My son started doing precision shooting with the American Legion Post 6 shooting team down here in Cheyenne, and he got really good really fast. The Post 6 team has a bunch of equipment the kids can use, all the way from the shooting mat to the suit, and they even have precision rifles. It was all wonderful to get Logan started, but now that he’s knocking on the door of shooting consistent 100-point targets, he needed to step up to the next level.
So he started shooting with the Excaliber Shooting Team, where he can get more advanced coaching from Phillip Dobkins, who is an amazing shooter himself. But as good a shooter as he is, he’s an even better coach. He helped Logan improve his scores by 50 points in only a couple of weeks leading up to the Junior Olympics.
The problem is, Phillip got me shooting, too. I think he set me up with a precision rifle to shoot mainly to get me out of his hair while he was coaching Logan, but he’s now coaching me, too. He keeps telling me I could be competitive, too, though on a much different level than Logan.
So now, as we’re looking at buying a shooting suit, shooting boots, pellet stands, spotting scopes and a precision rifle for Logan, now I’m starting to think about buying all that stuff for myself, too. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of precision shooters do both air rifle and small-bore, which is an incredibly accurate .22 rifle. At least the suit and most everything else can be used for both, but it would require yet another multi-thousand-dollar gun.
I’m hoping Phillip will tell me there’s no hope for me soon. Then I can focus all my attention – and all my spare money – on helping Logan get to the next level.
