When I was a kid...me and my buddy's Joe and his brother Bob single handedly put many feathered friends on the close to extrinction list...at least in or own backyards we did There was always suet piles in the winter to attract the spotsies and starlings and we had plenty of shooting fun all year round. All these targets we had over the years carry some fun memories. We and I am sure all of you guys have made or witnessed shots of all kinds...easy, mediocre, difficult, spectacular and some shots that took just the basic shooting skills required to aim and pull a trigger with an exceptional added dose of blind luck.....Enter Billy Montenyahl, another buddy of ours....Probably around 1959 or '60.

We were in Joe's backyard one warm summer day hunting targets of opportunity...birds, chipmunks, butterflies, hovering bumble bees, low IQ squirrels that never learned their lesson on which yards to avoid while travelling the low wires that ran through the entire neighborhood, grasshoppers...you name it and we would shoot it We were in the single digits of age, maybe 10 or 11 and it was open season on everything. We were using Joe's Daisy pump model #25 and taking turns with shots. For some reason Billy got the idea that Joe and me would wait for a relatively easy or at least a shot that was possible and Billy's turn would be used up on some bird or critter that a .22 could not have reached. Here comes a yonder spotsie and it lands on the HIGH wires running through the 'hood These wires were in fact high...They were up there to avoid falling tree's and limbs that could come down in any number of type storms we had in Cleveland, Ohio. Not only was this sparrow up very high, but he was also on the far edge of Joe's backyard...maybe even off his Dad's property a bit. Oh man we told Billy...What a shot that would be That's when Billy said...Oh yea you guys always want me to take my turn on impossible #@+* shots like this. As he was venting his anger towards me and Joe calling us all kinds of names we knew at that age....But, he stepped forward, shouldered the Daisy pump...I can still see his elbow straight out from his body and took the shot. His entire motion and squeezing the trigger probably didn't take two seconds and his cursing us was full throttle through the entire process. The sparrow had to be 60-70 yards from the BB guns muzzle and way up there on the high wire...Billy shoots, we here impact and the spotsie drops like a rock. I wish I had a picture of Billy's face as he handed the pump over to Joe and said...It's your turn now ...with a big smile on his face. We all three ran across the yard to gather up Billy's trophy shot and that sparrow was nailed right in the side of his head. I don't know how it could be in this day and age...but I hope kids are having half the fun we had while growing up way back then.

LOL!

My buddy tells a story about his grandpa shooting a bat. Apparently the bat was flitting around the back porch and was annoying grandpa. He steps inside and brings out a .22 handgun. The very next time the bat flies by he draws down on the dodging darting flying bat and kills it with one shot. He then, without fanfair, tucks the pistol into his belt and sits back down in his rocking chair. A few minutes later another bat comes around and so all the kids say "Grandpa, it's another bat, shoot it!" Grandpa nonchalantly replied, "naw, I like that bat"

I liked that story! It takes me back to the early eighties and my childhood (back when kids could still go off and play and be home by dark all by ourselves). Our weapons were slingshots, and our hunting ground was a long creek near our house. Those are some of the happiest memories in my whole life, and is the reason that I and my buddies still go varminting today - to recapture for just a moment, that sense freedom and mischief.

Cool Grandpa



Yep...We would be gone all day down in the valley fishing, catching craw dads, out playing sofball, taking our BB guns on the bus to some fields way beyond walking or even bicycle riding distance...Come back and say hi Mom, Hi Dad...just another day and looking forward to the next to start all over again...Yes Sir...what fun! talking sling shots...me and Bob were rafting the rain swollen Rocky River...a life and death adventure story in it's own right! But I shot at a crow from the moving raft at a solid 100 yards while he sat at the top of a tree...to our amazemment he fell back on the limb and hung upside down we paddled over there while we watched him fall....a 1/4 inch steel ball went in his eye and out the top of his head

Great stories guys! That's what it's all about. The times we spent as kids that you just can't do anymore. I still live next to the creek I played at as a kid. I'm closer to it now but it was like Sherwood Forrest to me and my band of friends. We fished it, caught crawdads, hunted along it and even swam in it beneath the old bridge they just replaced. That old bridge had been there for 98 years and the city decided they better remove it before it could be made a historical landmark. I spent many a day down along the creek hunting quail, pheasants, rabbits and squirrels with my trusty Sheridan pellet rifle. It's funny but I might forget someones name from a few years ago but I can tell you story after story about time spent out hunting with my pellet rifle. The thrill of first animals taken with my bow and arrows too. I'd be afraid to let a child go out and do what we did as kids in the early 60's. If you saw a kid today riding their bike with a pellet rifle the SWAT team would be called out. We thought nothing of hopping the train near us and riding it down to the river or into town. I was telling my uncle the other day about catching the train down to my great aunt's house in town. He said I thought you rode your bike there when you visited? Well I had my bike but I threw it on the flat cars first before getting off on the big curve going into town. If I'd said I rode the train I would have had my butt blistered. It was just a simpler time. But there was drama too. A friend and I were playing in a field behind our houses when we came upon a hobo sleeping under our tree fort. The old state highway was only a few hundred yards behind our yards and in those days hobos from the railroad made their way along there looking for odd jobs or doing some urban camping. Well this guy wasn't friendly and wanted money from us. Being the tough guys we were we told him to leave or we'd call the cops! To our total amazement he pulled a pocket knife out and threw it at us. It took us a second to process what had just happened and then I saw the knife sticking out of my friends leg. He started screaming and the guy turned to run. I grabbed Dennis and threw him on my bike and headed for the fire station at the end of our street. I told them what had happened and they took care of Dennis while I went with two of them in the fire truck to look for the bad guy. They had called the sheriff and we drove down the highway looking for the bad guy. I spotted him and pointed him out and the fight was on. I'd never seen a real fist fight before. It wasn't like the cowboy saloon fights on TV. They were really going at it I was excited but scared too. It was one of my most exciting memories and Dennis was upset because he missed it. But I stayed clear of the field for awhile. Those firemen were like my second family after that because my aunt raised me and she worked as a nurse during the days. They always looked after me from then on. In fact they were sometimes worse than parents making me eat vegetables when I ate dinner over there. I wouldn't trade those times for anything we had some great times. Sorry I got off topic there. But if I told you my most amazing airgun shot you wouldn't believe me.

.... ...That was a good read and great story in it's own rights John...but come back on and tell us that tale we won't believe That's the beauty of growing up in them days...half the stuff we done, we never should have lived or survived through...it's almost all unbelievable

Things like this are why I love this forum! I'm one of the young guys here, I only just recently turned 20, so I missed the years when being a kid with a gun was a good thing. It is great to hear stories like these and live vicariously through you guys. Keep those stories coming!