Our optics expert Chris Parkin looks back at his shooting roots and explains his passion for field sports
I think in fairness, “shooter” better applies to me than “hunter” but that’s not to say I don’t do both. I was first inspired to shoot by my father, a veterinary surgeon who (confusingly to some observers) had the occasional pleasure to shoot game on a small syndicate and occasionally at the invitation of friends to events further afield.
As a small boy I was fascinated by the concept of shooting and the resulting stories – and the geese and pheasants that were served at the dinner table – although my father and I only ever shot together once in his later days.
My cousin was the first to teach me to shoot air rifles, along with air pistols, but it wasn't long before I graduated to rimfires and centrefire pistols as a member of a club in my school days, pre 1997. I’d been given my first air rifle at the age of 13 by my mum, as a Christmas distraction from my dad’s inconveniently timed festive bypass surgery and I sometimes wonder if my subsequent walks with dad during his three month convalescence, were the initial stages of me describing, discussing and talking about shooting or guns in detail.
University saw shooting set aside until my final year, when a chance encounter led me to join and help re-form the university small bore rifle club, but my attention was stolen by a coincident, unprecedented addiction – archery. The technically intriguing compound bow format saw me within 15 months competing at National and International level – along the way there was a rather obscure rule breach that saw disqualification from my first ever tournament and recruitment to the Yorkshire, England, and finally Great Britain Archery teams. I can’t remember what I was supposed to be doing at University, some kind of Engineering degree I think.
After seven or eight years of archery round the clock, marriage, kids, work – not to mention slowing down due to the onset of Multiple Sclerosis – all added up to archery retirement. My
