shooter on the line was gratifying to hear. If not a shooter, then
certainly a new and very special spotting partner.
It is imperative that as adults, we do everything possible to get our
kids involved in all aspects of shooting. Whether our children travel
along to play on the hillside, help set targets and score keep, or we
find them on the shooting line, we are setting the stage for our future
shooters. We need to savor every minute that can be taken with our
children. We need to teach them all we know. Karl Menninger said it
correctly, when he stated, “What’s done to children, they will do to
society.”
