Marksmanship: Nature or Nurture?

My fifth-great-grandfather was in Daniel Morgan’s rifle corps during the American Revolution. They carried the new flintlock long rifles as opposed to the smoothbore muskets carried by the line soldiers. They are considered America’s first snipers. They stood to the side and targeted the gentry officers, which the British found barbaric.

Young Melvin Rowe

When I was young, I watched as my father and his brother sat in a farmyard in old ladder-back chairs, with a .22-caliber single-shot rifle and a box of .22 shorts. They were sitting under a big willow tree, picking out the thin willow twigs for the other to shoot, passing the rifle back and forth. The ground was covered with willow twigs.

I’m not a bad shot myself. I’ve won a few muzzleloader shoots (as well as badly lost a few). I did start shooting at a young age, although it was all in fun, shooting tin cans when we visited family in the country.

With that little bit of anecdotal information, I have often wondered if being a good shot was in part because of something hereditary. A steady hand? A good eye? A sense of distance or maybe even calmness under pressure. I have absolutely no evidence for this notion, but only a question. Or was it

because I was taught to shoot?

Anyone who attended the Old Northwest Territory Primitive Rendezvous this summer in Lodi, Ohio, observed how one family dominated the rifle range. Three generations and two genders took the majority of awards that week. Nature or nurture? The father was hands on, step by step teaching his 10-year-old daughter while she shot for the first time, and was very thorough and patient and supportive.

So I put this out there. Does anyone know of any studies about this idea? Or do you have any personal stories that might support one argument or the other. Maybe a father/son team, or ancestor who was a notable marksman. My purpose in writing this is that I want to hear from you. So just imagine we are at rendezvous, sitting around the fire, and tell me your story. Marksmanship, nature or nurture?

Send your stories to Vicki@ReenactorChronicles.com. Vicki will add your stories and responses to the blog post and possibly put in future issues of Reenactor Chronicles.