Shooting

I've lived in Minnesota all my life, and one of the big things that a lot of the guys in my family do is hunt. I've never had an affinity for wanting to shoot little creatures, but that's lead to me never even holding a gun before, much less shooting one. A few of my friends had plans to go out to a shooting range, and hearing that I've never touched a gun, invited me along with intention on teaching me. They felt it was necessary to my Minnesotan heritage to at least try, especially when so many hunt here.
I got to learn about the different types of guns, including the one I was going to use- a 20-gauge youth shotgun. Tricked out in a hunting vest weighted down with shells (don't call them bullets- I was told only amateurs do that!) I was very nervous for my first time. The boys were very specific- aim ahead of the target, yell "Pull!" when ready, and keep the gun jammed up against my shoulder so the kick doesn't give me nasty bruises.I was more worried about the fact that I was holding a loaded gun, but after some deep breaths I got in position as the first clay pigeon was released.No dice on hitting my first target, but I was holding the gun so tight from being nervous that I didn't have to worry about it bucking around against me. Score!The boys were almost professional, and it was cool to see clay pigeon after clay pigeon explode in a blast of dust whenever their shot met its match.I was finally successful near the end, as I got more comfortable with the gun and proceeded to hit two clay pigeons at one of the last stations! Not gonna lie- I was pretty excited to see the target blow up both times. I wouldn't mind going again, especially since now that I've been around guns and shot them I'm a little better (though I definitely was still jumpy whenever a loud shot went off near me).
I doubt I'll actually go hunting, but it was still fun to try the whole shooting thing. :)
Knitting update soon, I promise...