Musings of the Rookie Part 1: Setting Goals
Author: Rob Ridley, Rookie
I’ve been a member at Silver Willow for a couple of years now. I was hooked at a corporate shoot, and apparently, the Day family have not heard of barbless hooks because I can’t shake this one. I started with a 25 year old 870 Express that had been abused for decades in a wet scabbard on back country patrols. I hope that says something about what can work for this game. My (patrol) partner still shoots an 870 and holds his own well thank you. I’ll talk more in future submissions about equipment – but it doesn’t take much to get started.
It wasn’t far in that I decided to book one of Silver Willow’s instructors for a few lessons. I was getting whooped by my boss, at the corporate shoots. He was using an old goose gun and like many hunters, in horizontal cold rain, soaked to the skin with raindrops dripping off his glasses, he couldn’t miss.
The first question my instructor asked was “What do you want to accomplish?” More ducks? Bird dog hunting? Competition? Break more clay targets than I do now? Goal setting. Awesome! My answer was to break more clay targets than I do currently. I really like shooting, but I LOVE shooting well.
Silver Willow has more certified instructors that anywhere else in Canada. They may tell you “where” you missed but the more valuable guidance is “why” you missed. More in my next submission about how I approached meeting the goals the instructor identified.
Rob Ridley
Rookie!