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My Shooting Story – Jesee Grant (12)
Posted by Junior Shooters
Florida Snowbird Regionals 2021 shooting my RFPO.
Originally published in Junior Shooters magazine, Volume 48 Fall 2022, SHOOTERS SHOUTOUT when Jesse was 12, written by Jesse. Also published @juniorshootersmagazine Instagram post.
Jesse Grant is a 12-year-old SASP, Rimfire and Steel Challenge shooters form Longwood, Florida. Jesse got involved in shooting when he was 6 years old and went hunting with his family. He started shooting SASP in November of 2020 and started shooting Steel challenge in 2021. Some of his biggest accomplishments are 3rd place RFPO SASP Nationals and 3rd place B class RFPO Area 6 Steel Challenge. His next goal is to make Master class RFRO and move up to “A” class in his 3 other divisions.
My Dad and I in 2020 when I shot the biggest deer of my life, a 12-point Buck.
Hi, my name is Jesse Grant. I am 12 years old, and I am from Longwood, Florida. I shoot SASP, Steel Challenge, Rimfire Challenge, and Summer Speed League. I have been shooting competitively for two years but I have been hunting and shooting guns all my life. I started shooting BB guns when I was around four years old. When I was six, my dad brought me to Georgia to shoot his Walther P22 pistol and he let me try a .22 Hornet for hunting. On Thanksgiving Day, I shot my first deer with that 22 Hornet. I kept shooting guns and hunting and I wanted to do it all the time.
One morning, when I was 10, my dad was watching Shooting USA and we saw an advertisement for SASP. After some research we found one of the two SASP teams in Florida. The team was housed at the CFRPC (Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club). We visited the range and first met Mick Langfield who is the Precision Rifle Head Coach, at that time he had a waiting list for his team. He referred me to the SASP Team area to meet Morgan Goring, the Head Coach of the team, they were having a practice that morning. I met Morgan and Ernie, and they let me try shooting a pistol and rifle that same day. The first stage I ever shot was Go Fast and I was hooked! The season for SASP had just started so I was able to join the team in November of 2020.
I started off as any beginner would and just tried to hit the plates instead of having fast and consistent times. Morgan Goring, the head coach for my team, taught me how to shoot with both eyes open. That was the hardest to learn because with a hunting scope you look through it with one eye. I started to get the hang of it, every practice I would learn how to shoot faster and more consistently. They coach you that fast is smooth and smooth is fast. Starting off I didn’t have any equipment to use, so I used the teams Smith & Wesson .22 pistol and the Tippmann M4-,22 rifle. A couple months before nationals, my parents bought me a Ruger 22/45 lite and I trained with it until nationals. I didn’t have two of them, so I switched it from optics to iron sights and back. We shot good at the 2021 Nationals and my team, and I won 3rd place RFPO. We had our off season for the month of August, then we went back to practicing in September. My Dad started researching .22 rifles to use for the sport.
Me and Bill Capers shooing the Ultimate Steel Challenge Match at Volusia County Gun & Hunt Club earlier this year, he came in 1st and me in 2nd, RFRO, A Class.
We practice twice a month, and I wanted more trigger time to become better. My parents researched other shooting sports in our area and came across Steel Challenge. We found a local range that was basically the same distance as the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club. This range is called the Volusia County Gun and Hunt Club and it became a range that my family and I would shoot a lot of Steel Challenge matches at. Then my dad bought me another 22/45 lite and built two race rifles. Greg Kerce, the match director for the Steel Challenge matches, would teach me all about the sport. I started to shoot lots of matches to the point where I was at both of the ranges every weekend. A normal weekend would find my parents taking me to the SASP practice then grabbing lunch and heading to shoot Steel Challenge in the afternoon. If we aren’t at one range every weekend, we are at both, possibly even both days. One of the coaches from my SASP team, Bill Capers wanted to start to shooting Steel Challenge and we have competed together at a few of the matches. So many people have helped me progress to where I am now, and I am grateful for their help.
My Family coming home from the 2021 Nationals in the Great Smokey Mountains.
I enjoy shooting competitions because I can see how other people shoot different stages and why they shoot them that way. I also love meeting new people that shoot and hang out with them. I love to compete and achieve the goals I have set for myself. I love helping new shooters progress and get better and I always try to introduce kids to the sport by finding a SASP team, if they live near one. I would like to say a huge thank you to my parents, coaches, and friends for supporting me and helping me progress in shooting!
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