Indlovu
Well-Known Member
At the risk of posting in the wrong section, I’d like to share a personal experience and pose a training question:
Over here in Germany, a valid “Jagdschein” is required to stalk and shoot. Apart from basic requirements incl. a clean criminal record and minimum mandatory training, one has to be at least 15-and-a-half years old to attend the exam, 16 to be issued the Jugendjagdschein (youth) or 18 for the full version, which allows one to buy and own rifles, guns and handguns. I consider myself very fortunate that our 17–year-old son qualified a year-and-a-half ago and that we’ve shared many wonderful outings together, recently with the added luxury of him carting me around, now that he has his learner’s driving licence.
To top it all, our 16-year-old daughter is keen to qualify too and has registered for a Jagdschein-course in summer. That said, she had never shot before... until yesterday. Given the current COVID-19-lockdown restrictions, finding time at the range is well nigh impossible. I called an acquaintance, who is the head of one of our local clubs and an experienced shooting coach, and was able to book a couple of hours with him for my daughter. He also suggested that my son and I were welcome to join and could train separately.
The weather was perfect (following the winter freeze) and we had the entire range just to ourselves. What a privilege! My son and I trained with our two rifles on both fixed and moving (“Keiler”/boar) targets, finishing with a good practice session with our new Viper Flex sticks, which I sourced from SGArms on this site (Thanks, Steve, they’re great!), see attached pic.
When we caught up with my daughter at half-time, she was thrilled! Sat at a bench, with a borrowed Helix in .223, she had scored only 9s and 10s with good groups. I was relieved that her first session had gone so well, given that she had no prior experience whatsoever. However, the second half of her session (free-standing rifle on the moving boar and skeet) was not that successful... being of slight build, she simply wasn’t strong enough to lift and hold either the rifle or shotgun. She realises that it’s not the end of the road, but merely an early reality check, well ahead of her course in summer, and that she has work to do to improve her strength and condition.
And thus to my question: besides general strength and conditioning exercises, can you recommend specific exercises or routines for shooting? I haven’t turned to internet searches yet, but perhaps there are experienced coaches and shots in the forum who are willing to share advice and recommendations, or members who have followed specific rehab routines after injuries or surgery.
Many thanks and best regards,
Indlovu
Over here in Germany, a valid “Jagdschein” is required to stalk and shoot. Apart from basic requirements incl. a clean criminal record and minimum mandatory training, one has to be at least 15-and-a-half years old to attend the exam, 16 to be issued the Jugendjagdschein (youth) or 18 for the full version, which allows one to buy and own rifles, guns and handguns. I consider myself very fortunate that our 17–year-old son qualified a year-and-a-half ago and that we’ve shared many wonderful outings together, recently with the added luxury of him carting me around, now that he has his learner’s driving licence.
To top it all, our 16-year-old daughter is keen to qualify too and has registered for a Jagdschein-course in summer. That said, she had never shot before... until yesterday. Given the current COVID-19-lockdown restrictions, finding time at the range is well nigh impossible. I called an acquaintance, who is the head of one of our local clubs and an experienced shooting coach, and was able to book a couple of hours with him for my daughter. He also suggested that my son and I were welcome to join and could train separately.
The weather was perfect (following the winter freeze) and we had the entire range just to ourselves. What a privilege! My son and I trained with our two rifles on both fixed and moving (“Keiler”/boar) targets, finishing with a good practice session with our new Viper Flex sticks, which I sourced from SGArms on this site (Thanks, Steve, they’re great!), see attached pic.
When we caught up with my daughter at half-time, she was thrilled! Sat at a bench, with a borrowed Helix in .223, she had scored only 9s and 10s with good groups. I was relieved that her first session had gone so well, given that she had no prior experience whatsoever. However, the second half of her session (free-standing rifle on the moving boar and skeet) was not that successful... being of slight build, she simply wasn’t strong enough to lift and hold either the rifle or shotgun. She realises that it’s not the end of the road, but merely an early reality check, well ahead of her course in summer, and that she has work to do to improve her strength and condition.
And thus to my question: besides general strength and conditioning exercises, can you recommend specific exercises or routines for shooting? I haven’t turned to internet searches yet, but perhaps there are experienced coaches and shots in the forum who are willing to share advice and recommendations, or members who have followed specific rehab routines after injuries or surgery.
Many thanks and best regards,
Indlovu
