A Daytona Update from Karen

Shoot Like A Girl's event at Bass Pro Shops in Daytona Beach, Florida was another record breaker!?We had 441 guests sign in to shoot with us!?We were set up during the Daytona 500 – which is directly across the street.?We could hear the roar of the cars, and I am now a NASCAR fan.?If you want a good laugh, watch?this video?as Christa Forrester and I drove home listening to the race.??

In addition to all the Daytona 500 fans, we also had a lot of locals show up, who weren’t interested in the race at all, but wanted to experience Shoot Like A Girl.?We had guests who had been at our event in 2021, and returned with their friends and family.??Of note, was the Bass Pro Shops Gun Counter Associate who came down and said that he wanted to see what we were doing, because there were so many customers coming to the store to inquire about purchases!??

My favorite story was Marsha, a nearly 16 year old girl whose Dad asked if she could shoot a bow, and I took her immediately inside.?She clearly had cancer, and was a shell of young girl with no hair, and very fragile looking.?I pulled out our recurve bow, and got her situated on a stool to shoot.?She was unbalanced when she stood.?I taught her how to hold the bow, how to draw it back, and then we shot.?I did all the work, but she didn’t know it.?The moment of pure emotions came when she looked at her dad after releasing that first arrow and said, “Dad!?This is SO MUCH FUN!”?We talked about her cancer, and she was determined to beat it.?For someone so physically weak, she was a remarkable strong young woman.

Another memorable guest was Nancy, who had seen us in 2021, but her experience was cut a bit short by an afternoon thunderstorm.?She came back to experience our gun bar. She worked through each firearm on display, and with determination found her top three.?She left our experience and headed to make her purchase.

Britany, pne of our instructors, work with an older couple who were deciding what gun they wanted for home defense.?Both husband and wife were eager to learn; and they selected a firearm they both agreed on.?Brittany recommended they continue on their journey and get training from USCCA.

Honestly, I could write these stories all day long.?We had so many women face their fears, and show great courage to experience shooting; people who weren’t allowed to carry guns in their workplace learned about pepper spray, and people and families learned about safe storage of firearms; countless kids learned about firearm safety; and we even taught several people to turkey call!??

Our next stop is with Shoot Like A Girl at Bass Pro Shops in Tampa, Florida on March 4-5,2023.

Picture from Daytona are at?this link.??

?All the best,

Karen