Just out of curiosity, when did you get into hunting?
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no one wants to lend a gun to a new hunter as my girlfreind had found out in the last few weeks.
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Things have changed, esp. in the last 10-15 years, and I would suspect that part of the problem is that of litigation: I loan you a gun, you load it with the wrong ammo and blow yourself up, and you sue me. Even if I 'win' in court, I loose because of the cost of hiring an attorney to represent me, lost time at work, ect.
Another reason could be the disrespect the younger generation tends to have now a days for people and things.....I've lent people firearms in the past, only to have them come back with a coating of rust. Irregardless of "well, I wouldn't do that", I wouldn't have lent it out if I thought the other person would, and the easiest solution to the problem is just not to loan it out at all.
I'll give you an actual case: A coworker of mine has season tickets to the Detroit tigers games. Another coworker had friends/family coming into town, and she made mention of possibly going to a baseball game. The first coworker
gave her the tickets she needed for the game.....she wasn't going to use them, and didn't want them to go to waste. However, the second coworker never said so much as thanks, let alone said how the outing went, ect. I've tended to see the same behaviors in the younger generation as well.
As for buying gear: Do you think someone handed us everything we needed when
we first got started? I sold greeting cards door to door, did odd jobs, babysat, ect to earn money to get my first shotgun.....and virtually everything else I bought hunting/fishing related. I did
without a lot of other things in order to get that gear, like movies, dates, hamburgers, beer, ect. It's a question of wants vs needs.....if you
need something, then you do without wants.
I will suggest that you check out you local salvation army and resale shops.....I've seen some great deals on boots, carharts, jackets and other clothing, some of which was never used. Even found a pair of camo waders (not my boot size, though
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