The hits and the misses

David Turner reflects on his shooting life and what made him the man he is today.

I often refer to being or becoming a ‘well-rounded’ shot. You might ask what that means. Writing this during isolation at a time of unprecedented uncertainty and worry for the future led me to think about my own shooting life in search of answers. I hope it helps my fellow shooters relate to their own experiences and perhaps pick up a thing or two. In most cases, when we are learning a skill we need to go through the process of experiencing the rights, wrongs and the ups and downs for ourselves. Yes, we can glean a huge amount of information from the internet and books but it is not the same as first-hand experiences.

How I started

It all started for me at 19, when I moved from Tooting in south-west London to the Midlands. I was always fascinated with guns and shooting (not seen too much on Tooting High Street) and a visit to the local shop in Albrighton found me putting a deposit on my first gun. It was a single-barrelled 12-bore made by the Firearms Company, Bridgwater and I paid the grand sum of £12 10/6d (£12.53p) for it. At this stage, I couldn’t possess it as I didn’t have a licence but that was soon to follow.

The policeman who eventually issued my licence introduced me to a local keeper on the Weston Park estate. He was tasked with getting me into the sport, which involved him putting me in a hedge line, where I stood for hours waiting for an unlucky pigeon to come my way. I can’t remember ever shooting one.