Just curious -- those of you who've been shooting at a range, what kind of reactions do you get from the men there?

Of course, this is bound to vary depending on what type of range, what part of the country, etc.  

But we still are the minority of the gun world, so I'm wondering how we are received in different places.

Well, if their husband wasn't with them I might ask them out.

i love it when they always ask what kind of rifle HE has (the one i'm shooting).  he loves telling them it's MY rifle.  then their jaws drop.

of course, there are some that are cool with it.  but mostly it's just furtive looks, almost like i'm an endangered species or something.

Wow, a woman!

I would love to see more women at the ranges I shoot at. It`s certainly not enough.

I like to watch.

[shock]

I've gotten "So, you're teaching the little lady to shoot, huh?"

But for the most part, it's  no big deal.

Huskies4all

There is nothing more cool, than a woman that is interested in firearms. The only thing cooler is one who like planes AND guns.[:D]
I think it's encouraging to see women participating in the shooting sports.

Well, A36, I guess that makes me cool!  Have stopped flying in recent years but spent several hundred hours strapped into my Pitts Special.  Nowadays I'm ready for something that doesn't scare me so much...

I just started this thread to get some movement on this board -- not because I'm worried about going to gun ranges.  Where I most always shoot is not a gun range, so I've only had a little experience with them.

Last time was at a large range in western Florida, where my husband was doing a machine gun shoot.  I don't go for that, to say the least, so I brought my favorite pistol and set up on the short ranges by myself.  It was a Sunday, so there were lots of guys there.  No one was rude, most were very friendly and helpful without being condescending, most were surprised that I was shooting a .45, everyone wanted my gun (ParaOrdnance P-14 Limited), and my target groups earned me respect. It was a very positive experience, actually.

Just curious what others' experiences had been.

It has been my experience that a woman who will shoot at all can do so quite well!

It is my goal to turn at least two people a year into shooters.  Most important goal is that they be safe, then have fun and hit where they aim.  I love to teach a female to shoot.  Without exception all my female students have become excellent shots.  Makes my day to have a young lady step to the line and whip some guys butt - makes her confident and gives me a nice glow!!  I respect a woman that is willing to defend herself (and her family) with what is often erroneously considered a man's tool.  No reason that a woman can not be sweet and feminine yet ready and willing to defend herself against all the creeps out there!

My 11 yr old neighbor girl is a doll - and a crack shot.  Shoots my FA Thompson, M-16 and 1911 with good control and accuracy!  Her mother was in the Army and approves of me teaching her daughter.  Count one more pro-gun type (almost fanatical really).  Spend a lot of time with the kids I get to teach instilling safety and when deadly force is appropriate.

ALL SHOOTERS OWE THE SPORT ONE NEW SHOOTER PER YEAR!

My wife always draws a crowd when she's got her hair up in braided pig tails and shooting the AR.  Most of the time the other shooters are friendly, as I leave her be and go shoot my pistols when she's got the AR, but there has been a time or two where someone has given her a dirty look like she's doing something wrong by shooting our AR.  One guy had two young boys with him shooting a Ruger 10/22 and they were very interested in her shooting the AR.  She tried to talk to them and the father packed up his 10/22, gave my wife a dirty look, and then hustled the boys to their car.

Woman shooters may be a dying breed, but my Grandmothe, Mom, and Wife are all shooters, and my daughter will be as well if she wants to.

God Bless Texas

Well, when my wife can get to the range with us, (manager of retail...never gets time) it's great cause we have our 7yo girl with us. and SHE shoots too. Shoots well as a matter of fact.

Luckily, the range I can take my daughter too is the DNR run range and the people I've run into there have always been friendly. always see someone else with kids, though rarely as young as mine. talked to a few, fired a few other's guns too.

No_Expert

This one gets lots of looks when I take her shooting.

[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0LAAAALwNAhirU6605n5M4dfze9b0h54phVge5fjiUqg*Rs2yVh*3QQUi0jLKcaHScU58U5e66BY/0017.JPG[/img]

With her favorite rifle, MY CAR15.

[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0LAAAALsN3Bc9JgE1dhgK*yPUCwxioiUcy**Tpf9k1IQnqt6FIc42QgKStwsy!8AvQBmhy3EUIzE/0025.JPG[/img]

At the skeet range with MY Benelli. Maybe one day her parents will actually get her some guns of her own.

The women around here are usually welcomed with open arms. Not to mention that every man there tries to "help". I don't go to many ranges but, once in a while you would see a sour grape about women being there. It is kinda sad if you thing about it. If these women are taught how to properly use firearms and their marriages fall apart the knowledge goes with them. Then it can still be taught to a new generation.

I've had no problem with any range I have ever gone to.  Oklahoma and New Mexico....no one seems to pay any attention that it's a woman shooting.  The gun club I belong to here (which owns the range) has several women members, so it's no big deal.  And in Oklahoma, there were usually more women there than men on any given day.

Let me begin by saying that male gun folks have almost always been among the kindest and least sexist people in any traditionally male pursuit I have ever been in. They are helpful, have lots of knowledge to share, and are very encouraging.
Most of the time, men that don't know me will be polite enough to watch and see how I handle my guns, and how I shoot, before making an opinion.
Sometimes, they will abandon all male pride to the wind, and just scamper over to admire the collector guns I may have brought to shoot.

The only real flak I have ever gotten was from one ass of a rangemaster that kept insisting I should let my hubby clear some particularly stubborn jams that an old M-1 Carbine of mine was doing.
I patiently explained that it was *my* gun, I had been working on it, and if he would kindly leave me alone, *I* would figure it out. (It was a sticky gas piston, btw, I found when I got it home)
He insisted, although I had been extremely careful about Rule #1 the whole time, I mean, I wasn't waving the muzzle around while wrestling with it or anything.
He was such an arrogant pig that I finally tossed my NRA instructor's credentials on the shooting bench, and told him leave me hell alone.
He wandered away, snuffling and muttering about "damned bitches with guns", and I vowed never to go to his range again.
I shed no tears, when the place folded about a year ago.

ROTFLMAO!  I wish you'd had a digital camera to catch his expression.... buried him in the sand of his own sandbox.

No_Expert

I have been in both situations. Where we as women are treated as the dumbest half of the race, and where I get complete respect for being a gun owner. But I have never got the dirty looks, because I'm usually with my husband and our friends.

I get that same stupid look and faces from some of the hunting shooters at my local outdoor range, and they ask me why I need one of those "assualt weapons." I don't think it is because your wife is a woman.

At my local indoor there are 2 lady shooters Lillian & Susan that are real babes.  Well, just wish I were 20 years younger.