My Dad isn't much of a hunter, but Grandpa literally made him hunt. Grandpa said he was quitting hunting about when I was born, and had his shotgun registered in Dad's name. Then Grandpa discovered he still jelt the old urge, but it would'he been illegal for him to go hunt with the gun not registered in his name, so he made Dad go hunting, tagged along, and when they were in the blind Grandpa would tear the gun out of Dad's hands and shoot, shoot, shoot... Then Dad got a car (a BIG deal in the '70s USSR)and started taking Mom and me along, to sit at the camp and "enjoy Mother Nature". So my earliest memories are of playing with the ducks Grandpa shot - and I wanted to hunt ever since I remember myself.
A while later the right barrel of that 12 ga side-by-side blew up, but the left one could still shoot. So Dad let me hunt with it even though I wasn't old enough in the eyes of the law - with the instructions to dump it when things get hot... nobody really cared what was legal and what was not in 1991... Anyway, since Grandpa was the best hunter and shot I knew, it was natural to assume the gun he shot was the best choice - so when I was after my first own gun I bought a 12 ga sbs, the same model, only a higher grade. Still got that gun, and Dad still has Grabdpa's.
