My family has always had property, a ranch, or a farm
my Grammie's side (Norwegians) was from way north in Calif. Klamathton,
& her family Fort Bragg before that, 1st here in 1798 shipbuilders,
when Cailf. was Mexico's still, they were in a small settlement on the coast
it was in around a Russian fort, they traded with
Family was in/from Klamathton, Camp Lowe it burned to the ground,
sometime in the 1930s (IIRC ?)
My Grammie was already here in the Bay Area then
you could say I got some serious roots here
& advid shooters hunters/sportsman
I hepled to build & then ran Target Masters Indoor Range & gun club, Milpitas Ca
in the mid 80s as a second job, My then GF Vicky's b-i-l Dennis was an owner
he wasn't really a shooter, but a money guy, I was a shooter
I worked there after we (EdCo Contractors) built the place, as a night mngr
I became 1 of only 19 registered Federally certified Range Masters
so we could do qualifications for PDs & CHP & hold sanctioned PPC contests
But;
Mainly just so I could shoot,
I hired my sister Candy to work in the day, she became
quit the lil' Candy Oakley too, mostly 9mm
I went thru 1,000+ rds a month if not more
in mostly .357 mag. special loads or .45acp special loads
lots & lots of shooting
Family property 1 side
where that they org. owned a crapload of property riverfront Klamath River
later it became a campground/waystation & fishing charter/guides
hunting you name it
the branch of the family still Grammies side, is mostly from Minnesota
they settled out here in the delta, Bethel Island area
& SF, Berkeley, Albany areas
it was anything like it is today, it was rural land
1830's-1840's were avid hunters & outdoors/sportsman
loggers/boat builders/engineers
Germans/Norwegens (not much logging in the delta/flat no trees really)
they all had guns, very profoicent with them too
I learned from some of the best, Uncle Tink
with a Ruger 10/22 1st, then an M1Garand 30-06ca
nobody near or out on an island in the delta,
1,000 acres, in several different places, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill & Concord areas too
everyone was proficient with guns/hunting & fishing
working bird dogs, avid hunters for the most part
Raised many cattle/Champion Bulls/horses/pigs/goats/ducks/pigeons & chickens
I learned driving a tractor & offroading Jeeps & 4x4s etc.
My dad had a ranch & property for 20-ish years
we lived there when I went to HS, planty of places to shoot
165 acres in El Dorado Co. GardenValley/Georgetown area
I loved going there & later living there...
My Uncle Tink/Alfred, my dads Uncle, Grammies Bros. (my mentor)
avid dog guy/bird dogs, best shooter I ever new
& avid hunter/sportsman/fisherman/outdoorsman/survivalist type
a WWII career Marine Officer 1st Lt enlisted, strict but fair
& later Korean conflict, eventually a Col. 20 years
then went & reenlisted/never left just changed branches
for VietNam Army Col. Green Beret, (so did his 2 sons, my Uncle Pete & Jim)
but my dad Harvey is not a hunter,
never really was, it skipped a generation,
my
stepdad Bob was, I grew up somewhat with him from age 6-14 y/o
he was a deer hunter mostly, we'd go plinking some
My Dad Harvey he likes looking at them more, than shooting them
but was an avid shooter, especially when I was young
especially when we went up to property/ranch or Pinecrest Lake upcountry
he did the cowboy shooting & quickdraw stuff, before I was like 10
the Otherside of Dad's Harvey's family his fathers side "Whitey/Elmer" pure German decent
a'' worked in Oil Buss. Shell Oil Engineers (Whitey/Elmer Granddad, 44 years a VP Engineer)
a couple generations of them & Standard Oil Engineers
mostly based out of SF/Alameda Shipyards area, all settled in Berkeley/Albany
where my dad Harvey was born
Elmer's dad my great granddad, John was in he was org. a shipman,
then later when he went west
Electricity, Electrician he was one of the very 1st employees of PG&E
he worked in SF & died there, he he did shoot some, he owned guns...
My Great Granddad, John Joseph
I have a Damascus dbl barreled shotgun of his...
& an Colt Army pistol he was issued somewhere out on the prairies
but;
I don't know a lot about him he died before I was born, in like 1953
His side of the family were farmers too, 1st settled outside St Louis, in the 1830-40s
Shipbuilders...
The story goes 'his father' Johannes got off the boat from Germany
after traveling up the river to St Loius, via the Gulf (not sure why)
& never got back on...
He found a good German gal, Augusta, somewhere in Minn. married young started a family
most of them moved west too...
He was allegedly an Avid hunter/rifleman, Indian fighter, enlisted in the US Calvery Army,
later settled in California SJ Valley, his offspring moved to the Bay Area...