i dont do much shooting, and i have never shot an actual gun (i do own a few Co2 pellet guns however) but i would really like to get into target shooting as a hobby. it seems like something i would enjoy!
Archery is pretty cool. Done that a few times since they often have it set up at public events in parks etc. As longs as you practice some form of common sense its fairly safe, just make sure you have an arm guard so you don't knacker the skin on your arm/wrists.
i have tried archery in the past, and its just not something i enjoyed. i can see the draw to it, and where the fun is. im just not very good with a bow and arrow
I did it a couple times at the formerly famous greenhills adventure park in South Australia but that has now been shut down and assets sold off. You can buy a simple recurve bow with a couple arrows for about $100 at the shops near me. Anything more than a recurve bow (first picture) or the compound bow(second picture) and it starts to take away from the skills needed for archery. I am referring to the last picture which olympians and hardcore archers use and it starts to ruin the fun of archery because the aids do most of the works for you.
I've never shot a bow, not a real one worth a damn anyway. I've got several friends who do all their hunting with compound bows, which brings me onto another point of aggravation with this state. I can't use a rifle to hunt deer with, because Illinois says that there is too much risk of the bullet continuing through the animal and onto somewhere else. However, they don't see any problem with me vaporizing squirrels with my .308. Here's another fun fact about Illinois ; Say you live in Missouri, and you've got a handgun in the trunk of you car, in an overnight bag, a backpack, or what have you, and a couple of boxes of rounds in the trunk as well. Well, first off, Illinois will not recognize your CCW permit, secondly, if the trunk was not locked, you would get ticketed for having and "unsecured firearm" and third, the ammo being in the same trunk as the firearm itself, is big, big no-no in Illinois, It needs to be in it's own separate locked container. Why is all this? Because very little governing occurs in Springfield, the capital, and most of it happens in Chicago, where the money is, and all the politicians listen only to the highest bidder and the votes don't matter. Another fun fact, over 90% of gun crimes commited in this state happen in Chicago, why is this odd? Because Chicago has a total gun ban. Funny how banning the legally owned guns didn't effect what happened with the illegal ones.' I didn't plan on making this long of a post, it's just that gun laws are one of maybe three topics that I get this vocal about.
Illinois gun laws are pretty backwards. Wisconsin isn't bad, which is nice. I don't personally hunt or shoot guns as a hobby, but I have plenty of friends who do. Some of my family in Indiana takes the cake with coolest guns though. 2 Barrett .50 Cal rifles. One's aluminum, while the other one is steel(?). I was lucky enough to be able to shoot one at my Cousin's graduation party.
Ever seen someone bumpfire a Barret? It's a spectacle. I've got a buddy who has, and has attempted to carry, a .500 S&W, that I can only assume he uses to down small aircraft and go Brontosaurus hunting. What great is when you see this guy, he's maybe 110 soaking wet, and he's got this massive revolver on his hip that looks like it's going to pull him down just with it's own weight. It's the only thing I've ever not wanted to shoot, I enjoy having unbroken bones in my hands.
One of my Uncle's friends emptied a whole clip on the Barrett while standing. It would be harder to do that with a .500 S&W though, because the Barrett absorbs a lot of the recoil when it loads the next round I was surprised by how little it kicked. It was ridiculously loud though
A Barrett 95 came into a gun store in town about a year back, the price wasn't bad and I seriously considered buying it for a while. I suppose I was eventually deterred by the fact that no ranges around here allow anything over like a .338, and the rounds are just too friggin' expensive.
I don't think any of my local ranges allow them either. My family has a lot of land where they were shooting their guns. The .50 still shook all the windows on their house (and their neighbors house) though
Many think pellet guns are not manly enough, there is no big boom. However skill required to get accuracy with them is bit of an art form. I shoot paper target for score to 164ft with my .22 cal pellet gun and I find it quite interesting and challenging. From that distance every tiny bit changes things a lot and rifle is cheap scoped Hatsan Striker AR Vortex with only around 866fps (if I remember correctly), would be a lot easier with PCP rifle. Still, after finding well working pellet (H&N Field target trophy copper plated) shooting shorter distances with that became boring.
Guess what I found browsing the members section... No, I did not make this account, and I joined in September of last year. I'm wondering who I pissed off...
