People often ask how I got into long-range shooting. The truth is, shooting has always been part of my life.
I’ve spent more than three decades working in the firearms industry, but my interests have never stayed in one place for very long. Along the way I’ve been a fly-fishing guide, written about fly fishing, spent years behind a camera, and gone down more rabbit holes than I can count. If something captures my interest, I tend to dive in headfirst.
I’ve realized that’s just how I’m wired.
I don’t like surface answers. I’ve always wanted to know why.
Whether it’s a rifle, a scope, a bullet, or almost anything else, my first questions are always the same: Why does it work? How does it work? Why was it designed this way? Understanding the system has always been more interesting to me than simply knowing the answer.
That curiosity has shaped the way I teach.
When I started shooting PRS matches in 2023, I expected to learn a few new skills. Instead, I discovered just how much I didn’t know. Oddly enough, that was what hooked me. Standing on the edge of that enormous learning curve was exciting, not discouraging. Since then I’ve competed in more than a hundred PRS and NRL Hunter matches, and I’m still learning every time I step onto a stage.
That experience reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time.
Real learning doesn’t come from memorizing instructions. It comes from understanding why those instructions exist in the first place.
When I teach a class, I don’t want students to leave knowing which knob to turn or which setting to use. I want them to understand why they’re making those choices. My goal is to give people a framework they can continue building long after the class is over.
Sometimes that means starting at the very beginning.
If we’re mounting a scope, we’ll talk about torque specifications, why they matter, and what happens when they’re ignored. We’ll discuss how the bore and the optic need to relate to each other and why that relationship matters before we ever start dialing turrets or talking about ballistic solvers.
Some people just want the answer.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
But the people I enjoy working with most are the ones who keep asking questions. The ones who want to understand instead of simply being told what to do.
Those are my people.
Childs Play Outdoors isn’t about proving I’m an expert or pretending I’ve figured everything out. If anything, the longer I do this, the more I realize there is still to learn.
This is simply my way of giving back.
If something I’ve learned over the last thirty-plus years can save someone else time, frustration, or expensive mistakes, then it’s worth sharing.
At the end of the day, I hope people don’t remember me because I won matches or taught classes.
I hope they remember that I tried to be intellectually honest, that I treated people well, and that I left them with a little more understanding than they had before we met.
Welcome to Childs Play Outdoors.
Let’s learn together.