My daughter let me know that she thinks chuck shooting w/her contender 17 Hornet barrel is where she wants to start hunting, before going deer hunting with her 7-30 Waters barrel next year.
Not that she can't shoot the 7-30 well, she said she wants to start on chucks so she gets real good at making sure that she is not going to shoot a deer in the wrong place, like the leg or something. Shooting at an animal is different than shooting at a target is what she told me.
She also said: There are a lot of chucks and I can decide if I think I can make the shot without hitting him in the leg or something before I decide to shoot. With deer, you have to take the shot that is there or another one may not come along. With chucks, it will not be too long before we get another chuck to shoot at. She wants to get good enough that she can make tricky shots like daddy makes on chucks before she goes deer hunting.
The girl has a lot of confidence in her daddy's ability to find vibrant chuck colonies on demand. She doesn't know that daddy saves up the colonies that he takes her along on shoots. When daddy goes alone, sometimes daddy sets up and waits for five hours in the morning just to get a shot or two at chucks. That is how daddy got real good at making tricky shots. Ya' takes what ya' gets.
In her mind, if daddy says we are going chuck shooting we are just going to head out and find a place that looks good and there will have to be a lot of chucks showing up and daddy is going to get a shot every five minutes. It is refreshing to know that when daddy goes deer hunting, he may be gone all weekend without getting a shot.
She worked her tail off to get a license so she can hunt, instead of just spot, and she is excited to be able to shoot next season. It is so nice to see that she has thought this through, and at seven years old.