What keeps you shooting?

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Project guns don't attract me. If I were mechanically gifted, they probably would, though.

I enjoy the hyperfocus aspect of shooting, whether it is plinking cans or working on my accuracy with paper targets. It is a brief respite from what often feels like a manically distractive, jangling world that competes for my attention and energy. SCREW THAT! I keep my phone turned off for long periods and never have it near me when shooting (and almost never when doing anything outdoors).

Besides, I like watching things go flying upon impact--sometimes in odd ways--and hearing the various timbres of objects getting punched. More recently, I was fascinated how a hit behind a ground squirrel's shoulder made it freeze with eye widened in shock, before it keeled over on its side. It won't be something I try to do more than necessary, but I admit that for sheer reactiveness, it ranks way up there.

Good thing I didn't didn't start as a young girl...
 
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RM100GUY said:
Shooting groups like these off my knee with .177 CPHPs at 39 measured yards (I double checked before I made this post), with a new to me gun that arrive not shooting quite up to snuff, rare and surprising to me for a Taipan Veteran not to put a smile on my face right off the bat. Not being familiar with .177 Vets I embraced the challenge. I gave the barrel a good polishing and adjusted the trigger to my standards and just started shooting the snot out of it and getting to know the platform...Full disclosure....I hate, from the highest mountain tops, working on guns...but doesn't mean I can't, lol. Each outing I saw improvement, different pellets and speeds and I found this with 7.9 Crosman hollow points of all things. The tighter group was first, one of the better groups I've printed unbenched....waited for a while and shot another ten shot group to "back up" and verify the first, slight wind caused the fliers....177s nemesis wind, but eight out of ten were in there. This particular Vet does well with 13.43s as well but oddly enough not the 10.34s...go figure. I never get tired of shooting small groups in cardboard or wood ect. I have no "pests" on our 10ac's...My wife refers to them as "pets", please note the crows that my wife feeds...even has 'em named, with one of my target boards in the background...they often sit and watch me shoot, not the cattle egret he's not tame yet. My wife spends more money on bird feed than I do on pellets! I just consider them my shooting buddies.

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I like crows. There, I said it. They and many other bird species watch us and figure out if we intend to shoot them. Nuthatches here actually would fly closer to me when I start shooting, or even when I come outside with rifle in hand. I occasionally put peanuts in trees for them. Flycatchers and swallows also appear to know they can remain in the surrounding area when I practice. Maybe the sound of the shots even causes gnats and flies to swarm upward when I'm practicing. I would never try to hurt any birds except for one invasive species (collared dove).
 
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jetpopt said:
I like crows. There, I said it. They and many other bird species watch us and figure out if we intend to shoot them. Nuthatches here actually would fly closer to me when I start shooting, or even when I come outside with rifle in hand. I occasionally put peanuts in trees for them. Flycatchers and swallows also appear to know they can remain in the surrounding area when I practice. Maybe the sound of the shots even causes gnats and flies to swarm upward when I'm practicing. I would never try to hurt any birds except for one invasive species (collared dove).
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I really love crows as a young boy I had a pair of pet crows and I thank they are the smartest bird. Charles
 
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jetpopt said:
I like crows. There, I said it. They and many other bird species watch us and figure out if we intend to shoot them. Nuthatches here actually would fly closer to me when I start shooting, or even when I come outside with rifle in hand. I occasionally put peanuts in trees for them. Flycatchers and swallows also appear to know they can remain in the surrounding area when I practice. Maybe the sound of the shots even causes gnats and flies to swarm upward when I'm practicing. I would never try to hurt any birds except for one invasive species (collared dove).
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Oh yeah I don’t shoot any corvids. Just collared doves, turkey(in season for food), quail(same thing) and starlings. Starlings are also invasive you should shoot them.
 
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Cantona256 said:
Oh yeah I don’t shoot any corvids. Just collared doves, turkey(in season for food), quail(same thing) and starlings. Starlings are also invasive you should shoot them.
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Starlings and house sparrows abound in nearby pastures and aggie properties, yet they almost never fly to our property despite proximity. I think our forested and brushy/wild land harbors too many natural predators for them to feel comfortable. Euro doves, OTOH, continually try to expand their turf.

The catch is that the most visible place they perch is usually on either a power line or on the poles that suspend the lines. Let's see...shooting from a road, shooting within 50' of a road, shooting at the utility company's property, possible damage caused to said property...nope not gonna go there!

Also, I want to get better at shooting higher upward than I've practiced. Hey, there's another reason to keep me shooting. 🤓

And Charles, I envy your having had pet crows! So many times I have wished I could know if my guess at their thoughts is correct. All the corvids are fascinating to observe both as individuals and as group members.
 
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jetpopt said:
Starlings and house sparrows abound in nearby pastures and aggie properties, yet they almost never fly to our property despite proximity. I think our forested and brushy/wild land harbors too many natural predators for them to feel comfortable. Euro doves, OTOH, continually try to expand their turf.

The catch is that the most visible place they perch is usually on either a power line or on the poles that suspend the lines. Let's see...shooting from a road, shooting within 50' of a road, shooting at the utility company's property, possible damage caused to said property...nope not gonna go there!

Also, I want to get better at shooting higher upward than I've practiced. Hey, there's another reason to keep me shooting. 🤓

And Charles, I envy your having had pet crows! So many times I have wished I could know if my guess at their thoughts is correct. All the corvids are fascinating to observe both as individuals and as group members.
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Are you aware of https://reddit.com/r/crowbro ?
 
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beerthief said:
I love to shoot . Targets the smaller the better, repeatable precise shots . If my pellet is not totally inside a ring then it counts the lower number . .
a 10 center with the outside edge of the pellet cutting the line is a nine for me .
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You sound like my niece when she shoots the 30 yard challenge. If the dot in the center is not replaced by a hole, it’s a 9. She asked me to check other people’s scores because she was getting frustrated. I said those scores are not reflecting perfection. She’s had plenty of perfect scores, just not in her book. I accomplished it once with a slug gun. Won’t try again. I was never so focused in my life. The stress after the centers of row two disappeared was almost to the point I wanted to quit while ahead. I don’t know how BR guys do it. I’d become an alcoholic.
 
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Almost MOA, 10 at 25 yards with my HW95L .22.

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