I was taught gun safety early on as a boy. At 5 years old, my Uncle Wayne Briley showed me how to safely handle and shoot a Daisy BB. Safety was stressed from the very beginning. Never point a gun at someone; always assume the gun is loaded; keep the muzzle downrange and away from anyone; be sure of your target and what is behind it.

Uncle Wayne taught me about sight picture and how to align the BB gun’s sights on the target. Again, safety was stressed continually.

By the time I was 7, I graduated to some real firepower.

Uncle Wayne loved to come down to Moscow on the weekends and shoot snakes at the old mill and along Big Flatrock River. Keep in mind; it was a time long before environmental awareness. Back then…. the only good snake was a dead snake.

One Saturday, Uncle Wayne said, “Let’s go behind the house and shoot a few tin cans in the mill race.” Again, this was a time before there was much of awareness about our environment.

I’m sure my eyes were as big as saucers when Uncle Wayne unfolded an oiled rag to reveal the 9mm P-38 German sidearm.

With careful instruction, he showed me how it worked, how the action worked, how to load it, how to unload it, and how to hold it.

Uncle Wayne stepped up to the edge of the bank overlooking the mill race and tossed in a tin can. As the can slowly floated downstream, Uncle Wayne hit it twice out of four shots.

Loading a single bullet in the magazine, he pitched a tin can in the mill race, worked the slide to load the round and hovered over me as he handed the pistol to me.

A quick reminder of sight picture and Uncle Wayne said, “Slowly pull the trigger!”

At the sound of the shot, I came within a couple feet of the tin can. On subsequent shots, I found the large grips requiring both of my hands pulled my shots high and to the right.

Using a little “Kentucky Windage” on my behalf; I aimed low and to the left. I surprised my Uncle Wayne, and even more so myself as I actually hit the can floating in the canal 20 yards away.

Channel catfish stocked in urban lakes

The DNR stocked more than 2,000 channel catfish ranging in size from 10 to 14 inches (average 12 inches) in the following locations: Meadowlark Park Pond (Carmel - Hamilton County) – 100 catfish; Krannert Lake (Indianapolis - Marion County) – 225 catfish; Washington Township Park Pond # 2 (Avon - Hendricks County) – 100 catfish; Dubarry Park Ponds (Indianapolis - Marion County) – 200 catfish; Garvin Park Lake (Evansville - Vanderburgh County) – 200 catfish; Diamond Valley Park Pond (Evansville - Vanderburgh County) – 225 catfish; Dobbs Park Pond (Terre Haute - Vigo County) – 200 catfish; Northeast Lakeside Pond (Fort Wayne - Allen County) – 300 catfish; Munger Park Pond (Lafayette - Tippecanoe County) – 150 catfish; and Robinson Park Lake (Hobart - Lake County) – 300 catfish.

The lakes are stocked every spring with catchable-size channel catfish, receiving three total stockings between mid-to-late March and the first week of June. DNR’s urban fishing program offers an exciting and safe way for Hoosiers to experience the fun of fishing close to home. To find out more about urban fishing opportunities and upcoming stockings, visit bit.ly/INUrbanFishing.

The catfish daily bag limit per angler is 10, and there are no size restrictions. Anglers ages 18 and older must have a valid Indiana fishing license to fish at the locations. Anglers ages 17 and younger do not need a fishing license. Licenses can be purchased online at on.IN.gov/INhuntfish.

Body of Osgood man recovered

Indiana Conservation Officers have recovered the body of Carson Hughes, 18, of Osgood, from Versailles Lake.

On March 17 at 6:50 p.m., conservation officer divers, utilizing sonar, recovered Hughes body in six feet of water.

Hughes was pronounced dead on scene by the Ripley County Coroner. An autopsy was completed, and the preliminary cause of death was determined to be probable cold-water drowning. No other evidence of injury was present. The final autopsy report and cause of death are pending toxicology results.

Assisting agencies include the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, Ripley County Coroner’s Office, Indiana State Police Aviation, Ripley County EMA, Ripley County EMS, Ripley County Health Department, Versailles Fire, Delaware Fire, Hamilton County Urban Search and Rescue, Friendship Fire, Batesville Fire, Buckeye Search and Rescue, Ohio Task Force One, Texas EquuSearch, Hamilton County Police Association Dive, and hundreds of civilian volunteers.

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication, or e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net.

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.