“Don’t let him get hurt.” Those were my sister-in-law’s last words to my brother-in-law before we went out the door. My brother-in-law and my father-in-law decided I needed to learn how to shoot a rifle and that they were the ones to teach me how to do it. We kind of laughed at her words and headed out to the countryside to fire off some rounds with various rifles and pistols.

It was a lot of fun, and I was a pretty good shot. We worked our way from smaller calibers to a .270 deer rifle. While a .270 is still fairly light for a deer rifle, it was more than I was ready for that day. I sighted up my target, took a breath, squeezed the trigger and, after the shot, felt a tinge of pain right between my eyes. I had not given myself enough eye relief, and the rifle’s recoil had sent the scope right into my face. I wasn’t hurt, except for my pride, and it was more funny than painful. But the scope had sliced my skin and left me with a bruise and some blood, so there was no escaping the ridicule that was coming, especially given my sister-in-law’s admonition before we left. [Read more…] about Zero to Hunt, Part One: Shooting