Suffice to say, 2021 was challenging and turbulent given the events that took place. Looking back on it, I didn’t meet all of my personal goals, but it had it’s good point. I’m trying hard to not be pessimistic about 2022, but I expect to see more of the same. Nevertheless, I like to start a new year by setting a direction for myself and that includes setting some hunting, competition, and self defense training goals so I can somewhat use them as a guide when planning shooting related activities and allocating resources for them. I’ll share those goals with y’all now.
As a baseline, I’m planning to do at least one hunting trip, shoot one competition, or attend one training class each month in 2022. Given my activity levels in 2021 and assuming markets don’t implode and assuming society doesn’t collapse, I think this goal is very attainable. In fact, I already have activity plans in place through the first half of 2022.
The bulk of the plans that are already in place are booked pistol training courses. I’ll be kicking things off in January with KR Training’s Beyond Basics Handgun course which will mark my completion of their Defensive Pistol Skills Program. In February, I will follow that up with Ben Stoeger’s Practical Shooting Fundamentals course. The last course in my 2022 training plans is Rangemaster’s Instructor Development course. With those three courses, I’m looking at 44 hours of training in 2022.
I’ve already planned three hunting trips during the first half of 2022 as well. I’m really looking forward to those trips because I will be taking a couple of friends hunting for their first time as well. I suspect an additional half dozen or so hunting trips to occur after those initial three.
In terms of competition, I don’t have any concrete plans yet and I suspect I will “wing it” quite often. However, I’m in the process of planning copious amounts of live fire practice between Ben Stoeger’s course and the Rangemaster course. This is because successful completion of the Rangemaster Instructor Development course includes successfully passing a shooting qualification exam which I’ve heard is not easy to do. While this isn’t exactly related to competition, I’d like to attend as many matches as possible during that time in order to continuously measure the improvement of my shooting skills.
Given the first half of 2022 will be jam packed with skill development and hunting, I don’t expect to acquire much in terms of firearms and gear since most of my resources will be allocated to resupplying ammunition and getting plenty of range time in. That said, I think there is room to continue learning about night vision devices and to continue tweaking the DD5 for nighttime hog hunting in the second half of 2022.
So there it is. If things go as planned, by the end of 2022 I will hold my first set of firearms instructor credentials, I will be shooting pistols better than I ever have, I will have taken a couple of folks on their first hunting trip, the freezer will have some meat added to it, and I might be better versed in night vision. Granted I can’t remember a year that actually went as planned, but I feel pretty good about the direction I will attempt to head in.
Enough about my plans and goals. Let’s hear about yours. Add a comment to this post if you care to share.