Fat Woman gets her gun

Fat Woman is doing the Olympic Gold Challenge and has to get coaching in five new sports. Fat Woman chose the sports so she didn't spend hundreds of pounds to raise hundreds of pounds. The one sport Fat Woman had wanted to try for a while so was prepared to pay for was clay pigeon shooting.

Personal Trainer is apparently a crack shot and was very encouraging, even suggesting that he would go shooting with Fat Woman. Fat Woman can't vouch for Personal Trainer's clays but the pheasants he shot for her were excellently done. Swimming Coach also shoots and joined the gun club after Fat Woman took him there for a visit. Fat Woman had to sit down for ten minutes after being presented with the idea of Swimming Coach and Personal Trainer being competitive together with guns in their hands. 


Fat Woman now has two certificates from the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association showing that she has been taught general safety and "shotgun skills". There was a lot of time spent on safety and law and background, but Fat Woman also got to shoot some clays. Fat Woman likes shooting clays. Fat Woman is no natural but wasn't bad at the learning process. By the time Fat Woman had shot fifty cartridges she was able to hit both birds of a pair. One pair were both left to right and one pair was a left to right followed by a teal (flies straight up from the ground).

Fat Woman had an embarrassing moment when she shot at a broken clay. The rabbit (rolls along close to the ground) had broken when it bounced but Fat Woman hadn't noticed. It was a beautiful shot, but the senior coach was very gruff about it. It is super-against the rules, but noticing the state of a clay is still a bit beyond Fat Woman.

Fat Woman also has a nifty sew-on badge but she isn't quite sure where to put it. Out of context it would look a bit odd but at the gun club it would be a bit like a child's 50m swimming badge.

Fat Woman has a big bruise on her shoulder from her first shot when she wasn't holding the gun correctly and a tender patch from where the gun butt sat when she was holding the gun properly.

Fat Woman now falls into the gap between a total novice and a gun owner. Fat Woman has either to pay for supervised coaching so she gets the loan of a gun or persuade someone who owns a gun to come with her. Fat Woman needs to shoot a bit more before she buys and installs a gun safe, applies for a gun license and buys a gun.

Fat Woman thinks her keenness will depend on the social aspects. If Fat Woman can find people who want to shoot with her then she is more likely to carry on.

Fat Woman is also tempted by the secure feeling of owning a gun. Fat Woman loves John Wyndham books and has always wondered what would happen were Society to collapse and she had no access to a gun.