Take to the hills
When my Firearms Certificate (FAC) was granted last year it became apparent there was a gap in the fieldsports fabric when it comes to women and rifles. Having fired everything from a .22 to a .500 Nitro Express, I still felt unprepared to take that circumstantial knowledge further and was unwilling to walk into a gunshop, pick up a .308 and ammunition and take it home. I was at a loss. The bunnies and muntjac continued to cock a snook and their demise was no nearer than when I had taken my first rifle shot on the range.
BASC was an obvious starting point. It runs Deer Stalking Certificate 1 (DSC1) courses throughout the year, and was running a Ladies DSC1 course, a perfect opportunity to prove myself a safe shot. A pre-DSC1 course at Thoresby in Nottinghamshire came first, the morning spent explaining the DSC1 syllabus and an afternoon practising the three shooting positions required for the DSC1: prone; sittingSporting Dianas for advice.
