People who don’t understand the difference between: “Take me shooting” vs “Go shooting with you”
It’s the difference between “Cook me dinner” and “Have dinner with me”.
Case in point – my buddy texts me and says “Go shooting with me”. Ok, great. We go to the range, he sets up his targets and shoots, I set up my targets and shoot. He works on his gun, I work on my gun. We have some informal target practice. But we each have a good time and get to spend time doing our own thing.
Contrast that with “Take me shooting” which, when someone says that, means “Take me to the range, and make me the center of attention where everything is done for me and you get to accomplish nothing you want to accomplish. Hand me guns and ammo, you set up targets, watch me shoot, and make sure I have a good time.”
Now, I don’t mind taking people shooting if Im aware ahead of time that thats what Im doing. But saying “Let’s go shooting this weekend” and then have me be your personal instructor, target puller, brass catcher, gun fixer, and program director is not what that phrase means. When you say ‘lets go shooting”, to me, that means Im going to get to spend some time behind a gun and work on my own stuff as you work on yours and we’ll do some stuff together.
This is why I keep my circle of shooting buddies small. And why I usually go to the range alone.
+1 in a ‘uge, large way. My time to get to a range is limited, therefore when I’m there I’m usually tweaking/breaking in more than one firearm. I’ve no time to be your Go-4 and tell you what you are going wrong. They have coaches for that, oh you want me to coach? I need you to AT LEAST get lunch.
GF gets free range time but that is worked out elsewhere.
We have a beautiful 1,000 yard range 10 minutes from my place. I’m a member, but to be alone, relax, and have a great time I go alone to a place 20 minutes in the other direction where I have a great place on the desert. I can shoot at known distances and be alone, unless I bring my wife or one or two of the kids.
Recently had a range experience with some guys and gals from work (gotta love the south). The girls needed help loading magazines and some handling instructions…but they were cute and looked pretty damn good holding firearms…got to use my new Scalarworks optic mount…worth every penny…
Tomato, Tomatoe, does it really matter. Nobody that I know brings a friend along who doesn’t want his alone with the sight picture and target. You’re not playing doubles in tennis, you are competing against one person, yourself, to better your last trip out to the range.