Is there the perfect gun?

onpoint

onpoint

Active member
Too long, too heavy, to light, too short, too much recoil it's endless. I bought a gun intending on shooting trap[ with it. It was a trap specific gun. I shot maybe my worst score last night with it on my first night in practice. I went back to my Beretta O/U for my league scored shoot. I'm not sure there is a perfect gun for me anymore. My illness I believe has stolen that from me. I just hate to let my team down. I use to be the guy nobody could beat. I'm now just pathetic. It really hurts..it was one the things I did so well. I have come to grips with IMO, there's no gun that can fix the problem. It's hear to stay.

Anybody else struggling to do what you once could do and it seems lost forever?
 
Hi OP,
Yes I struggle. I have a hip problem, I use to run just for the joy of running.
Now I do a good impression of Walter Brennan. I guess I can get a new hip but the running is over so I am told. Keep your chin up and concentrate on what you can do. Dwell on the positives.
 
onpoint said:
Too long, too heavy, to light, too short, too much recoil it's endless. I bought a gun intending on shooting trap[ with it. It was a trap specific gun. I shot maybe my worst score last night with it on my first night in practice. I went back to my Beretta O/U for my league scored shoot. I'm not sure there is a perfect gun for me anymore. My illness I believe has stolen that from me. I just hate to let my team down. I use to be the guy nobody could beat. I'm now just pathetic. It really hurts..it was one the things I did so well. I have come to grips with IMO, there's no gun that can fix the problem. It's hear to stay.

Anybody else struggling to do what you once could do and it seems lost forever?
Click to expand...

It's not the gun. It's the shooter. Sorry op but your old enough to know better. No such thing as a perfect Gun. That's the point about GC. It's not the gun It's the guy pulling the Trigger. I shoot a ton of Clays and Skeet and sporting clays. I don't look for a perfect gun. I have no issues with the gun I shoot, If I miss it's My fault Not the guns.:)
 
Never forget that shooting is 90% mental, 10% everything else. It sounds like you are really stuck in your own head at the moment, just from reading your post.

I don't know anything about your illness or current physical limitations, but I hope you can find a way to work around it and get your confidence back. Hopefully if you get your mind and attitude right, those guns will start to feel just right. :cheers:
 
onpoint said:
Too long, too heavy, to light, too short, too much recoil it's endless. I bought a gun intending on shooting trap[ with it. It was a trap specific gun. I shot maybe my worst score last night with it on my first night in practice. I went back to my Beretta O/U for my league scored shoot. I'm not sure there is a perfect gun for me anymore. My illness I believe has stolen that from me. I just hate to let my team down. I use to be the guy nobody could beat. I'm now just pathetic. It really hurts..it was one the things I did so well. I have come to grips with IMO, there's no gun that can fix the problem. It's hear to stay.

Anybody else struggling to do what you once could do and it seems lost forever?
Click to expand...

which/what illness if you dont mind elaborating
if you'd prefer not to say ,than i'm rude for asking
 
OP, I do get it. I have struggled for years with back and knee problems and it is hell to not be able to do what I used to do. The last few years I have fallen at least a couple of times a year while hunting. A lot of that is due to my physical limitations now, and also due to the fact that I still get in the thick stuff like I was a teenager:). Just remember we will never be as good as we used to be, or as good as we want to be. Just be as good as you can be.
 
Lots of things I used to do with reckless abandon that I don't do now, but I thoroughly enjoy doing those that I can. I actually think it rather awesome to be one of the "old-timers" on whose every word I hung during my youth. The Circle of Life . . . don't fight it, enjoy it. Best wishes.
 
Yes there is a perfect gun. My Browning 625 Citori. :p
 
Haven't found the perfect gun yet but feel it is my duty to myself and the economy to persevere. It's out there, I just know it....:cheers:
 
JMC, oh I know it's not the gun....but don't tell my team mates..LOL Specially my oldest son. He just can't put away the WE MUST WIN AND BE THE BEST TEAM OR ELSE!!!!!!!

Thanks for the encouragement everybody.
 
onpoint said:
JMC, oh I know it's not the gun....but don't tell my team mates..LOL Specially my oldest son. He just can't put away the WE MUST WIN AND BE THE BEST TEAM OR ELSE!!!!!!!

Thanks for the encouragement everybody.
Click to expand...

After reading your comment last Friday, it just kind of sat in the back of my brain... I want to share some of my story with you and maybe you will see similarities to your own situation. If it upsets you, please accept my apology, that was never my intention.

I'm a very intensely competitve guy. Not an olympian, or even a league champion, but very intensely competitive nontheless. I HAVE to beat the guys I'm playing against, regardless of what we are doing, and I ALWAYS keep score...

About 3 years ago my dad got really ill. At first it was shingles, but then kidney problems came, and nerve problems. He was in tremendous pain and could hardly walk even short distances. He's since recovered somewhat, but can still only walk short distances and needs braces on his legs. He has always been healthy, strong, and proud, but now he needs help to do many of the things he used to do easily. At first he expected he would heal quickly because he always had before. Then he got frustrated and wondered how long it would take, and now I suspect he has realized that he will have to accept some limitations for the rest of his life.

We used to shoot sporting clays together once a month, and fish quite often. I have asked him for years to come hunting with me in western KS, but the dates never worked out or something came up. He had been asking me for years to go back with him to his hometown in SD, and hunt where he grew up but we never made it work for one reason or another. Kids, jobs, no $$, you know how it is...

He doesn't talk about a South Dakota trip anymore, and gets frustrated and angry whenever I ask him to go hunting with me in KS. He thinks he would be a burden to me and my friends, and would ruin the fun. I tell him that I have a plan of places he could block for us, and wouldn't need to walk hardly at all, but he just gets upset that he needs special accomodations and focuses on what he can't do anymore.

Anyway, my point is that there is nothing that Dad or I can do to change his situation. It is what it is... But I really wish he would get over his stubbornness and pride and let me help him. I wish he could see that I give him the assistance I do because I love and respect him and not because I pity him. And I wish he would get out of the house and do some of the things we used to do.

From an intensely competitive son's perspective, I would just love to have dad with me. I don't care a bit about who does all the walking and who does all the blocking. I don't care a bit if I make an extra trip or two to the truck so I can carry all his fishing gear to the boat for him, in fact it's an honor to do it. If I could get him back to the sporting clays range, I would carry his gun or push him in a wheelchair or throw him over my damn shoulder and carry him if it meant that we got to spend the afternoon together. And I sure as hell wouldn't care what the score was when we were done... And I'm a guy who ALWAYS keeps score.

Some things in life are just more important than keeping score. Sometimes walking the most fields, shooting the most birds, breaking the most targets, or catching the most fish, isn't that important. Just being in the fields, at the ranges, and lakes with the people you love is what counts.

If any of that relates to you or not, I don't know. But I thought you might like to know from a "WE MUST WIN OR ELSE" son's perspective, that sometimes, just being there IS winning. :cheers:
 
david0311

Toad said:
After reading your comment last Friday, it just kind of sat in the back of my brain... I want to share some of my story with you and maybe you will see similarities to your own situation. If it upsets you, please accept my apology, that was never my intention.

I'm a very intensely competitve guy. Not an olympian, or even a league champion, but very intensely competitive nontheless. I HAVE to beat the guys I'm playing against, regardless of what we are doing, and I ALWAYS keep score...

About 3 years ago my dad got really ill. At first it was shingles, but then kidney problems came, and nerve problems. He was in tremendous pain and could hardly walk even short distances. He's since recovered somewhat, but can still only walk short distances and needs braces on his legs. He has always been healthy, strong, and proud, but now he needs help to do many of the things he used to do easily. At first he expected he would heal quickly because he always had before. Then he got frustrated and wondered how long it would take, and now I suspect he has realized that he will have to accept some limitations for the rest of his life.

We used to shoot sporting clays together once a month, and fish quite often. I have asked him for years to come hunting with me in western KS, but the dates never worked out or something came up. He had been asking me for years to go back with him to his hometown in SD, and hunt where he grew up but we never made it work for one reason or another. Kids, jobs, no $$, you know how it is...

He doesn't talk about a South Dakota trip anymore, and gets frustrated and angry whenever I ask him to go hunting with me in KS. He thinks he would be a burden to me and my friends, and would ruin the fun. I tell him that I have a plan of places he could block for us, and wouldn't need to walk hardly at all, but he just gets upset that he needs special accomodations and focuses on what he can't do anymore.

Anyway, my point is that there is nothing that Dad or I can do to change his situation. It is what it is... But I really wish he would get over his stubbornness and pride and let me help him. I wish he could see that I give him the assistance I do because I love and respect him and not because I pity him. And I wish he would get out of the house and do some of the things we used to do.

From an intensely competitive son's perspective, I would just love to have dad with me. I don't care a bit about who does all the walking and who does all the blocking. I don't care a bit if I make an extra trip or two to the truck so I can carry all his fishing gear to the boat for him, in fact it's an honor to do it. If I could get him back to the sporting clays range, I would carry his gun or push him in a wheelchair or throw him over my damn shoulder and carry him if it meant that we got to spend the afternoon together. And I sure as hell wouldn't care what the score was when we were done... And I'm a guy who ALWAYS keeps score.

Some things in life are just more important than keeping score. Sometimes walking the most fields, shooting the most birds, breaking the most targets, or catching the most fish, isn't that important. Just being in the fields, at the ranges, and lakes with the people you love is what counts.

If any of that relates to you or not, I don't know. But I thought you might like to know from a "WE MUST WIN OR ELSE" son's perspective, that sometimes, just being there IS winning. :cheers:
Click to expand...

I have been reading your post for quite sometime now--always thought you came across as thought full-help-full-and as a gentleman--as I have just said I thought that---this post has removed all doubt--beautiful post and sentiment--hope to meet you someday--dc
 
Toad said:
After reading your comment last Friday, it just kind of sat in the back of my brain... I want to share some of my story with you and maybe you will see similarities to your own situation. If it upsets you, please accept my apology, that was never my intention.

I'm a very intensely competitve guy. Not an olympian, or even a league champion, but very intensely competitive nontheless. I HAVE to beat the guys I'm playing against, regardless of what we are doing, and I ALWAYS keep score...

About 3 years ago my dad got really ill. At first it was shingles, but then kidney problems came, and nerve problems. He was in tremendous pain and could hardly walk even short distances. He's since recovered somewhat, but can still only walk short distances and needs braces on his legs. He has always been healthy, strong, and proud, but now he needs help to do many of the things he used to do easily. At first he expected he would heal quickly because he always had before. Then he got frustrated and wondered how long it would take, and now I suspect he has realized that he will have to accept some limitations for the rest of his life.

We used to shoot sporting clays together once a month, and fish quite often. I have asked him for years to come hunting with me in western KS, but the dates never worked out or something came up. He had been asking me for years to go back with him to his hometown in SD, and hunt where he grew up but we never made it work for one reason or another. Kids, jobs, no $$, you know how it is...

He doesn't talk about a South Dakota trip anymore, and gets frustrated and angry whenever I ask him to go hunting with me in KS. He thinks he would be a burden to me and my friends, and would ruin the fun. I tell him that I have a plan of places he could block for us, and wouldn't need to walk hardly at all, but he just gets upset that he needs special accomodations and focuses on what he can't do anymore.

Anyway, my point is that there is nothing that Dad or I can do to change his situation. It is what it is... But I really wish he would get over his stubbornness and pride and let me help him. I wish he could see that I give him the assistance I do because I love and respect him and not because I pity him. And I wish he would get out of the house and do some of the things we used to do.

From an intensely competitive son's perspective, I would just love to have dad with me. I don't care a bit about who does all the walking and who does all the blocking. I don't care a bit if I make an extra trip or two to the truck so I can carry all his fishing gear to the boat for him, in fact it's an honor to do it. If I could get him back to the sporting clays range, I would carry his gun or push him in a wheelchair or throw him over my damn shoulder and carry him if it meant that we got to spend the afternoon together. And I sure as hell wouldn't care what the score was when we were done... And I'm a guy who ALWAYS keeps score.

Some things in life are just more important than keeping score. Sometimes walking the most fields, shooting the most birds, breaking the most targets, or catching the most fish, isn't that important. Just being in the fields, at the ranges, and lakes with the people you love is what counts.

If any of that relates to you or not, I don't know. But I thought you might like to know from a "WE MUST WIN OR ELSE" son's perspective, that sometimes, just being there IS winning. :cheers:
Click to expand...

Awesome post ...You are correct in pretty much all of it.

Just a note, I shot pretty good tonight. I held for a tie for first though three stations. Then missed 5 birds in the last two stations. In two rounds, I aced 4 of the 5 stations. Now, I just need to do that all in one round. I figured out what I was doing wrong. I need to stick o what I have done for years. I need to keep my head jusy off the stock, call the bird, bring the gun to full mount and follow through. I can't fully mount the gun, then call the target. I never catch up to the target if I do that and miss, miss, miss.

Thanks for the great words Toad..
 
Right on Toad...took my last hunting trip in WY to chase speed goats with my 80 year old grandpa for the last time a few years ago...he can't make it any longer. I would go now and not care if I filled a single tag just for the memory...

And second that on the 725 Citori...:thumbsup:
 
I like all my guns, even my trap guns, although i rarely shoot them anymore.
I have no issues running my field guns in skeet or trap, because I like hunting birds and if I'm using the same guns for trap and skeet that I do for birds, I'm a happy camper!:D
I may not bust as many with my field guns, but it sure keeps me tuned for birds!
I shoot low gun double sin skeet, even station 8, and low gun in trap as well.
I can't remember the last time that I approached a locked up pointer or a "birdy" lab with the gun up to my shoulder!!:laugh:

The perfect gun to me is one I can carry all day and still hit a bird with.:)
DT
 
toad you are the man i agree 100% about being with your father!!! im not the guy to keep score i could care less but i do compete & like to win!!! but i went threw the same type thing with my old man he was told he would not be able to shoot a long gun again & or lift his arm above his shoulders & or do many simple things like eat again but he did & he also had to except the fact he will need help from the boys!!! it was hard & im sure kinda kind of a bummer to my old man at first but like you said we just had to keep on him that he took me hunting when i was young & i will do the same for him!!!

my main focus on any out of state trip or far away from home hunting trip is to get my father on game 1st then if im lucky i will get on birds as well on trips wear we dont get loads of birds we still have a good time just being in new places & hunting with one another i was with my dad & helped him get his 1st prairie chicken & last yr i was just as happy as if i shot 1 my-self more happy!!!

any way nothing to do with a perfect gun but that was a perfect post from a good son!!! thanks for posting that TOAD

P.S. you got to just go kid nap your old man one of these days toad & take him out hunting lol he will grip at 1st then get over it im sure!!! take care man
 
Well boys, we got screwed!!! We ended up 3rd out of 14 teams.

Here's the kicker, they split the season in half. The first half winners didn't even shoot all the rounds in the second half. They were dead last. This is how the club did it. They took the first half season winner and the second half season winner and they have a shoot off for first and second. Our team was there every week, shot all our rounds and shot more total birds then the first half season winner but we get third. So you only have to shoot half the year and can still be in the running for over all champion. Next year, we plan to play that game. Why waste another case or more shells and $7.00 a round. Oh, and I'm shooting much better. The Beretta O/U is working out well, even with it's shorter barrels. I have to cook for the Banquet..120 people. I guess I have became kind of famose for my cooking. Cooked for 50 on Sat. was in bed for three days afterwards but it sure is rewarding to have everybody praise ya for the best ribs and chicken they ever had. Very tough to keep on my feet but I hope to be able to do it one more time for my fellow shooters. 90 LBS of smoked Country Style pork ribs, 30LBS of grilled chicken, 50LBS of chessy sour cream potatoes, 12 Doz corn on the cob and a mess of my coleslaw. God give me the strength to get this done. Carry on men:cheers:
 
onpoint said:
Too long, too heavy, to light, too short, too much recoil it's endless. I bought a gun intending on shooting trap[ with it. It was a trap specific gun. I shot maybe my worst score last night with it on my first night in practice. I went back to my Beretta O/U for my league scored shoot. I'm not sure there is a perfect gun for me anymore. My illness I believe has stolen that from me. I just hate to let my team down. I use to be the guy nobody could beat. I'm now just pathetic. It really hurts..it was one the things I did so well. I have come to grips with IMO, there's no gun that can fix the problem. It's hear to stay.

Anybody else struggling to do what you once could do and it seems lost forever?
Click to expand...



I gather you're talking about clay targets, trap or skeet.

First of all, let me tell you what you already know:

1. You already know how to break every target.

2. You miss because you don't do what you know to do.

3. It's not the gun; it's not your physical ability; it's not your eyesight.

4. Get your head right, and the targets will break.

I'll give you an example - I shot skeet for about 5 years in the late 1970s, an average club shooter, then quit for 30 years, in fact quit shooting altogether.

About 5 years ago I decided to try skeet again, and I've been shooting with two other guys my age (early 70s). We all shoot about equally well, typical old duffers, about 85-90%.

A couple months ago I injured my back and laid off shooting for a couple months. Two weeks ago I decided I'd healed enough, and met my two buddies at the club. With them was a guy I didn't know. One of my friends whispered to me, "Watch this guy, he's fantastic, eight time state champion."

"Hmmmmm", I thought, "Way out of my league, but what the heck, let me concentrate on what I know how to do, and see how long I can stay with the great champ."

So the four of us shot a round. I was shooting 3rd, and the champ 4th.

The other two guys dropped a target or two early, but I missed none on the first four stations, and the champ was smokin' them right behind me.

On station 5 I missed the high house target. Rode it too far and knew what I'd done wrong before I pulled the trigger.

"Dang", I thought, "that didn't last long."

Then the great champ made the same mistake I had, and missed high 5 too. Amazing. What was even more amazing is that he missed it twice.

I ran out the rest and beat the great champ 24 to 23.

What's the lesson? Twofold. I did what I know how to do, 24/25, and the champ did what he knows to do 23/25.

It really is all in your head. When I have my head screwed on straight, I can shoot good scores left-handed, and I can shoot good scores without my prescription glasses - 20/200 vision.

And when I don't do what I know how to do, my scores stink.

I'll bet you're the same.

As they say, "It ain't the arrows, It's the Indian."
 
When I get in a slump like this I try to take a break from the competition/pressure and just go have a fun afternoon shooting. I don't worry about scores or anything, just concentrate on having a good time.
 
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