Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Getting Old Stinks!
I am getting old; there is no way to avoid it. I am finding that when I get hurt, it takes longer to heal. I don't have the stamina I once had and my eyes continue to deteriorate. I have been noticing that things just didn't look as clear at distance as they used to. I first noticed it at last month's club shoot when all of my longer distance targets ranged about 5 yards longer than the actual distance. Of course then I thought it was something with my scope. The day after the match I tested my scope markings and found that the scope was still measuring accurately but the zero mark just moved left a 1/4" from the original mark. I shot the Good Ole Boys match with using my new mark and it worked fine, at least a good as it could in the rain!
I finally got the eye doctor last night and found that my eyes had indeed changed. However the surprise is that they actually have gotten a little bit better! Over all my vision was 20/100 but now it is 20/80. Go figure. My Optometrist told me that this sometimes happens with people in the early 40s and it could be a result of my swearing off caffeine and sweets. Either way I hope that this trend continues to the point where I don't have to wear glasses anymore. Fat chance of that really happening but weirder things have happened!
I have also noticed over the past year or two that I am finding it more difficult to contort my body into my over the arm position for field target. I get fatigued faster than I used to and can’t hold near as steady. I have heard from some of my senior shooting friends that this trend only gets worse. Boo hoo. I am thinking of trying a whole new shooting position, perhaps standing on my head. Maybe not. I do think I will try shooting off my knee again for a while. I used to shoot my Falcon FN19 off my knee and did pretty well with it. However I think I would like to try the Tom Price method and actually rest my hand on my knee and then rest the gun on my hand. I shot a lane at the GOB match this way and cleaned the lane. I found it to be a much more comfortable position but I move a lot more. With some practice I may be able to get it to work.
I doubt I will go the route of the straight jacket or straps just yet. I don’t care enough about winning to go there yet. I just enjoy the challenge of shooting the targets as is and if I don’t win, well that’s ok. I expect that as time rolls on my scores will drop but the fun won’t so I will keep shooting and keep having fun, no matter how old I get!
I finally got the eye doctor last night and found that my eyes had indeed changed. However the surprise is that they actually have gotten a little bit better! Over all my vision was 20/100 but now it is 20/80. Go figure. My Optometrist told me that this sometimes happens with people in the early 40s and it could be a result of my swearing off caffeine and sweets. Either way I hope that this trend continues to the point where I don't have to wear glasses anymore. Fat chance of that really happening but weirder things have happened!
I have also noticed over the past year or two that I am finding it more difficult to contort my body into my over the arm position for field target. I get fatigued faster than I used to and can’t hold near as steady. I have heard from some of my senior shooting friends that this trend only gets worse. Boo hoo. I am thinking of trying a whole new shooting position, perhaps standing on my head. Maybe not. I do think I will try shooting off my knee again for a while. I used to shoot my Falcon FN19 off my knee and did pretty well with it. However I think I would like to try the Tom Price method and actually rest my hand on my knee and then rest the gun on my hand. I shot a lane at the GOB match this way and cleaned the lane. I found it to be a much more comfortable position but I move a lot more. With some practice I may be able to get it to work.
I doubt I will go the route of the straight jacket or straps just yet. I don’t care enough about winning to go there yet. I just enjoy the challenge of shooting the targets as is and if I don’t win, well that’s ok. I expect that as time rolls on my scores will drop but the fun won’t so I will keep shooting and keep having fun, no matter how old I get!
