Went to a muzzleloading shooting contest Saturday. Very traditional guns, loaded by pouring black powder down the barrel, wrapping a round ball with a patch, and ramming it down. Very slow process. Especially in the COLD.
To explain how I got there Saturday, I have travel back nearly 40 years ago, back when I was a teenager. My brother-in-law, a real history buff, was talking about shooting muzzleloaders with my dad (ex-army), and Dad seemed interested in it. All that was in the back of my mind when I happened to run across a muzzleloader kit at a store one night. So I bought it. Didn’t wait for a birthday, or father’s day, or Christmas— just came home and gave it to him. (I’m sure that he thought I just wanted him to put it together for me!)
He spent a lot of spare time on it. Very meticulous. I know that he was very proud of the way it turned out and seemed excited to want to go shoot. And he did once or twice. But then . . .
Work, family, grandkids, church, volunteering for multiple organizations . . .
Turn the page 30 years. I received a phone call from my dad. Wanted me to come over to the house because he had something he wanted me to have. This was shortly after Dad had been diagnosed with cancer; he was literally “putting his house in order.”
There, on the kitchen table, was the rifle which he had kept all those years in the back of a closet.
“David, I still don’t know exactly why you gave this gift to me, but . . . I just never . . . took the time to shoot it and enjoy it. I want you to have it . . . IF (the words were coming painful slow) you promise to take the time to enjoy it!”
So, I contacted the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association and they introduced me to a couple who invited me to their farm near Friendship, Indiana, for a day of lessons and shooting. Here is the first target I shot wth my Dad’s kit gun. The first shot is the one lower right (I was pretty nervous). The grouping at 6 O’Clock is the next three. Adjusting my elevation, the fifth is the near 10X.
When I got home, Dad was eager to hear the story of the day. I can still remember his smile when I showed him the target.
“We’ll go shooting when you get better,” I promised.
He just smiled and nodded, knowing that we’d never get the chance. We said goodbye to him the following October.
So turn the page 10 more years to this past Saturday. With temperatures only in the 20s, I went shooting. And, like I do every time I shoot, I took the gun Dad built 40 years ago. Funny, there’s usually one guy at these events who looks at my gun and says something like, “You gonna try to compete with that old cheap kit gun?” I just smile and nod. (I know that when I don’t do well it’s always operator error.)
Not that the results are important to me, but I can report that my Dad and I won the match Saturday with that old cheap kit gun. Thank you, Dad.
Carpe Diem Life,
David Kuhn
CarpeDiem-Life.com
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