The Zen of Shooting...

Alternate title: It's impossible to be stressed out while shooting a magnum handgun...

I noticed something at the 2008 Northeast Bloggershoot. Actually, it's something I've known for a long time: Shooting is therapeutic. Whenever I leave the range, the knot of stress in the back of my neck is gone (usually back within minutes of getting back to work on Monday, but I digress...)

The discipline, self-control, and sheer fun of a trip to the range is wonderful relaxation. I try to bring at least one "fun" firearm with me every time I go, even if I'm going for defensive practice. .22LR is excellent for this particular aspect, as it's cheap to shoot (even recently) so I'm not seeing dollar signs with every trigger pull (like with .44 magnum). Plinking is by far my favorite - a row of tin cans, my pump-action Winchester 1906, and there's hours of shootie goodness for mere pennies.

Going to the range in a group (like the Bloggershoot) offers a different type of fun (as evidenced by certain videos of certain gun bloggers attacking certain effigies with bayonets...) than shooting alone; just as shooting on a private range by yourself can be fun in a different way than on a line of shooters. I cannot recall ever having a bad day at the range (now, I've done some bad shooting, that's for certain...). Some days are better than others - I've found when I'm shooting good I enjoy it more (well, DUH) - but anytime I can squeeze in some trigger time is a good time for me.

Whether I'm emptying a defensive pistol into a silhouette target at 21 feet, sighting in a red dot sight at 25 yards, or shooting clays in the field, I'm guaranteed to get in my car at the end of the day feeling relaxed, serene, and at peace with myself and the world. The stress of daily life has melted away, spreadsheets and bills replaced by holes on paper, or busted clays, or holey tin cans. My demeanor is improved, my outlook sunnier.

Until the first idiot cuts me off, but that's a different story...

That is all.