It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know

It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know


Today, again, I had a reminder of what a great group of friends I actually have. (and yes, this is a shooting thing) When I got into shooting, I saw a reasonably tight knit group of people in Illinois, it was a group of people that I not only got to know, but let into my life as well. It was not just shooting interests that we shared, but as I got to know them, the relationship's grew into almost a family affair. Holiday's, birthday's were all shared, and I knew that when I was headed to Texas, my life was going to be in store for some changes.

Kozy, Les, Terry, Emil, Myself, Tony, Lauren & Linda

Before we left Illinois, Les introduced me to Tim, the man behind the Ben Stoeger Pro Shop, who also lives in the Austin area. Granted that was a little thing, but Tim is not only a good dude, he's turned into a good friend down here in Austin. Knowing someone before I even got down here made things a little less scary for the entire family. Tim invited us out to a match soon after we got here, and introduced me to a crew of good guys down here; Ryan, Roy, Ben, and a couple of others. I won't say it's just like Illinois, but it's not a bad start. Even if it did take me a few months for Ryan to call me Luke, and stop calling me Les Pepperoni.

Last IL Match, with Kozy, Les, Linda and myself

So with me considering 3-Gun, I've been chatting with Jay Carillo, and he told me that locally there was a great gunsmith, someone he knew, that I should call, and talk to about getting work done on a shotgun, once I bought it. Today I called Hayes Custom Guns and spoke to Aaron. Conversation was not all that long, but I asked about getting work done to a shotgun I was considering, he gave me a price, he talked to me about matches around here, apparently this area is 3-Gun heaven with matches to be shot 3 weekends a month, and let me ask questions. He even said that if I wanted to hit a match, he'd loan me one of his shotguns to try, so  I could shoot the match.

What a Crew!

So again, I luck out, I'm going to have a chance to meet some more amazing people, and it's all because of the group of people I was lucky enough to know back in Illinois. I' m both thankful, and grateful for my friends. The competitive shooting community is one of the best, most open, and nicest groups of people I have ever been lucky enough to know. Putting it in perspective non-shooters, a shotgun ready for 3-Gun can run $1300 to $2200, how often do you see people volunteering to do something of that ilk for people they have talked to for perhaps 15 minutes? In fact, when I posted on Facebook I was interested in 3-Gun, I had 5 or 6 other people offer to loan me a shotgun.

I'm not saying that it's just about loaning a gun, or something like that. It's a community of great people, fun people, open, generous, caring and helpful. These people opened up, and let me be a part of the community, and for that I'm grateful. Even in Texas, I'm being helped by friends a thousand miles away, who know people of the same character here.