Nicole Guns
by Media Officer Rachael Andrews
SSAA member Nicole Guns from Bairnsdale, Victoria, has taken to shooting like a duck takes to water. The 20-year-old has been shooting with rimfire rifles on her family farm since a young age, but she’s only just picked up a shotgun and has surprised even herself by achieving an AA-rating for her game licence. Nicole is now fully embracing the sport of shooting, joining the SSAA six months ago and taking her first shots on an official SSAA range at East Gippsland and even using a scope. She also can’t wait to go hunting with her shotgun, particularly for duck.
“I’d never shot competitively; I had just shot rabbits and things like that for fun with my dad on the farm,” Nicole said.
“Shooting competitively is totally different because I’d never actually used bench rests or anything like that.
“I’d only ever used open sights before and when I got a scope, I went ‘Oh my god, how much easier is this’”!
Nicole said growing up on a farm had given her a solid understanding of firearm safety and the importance of hunting animals to manage the environment.
“I take pride in my shooting and respect everything about it,” she said.
“I enjoy it because it’s challenging; it’s something out of the norm, unlike netball or tennis. I grew up on a farm and I never got the opportunity to do dancing and things like that and instead, I go shooting.”
She said she enjoyed hunting on her own property and helping other farmers in the area deal with pest animals.
In addition to shooting, Nicole is a collector of Louis Vuitton designer handbags and likes having her nails done. She said she takes pleasure in breaking the stereotypical mould of a target shooter that many people assumed.
The shooting bug has well and truly taken over and Nicole is now looking to expand her experience in different disciplines, and of course duck hunting.
“I didn’t expect to do so well with my game licence,” she said. “My dad was proud. He went and told all of the neighbours and I don’t think anybody expected it.”
With some Bench Rest and Field Rifle experience under her belt, Nicole said she’s enjoying her target shooting and is very grateful to the people at the SSAA East Gippsland Branch who are giving her plenty of help and advice.
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