In another forum a man asked for advice on getting his wife involed in some clay pigeon shooting. A lot of good advice was given. I decided to add my experience with my wife and a few other women. I thought it would make a good post here, too, as it might help some current (or future) husband enjoy shooting with his wife. Women, of course, can add especially good insight on this topic.
CHAPTER 1:
In my case, my wife had shot with her dad when she was much younger. She had little desire so far as I could tell to go shooting again. My family had gone shooting each summer as a kid and we were having a reunion in our old stomping ground. I suggested we do a family shoot and everyone agreed. As I organized it my wife saw my determination and how important it was to me.
I made sure I never excluded her by saying things like "You can watch the kids while I go shooting with the guys." Instead I suggested we go shooting in two shifts so everyone gets a chance. It turns out some didn't want to shoot and were happy watching the all the kids. She wanted to come with and give it a try.
Looking at the variety of handguns and rifles, her suggestion was to start small and work her way up. "Great idea," though I. "How about starting with this one?" she asked in all seriousness, pointing to an 8-inch Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum. Since "up" from there was shoulder mounted, we started with a .22 and worked up to it.
*** Start with a very light-recoil firearm. ***
After going through the array of firearms it turns out the .22 and 9mm were much too boring for her. She liked a little more action and feedback. Her favorites were the .45ACP, .44 Mag (a "soft" shooting .44 Mag), and the Ruger Mini 14. And boy, was she good! We setup clay pigeons along a natural backstop and she started shooting them single-handedly with the .44 at 20 yards, about a 2/3 hit ratio. (She is not petite, being an able-bodied 5'8" farm girl).
She confirmed that she hadn't been shooting for over a decade while I re-examined my technique. ("Just what gun did you shoot with your dad way back when?" "I'm not sure, I think it was a black one, though." Gun aficionado she is not.)
CHAPTER 2:
After purchasing my first shotgun almost a year ago, her family was getting together for July 4th. I suggested to the male in-laws that we do some clay pigeon shooting. They were all for it, though had not been shooting probably as long as my wife. We arranged to shoot on my in-laws' in-laws' ranch. They had a number of brothers that liked to shoot so we would all go together.
It all started and my wife jumped right in. Her younger sister, who had brought these two families together, decided to give it a try once she saw my wife having fun breaking clays. It helped that her new husband was having a great time and we were all taking turns. Well she tried it out and started to break some, too.
Then the wife who had elected to watch from the house, after seeing the two women shoot with smiles, came and asked if she could give it a try. "Absolutely!" we said. A slight pause for a little coaching from a brother-in-law and we were back at it. She broke several and had fun.
*** Have other women there. Seeing them break clays (or even just shoot) is empowering. ***
Chapter 3:
Now we are back to my side of the family with my younger brother's new in-laws. A family with six daughters and the father wants to teach them to do some shooting, feeling bad that he never had before the youngest two were about to graduate from high-school. (My brother had invited his father-in-law to sleep over and go shooting while en route to a bowl game.)
These women were a bit more delicate than my wife. Their father had given them some good basic instructions. They were excited to go to the bowl game, but had little desire to shoot, especially a shotgun. Their father explained they each had to break two clays to earn their ticket for the game. The father had a very nice walnut-stocked semi-auto Browning to use, but they still hesitated.
For some reason, my wife was all fired up to go shooting. I think she just loved to be there with other women. (Note to self to arrange some more of that.) She loads the only shotgun I have and walks up to the firing line and asks, "Can I shoot some clay pigeons?"
Short pause as they all look at her holding a parkerized Mossberg M590-A1 9-round SpecOps-stocked combat shotgun. "Honey, you can do anything you want with that," says the dad. First clay: dusted in one shot. Second clay: shoot-breaks-rack-shoot-breaks biggest remaining piece. After a few more (I was just beaming, and maybe starting to sweat a little for the pressure to perform now) she asked if anyone else wanted to try.
Now the ladies literally lined up to shoot. My wife, with no prodding from me, started to give them pointers on stance and form. "You want to put the back of it right about on your bra-strap." The dad and I looked at each other. "That's one I wouldn't have thought of," we didn't say. And the ladies took it from there. One hesitated a little. My wife suggested,"Just imagine you're a pioneer woman and have to get a rabbit for dinner." With a couple of shots into the tumbleweeds for practice, that proved to be enough encouragement.
Each one shot and broke clays with both guns. The smallest one even PREFERRED the 8-9 pound Mossberg. I think she was the one who mentioned "I don't know if I want to shoot that one; it looks mean." Maybe the extra weight helped reduce recoil.
It was a fun and productive day. All the ladies shot a few different guns, including a .22 handgun, and smiled after breaking a clay pigeon with a 12ga (with light loads). I heard later that a couple of them had bought a .22 target pistol for themselves when they got back home.
*** Have another woman show them AND coach them. Let the men stand back. ***
You can give more pointers later if THEY want. The point at first is to give them enough to be safe and have fun. Note that my wife has not had professional lessons or classes, does not compete, read these forums, go shooting as often as I do, or even talk or think about it as much as I do. She just wanted to have fun and was happy to have other women with her. It works wonders.
Research
CHAPTER 1:
In my case, my wife had shot with her dad when she was much younger. She had little desire so far as I could tell to go shooting again. My family had gone shooting each summer as a kid and we were having a reunion in our old stomping ground. I suggested we do a family shoot and everyone agreed. As I organized it my wife saw my determination and how important it was to me.
I made sure I never excluded her by saying things like "You can watch the kids while I go shooting with the guys." Instead I suggested we go shooting in two shifts so everyone gets a chance. It turns out some didn't want to shoot and were happy watching the all the kids. She wanted to come with and give it a try.
Looking at the variety of handguns and rifles, her suggestion was to start small and work her way up. "Great idea," though I. "How about starting with this one?" she asked in all seriousness, pointing to an 8-inch Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum. Since "up" from there was shoulder mounted, we started with a .22 and worked up to it.
*** Start with a very light-recoil firearm. ***
After going through the array of firearms it turns out the .22 and 9mm were much too boring for her. She liked a little more action and feedback. Her favorites were the .45ACP, .44 Mag (a "soft" shooting .44 Mag), and the Ruger Mini 14. And boy, was she good! We setup clay pigeons along a natural backstop and she started shooting them single-handedly with the .44 at 20 yards, about a 2/3 hit ratio. (She is not petite, being an able-bodied 5'8" farm girl).
She confirmed that she hadn't been shooting for over a decade while I re-examined my technique. ("Just what gun did you shoot with your dad way back when?" "I'm not sure, I think it was a black one, though." Gun aficionado she is not.)
CHAPTER 2:
After purchasing my first shotgun almost a year ago, her family was getting together for July 4th. I suggested to the male in-laws that we do some clay pigeon shooting. They were all for it, though had not been shooting probably as long as my wife. We arranged to shoot on my in-laws' in-laws' ranch. They had a number of brothers that liked to shoot so we would all go together.
It all started and my wife jumped right in. Her younger sister, who had brought these two families together, decided to give it a try once she saw my wife having fun breaking clays. It helped that her new husband was having a great time and we were all taking turns. Well she tried it out and started to break some, too.
Then the wife who had elected to watch from the house, after seeing the two women shoot with smiles, came and asked if she could give it a try. "Absolutely!" we said. A slight pause for a little coaching from a brother-in-law and we were back at it. She broke several and had fun.
*** Have other women there. Seeing them break clays (or even just shoot) is empowering. ***
Chapter 3:
Now we are back to my side of the family with my younger brother's new in-laws. A family with six daughters and the father wants to teach them to do some shooting, feeling bad that he never had before the youngest two were about to graduate from high-school. (My brother had invited his father-in-law to sleep over and go shooting while en route to a bowl game.)
These women were a bit more delicate than my wife. Their father had given them some good basic instructions. They were excited to go to the bowl game, but had little desire to shoot, especially a shotgun. Their father explained they each had to break two clays to earn their ticket for the game. The father had a very nice walnut-stocked semi-auto Browning to use, but they still hesitated.
For some reason, my wife was all fired up to go shooting. I think she just loved to be there with other women. (Note to self to arrange some more of that.) She loads the only shotgun I have and walks up to the firing line and asks, "Can I shoot some clay pigeons?"
Short pause as they all look at her holding a parkerized Mossberg M590-A1 9-round SpecOps-stocked combat shotgun. "Honey, you can do anything you want with that," says the dad. First clay: dusted in one shot. Second clay: shoot-breaks-rack-shoot-breaks biggest remaining piece. After a few more (I was just beaming, and maybe starting to sweat a little for the pressure to perform now) she asked if anyone else wanted to try.
Now the ladies literally lined up to shoot. My wife, with no prodding from me, started to give them pointers on stance and form. "You want to put the back of it right about on your bra-strap." The dad and I looked at each other. "That's one I wouldn't have thought of," we didn't say. And the ladies took it from there. One hesitated a little. My wife suggested,"Just imagine you're a pioneer woman and have to get a rabbit for dinner." With a couple of shots into the tumbleweeds for practice, that proved to be enough encouragement.
Each one shot and broke clays with both guns. The smallest one even PREFERRED the 8-9 pound Mossberg. I think she was the one who mentioned "I don't know if I want to shoot that one; it looks mean." Maybe the extra weight helped reduce recoil.
It was a fun and productive day. All the ladies shot a few different guns, including a .22 handgun, and smiled after breaking a clay pigeon with a 12ga (with light loads). I heard later that a couple of them had bought a .22 target pistol for themselves when they got back home.
*** Have another woman show them AND coach them. Let the men stand back. ***
You can give more pointers later if THEY want. The point at first is to give them enough to be safe and have fun. Note that my wife has not had professional lessons or classes, does not compete, read these forums, go shooting as often as I do, or even talk or think about it as much as I do. She just wanted to have fun and was happy to have other women with her. It works wonders.
Research
