Shooting--Truly a He-Man's pastime

Title

Language

English

Year

1939

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

6 THE MARKSMAN July, 1939 SHOOTING--Truly a He-Man's Pastime [By E .• J. CARBALLO] Shooting, whether with pistol, rifle or shotgun, is always a he-man's pastime. Not infrequently, though, we see a timid fellow pick up the shooting game. He starts with a .22 caliber pistol or rifle. Soon he gets used to the smell of burnt powder and to the crack of the tiny bullets. Pretty soon he does not even notice the noise of the explosions and this enables him to align his sights well at the bottom of the bulls' eye and to squeeze the trigger when it registers exactly tangent at six o'clock. Because he is now called to shoot side by side with veteran shooters, his ears soon become accustomed to the .30's, .32's, .38's anll also the .45's. Furthermore, he finds that tl}.ese "big" shooters suffer no harm and it is somewhat invigorating to see the hand that holds the pistol jerk high as the calibers recoil, or the body of the rifleman swing back as the high power delivers its kick. Before we know it, the appare-ntly "effeminate" fellow is shifting to a bigger caliber and except for every_ day excessive practice, which calls fo1· the economical .22's, the higher caHbers have become hiS favorite irons. Timid fellows have not i)nly graduated into he-men in this fashion, but such j s the true course of the training of every worthwhile shot in all departments of pistol and rifle '.shooting. Provided that the shooter's pocket book does not prohibit it, the good shot win seldom . remain a target shooter only. He will soon get tired of shooting at stationary objects. He will want to match wits with the denizens of the wild and the wasteland. There seems to be no way 'by which he could graduate from the pistol and rifle ranges into God's open country, so he listens to the hunting stories of his fellow shooters or reads hunting accounts in outdoor magazines. To those shooter3 who are yet to graduate into hunters, THE MARKSMAN will have a definite appeal. In its pages, stories of wing_ ,shooting-the most royal of them all is the snipe hunt-will be told. Tales of hunting virgin plains and mountains for wild boars, deer, tamaraos, and the wild carabaos, will also be told. The he-man shooter cannot turn a deaf ear to the~ calls of the wild. He may start hard and bring home no trophy but he will always want to go back to God's great out-of-doors, where the brook is clear, the night dark and quiet, and man's instinct to exist by overcoming his quarry is once more supreme in the great struggle for survival. The NRP A Pistol Team that won in the last Inter Club Pistol Competition, held in Cebu on April 30, 1939. Kneeling front left: H. T. Castelo and Dr. J. C. Alberto. Standing: Teddy Kalaw and R. Villamor.

Media