Shooting Fun!

A poor choice and a bad example of a target. 

My last post was on insect hunting and the one before on a tiny BB slingshot I made.  It seems I'm  thinking small scale shooting fun lately.  

Like most people I have a lot of "stuff" I seldom use.  I sort of rediscover some of it from time to time.  I found some little metal silhouette targets which I'd forgotten about. Rounded up some CO2, pellets, and my old Crosman 357 pellet revolver and... It wouldn't hold a charge! The seals were bad, probably due to years with little oil on them.  I went for a slingshot in the truck and shot silhouette targets with it.

Very few people would call shooting a .460 Weatherby Magnum fun.  That round's recoil could possibly register on the Richter Earthquake scale.  Most of us want something mild, cheap, and less serious when shooting for fun.

The .22 rimfire has long been 'the' fun round to shoot, but places to shoot and ammunition is harder to find than when I was a boy. The quieter, lower power rimfires, air guns, bows, slingshots... can sometimes  offer more shooting opportunities, more safety, and less chance of disturbing the neighbors.

I personally don't shoot actual targets unless I'm sighting in a gun, checking some loads for accuracy... I find bullseye targets boring unless there is competition or something to add interest.  On the other hand I enjoy walking around and plinking at random cans, leaves, berries, wild flowers, pods, sticks, chunks of dirt, insects, or other pest...

Things which break or explode make hits more exciting. We all know we shouldn't shoot and break glass because it creates a hazard which is there forever.  You can buy clay targets made for shooting. Food items such as cookies, crackers, candy... make good biodegradable targets which will break or  explode.  Plastic containers or cans filled with water can also be fun.

A target which moves adds to the fun.  Balloons can be used in numerous ways, hanging or blowing in the wind. When using a repeating gun you can try to keep a can rolling on the ground.  Cans or plastic containers hanging on a string are a simple way to add interest.

For moving target practice with a bow I've used a tough rubber ball rolled along the ground.  Some such balls can take numerous arrow hits if you use rubber blunt tipped arrows.

With a big lawn I've found judo arrow tips and old golf balls make a good combination. I don't go back and forth retrieving arrows. I throw the golf ball and shoot a few arrows, walk to retrieve the arrows and throw the ball again for a new target.

The golf ball is easy to throw and makes a small but visible target in short grass. The range is somewhat random and unknown. Good practice for shooting and range estimation. Tough golf balls last forever since I rarely hit but often hit close to keep it interesting.