My sophomore year of college, I was a debutante at the Danse de Noel in my hometown of Greenwood, SC.
As part of our season, each family hosted a party in honor of all the debutantes. For example, my parents hosted a dance lesson for all the debutantes and our escorts so we could learn to waltz and to shag (the state dance) before our debutante ball.
Well.
You know you’re a debutante from South Carolina when one of your debutante parties is a father-daughter skeet shoot.
That was my first time shooting a gun. I was not very good at it.
Until a few weeks ago, that was also my last time shooting a gun.
I’ve mentioned before that Dan and I temporarily rented out a room from a guy in Suwanee. Our landlord Rich quickly became our good friend. He’s a really interesting guy, with a lot of hobbies, but what’s relevant to this story is his status as an NRA instructor.
Rich has been trying to get me to take his beginner’s class for ages, and last weekend, I finally acquiesced. Dan had taken the classroom portion of the beginner’s class before, but this was his first time shooting.
I’m not really sure what I was expecting. I was a little nervous, definitely, about handling a handgun. I was also worried that the classroom portion (3 hours) wouldn’t be enough time to prepare me adequately to use a gun.
It’s not so much that I thought I could actually hurt someone, or be hurt by someone, but I grew up with a very understandable caution around firearms. Not that we ever had them at home, but, again, in South Carolina, guns are just part of life.
To my embarrassment, but not my surprise, my extremely weak hands couldn’t pull the slide on the first handgun Rich picked out for me to borrow. The second gun was a little bigger, but I could pull the slide properly.
After careful classroom instruction, which included learning to handle the guns properly while they were completely unloaded (didn’t even have empty magazines in them), it was finally time to take what we learned onto the shooting range.
Each student had their own partitioned section. Rich set up our paper targets at the 15-foot mark. We all waited for his instruction.
We started by loading just a single bullet into our magazines. After trying that a few times, getting accustomed to the sounds of gunshots around us, we loaded two bullets into our magazines. We gradually worked our way up to loading five bullets. At this point, we were on our own, and we didn’t have to wait for Rich to give us the step-by-step permission.
Well.
I might have finally found a sport at which I excel.
Our class was big enough that we shot in two sections, because not all of us could fit on the range at once. Our class included total novices like me, but also men and women who showed up with their own handguns, who had been shooting for years.
And I outshot them all.
Out of my very first seven shots, five of them were a bullseye.
Yeah.
So Date Night (Date Morning? Date Morning/Afternoon?) at the gun range was a truly excellent idea. We had so much fun that we will be returning. Dan also shot very well, even if he wasn’t quite as accurate as I was.
If I turn pro, I will thank Rich during my victory speech. I never would have discovered my hidden talent without his insistence.
I want to hear from YOU. Married friends, how have you dated your spouse this month? Everyone: have you shot at a gun range before? Leave me a comment!
That is awesome!!! Novice adult shooters oftentimes are the most accurate because they didn’t spend their childhood/teenage years developing bad habits with their shooting. My husband was a Marine, so he’s pretty accurate, but my first time out with him I shot just as well as he did.
Yes, that’s exactly what our instructor said! He was thrilled that many of us were novices so he didn’t have to correct our bad habits.
Unless the red gun that came with old Nintendo systems and the Duck Hunt game counts, then never. I went to university in Georgia and by freshman bf was from Alabama and his grandfather delighted in showing me things that he had killed in my home state x
That’s one way to bond with your grandson’s girlfriend…
Sounds like fun! I can only dream of finding a sport I excel at. I’ve never shot or held a gun, even though they’ve always been around. My dad used to hunt and kept all his stuff, and my boyfriend has a WWII rifle in the closet. Just don’t have any interest!
Ha, I’ve never had any interest either. But when your friend is an NRA instructor, and offers to let you come to the class for free… What can you say? I just had no idea I’d like it so much!
I’ve shot 22 rifles, but nothing else. I’ve witnessed a lot of skeet shooting with shotguns, but never really wanted to participate as I’m not comfortable with guns that size having no training.. I love that you’re a crack shot! My sister’s mother-in-law in South Dakota is a quickdraw champion. Maybe you could try that next!
I had massive bruises after skeet shooting. I was also really bad at it, only getting 3 clay disks. Hand guns are clearly much better for me. I can’t wait to go back and confirm it wasn’t a fluke! I think I’d like to take their intermediate gun classes. Proper instruction makes a big difference!
First of all congrats on your bullseyes! haha no big deal 😉 And I love this. dating out spouses is so important and seriously how fun is this date idea
Definitely one of the perks of moving to a new area is that my husband and I have more opportunities for dates. Moving has kept us very busy, but we still try to spend intentional time together.
This is something that Joe really wants to do! Now that the baby is out of me, we can go sometime and shoot Joe’s gun 😛
If you can take a class, I definitely recommend that. The classroom instruction made a huge difference.
Also congrats on getting that baby out of you. 😉
You are awesome! That makes it so much more fun when you shoot well. Andrew loves going to the gun range, and it was actually one of the first things we ever did together before we started dating. I’ve gone with him a few times since then and it’s always a lot of fun for both of us. It’s great to be able to try doing something he really enjoys and finding that I like it, too.
This looks like a fun date night. Something way different from Netflix and copious amounts of dessert after the kids are in bed.
Visiting from Monday Madness.
This looks so fun–awesome shooting, girl! I’ve never gone shooting at a gun range although I have gone with my husband’s family on their ranch a few times–it’s fun, right! I love that you two did something a little out of the ordinary for your date…thanks so much for linking up with us!
This is awesome — will we see you at Camp Perry one of these days for the National championships?? 😉 My husband is a former competitive shooter and he has taken my daughter and me to the range often. I have a great record, but that is because I usually do well in the beginning…and then I stop! Why mess up a good score?? 🙂 When our daughter was 9, she was on a youth league with lots of boys up to 17. Picture pink jeans, white ruffled socks, pigtails, and consistently beating everyone — they both loved and hated her! 🙂
Oh, and our next date is to an archery range and then to a murder mystery dinner, both gifts I got for my husband for Valentines (we are a little late actually doing them!).
I have always wanted to do this with my husband, but I’m a little scared!!! You seem like a natural! This sounds like such a great date night. Thanks for sharing!!
No. But, the subdivision I grew up in was built over an old armory. That’s probably the closest I’ll ever get! I’d love to take archery lessons with my husband though – I’m the more athletic one in this pairing but I think it’s something we would be well matched at.
We don’t have much of a chance to get out during the semester, but every other week or so we’ll head to a coffee shop for a “study date” – he’ll study and I’ll do work, pay bills, read a book or whatever so that his studying doesn’t have to be a solo activity.
Wow! This sounds like a really interesting experience, but one I might be too scared to have haha. I’ve never shot a gun, and I don’t think my husband has either. He comes from Kentucky and I’m from Pennsylvania where shooting guns is super popular though. Growing up we always got the first day a deer season off from school.
This looks like a lot of fun! I’ve only shot a gun once, but I’d definitely be up for something like this. My husband loves to shoot guns (he grew up on a lot of land and did a lot of hunting), so this would be a great date night idea!
That’s funny – this is what my hubby and I are doing together this Friday on our date! (I’m a better shot naturally, but he gets more practice, so it will be interesting to see where we stand.) I got a kick out of your debutante story!
I’m pretty sure the only time I’ve ever shot a gun was at girl scout camp, and don’t really have any desire to do it again. Although you’re post does make it look like fun. I can’t imagine I’d have anywhere near as good luck as you did though!
This looks like such a fun thing to do for a date! I honestly don’t remember the last time that I went shooting, but it would be fun to take my husband to a shooting range, since I know that he really enjoys it. It might be fun to ask a few of our friends to come along so that we can have some friendly competition like you guys did! Hopefully I end up doing as well as you did 🙂 Thanks for sharing more about your visit to the shooting range! http://www.marconiclaytargetclub.com.au