When those squirrels , big greys, start climbing on the bird feeder, I have a 9 mil pistol I can't shoot well.I need range time , but here in Vermont , my property can be my range.
After watching 15 grey squirrels raid the feeders and keep all avians away, I got out the nine mil and took 5 of them in 20 minutes, expending too much ammo ( 15 rounds at 30 yards) . Now the greys feed only on the ground.
Range time, ya can't beat it.
Heh heh. Fortunately, we don't have too many squirrels here on the other side of the Connecticut River, just a whole lot of chipmunks, which the bobcat and fisher cat population seems to keep in check.
Being able to see is right up there with range time. In my younger days I could hit a three inch circle at fifty feet, each time every time, shooting offhand, using a .22 revolver. No training or range time, just one of those fortunate people born with hand-eye coordination that permitted me to look and shoot, hitting whatever I was looking at, without sighting.
Then my eyes changed. Today I couldn't hit a target that small with a shotgun, and wouldn't give odds for a hand grenade.
Oddly enough, that talent never translated into long guns. The only way I've ever been able to hit something with a rifle was to sneak up on it and beat it to death with the butt.