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Savage Arms: Long-Range Shooting Specialists
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Create my profile now!We’re thrilled to introduce you to our latest Gunstar Brand Ambassador - Ben Marks-Thomson. Over the coming weeks, Ben will be taking you on his journey as a firearm and ethical hunting enthusiast. We look forward to sharing his content with you
Name: Ben Marks-Thomson
Location: West Sussex, England
My first memories of shooting take me back to time spent at my Aunt's house as a boy, I remember many a sunny afternoon spent with my family in her 4-acre smallholding plinking away with an old Webley side lever .22 airgun, starting out learning how to shoot targets and tin cans. I loved that gun and As I grew she began teaching me how to shoot squirrels and rabbits with it, and why this was a necessary act to look after her vegetable garden and the apple trees in her orchard. I remember my first kill well, a rabbit I took from the summer house window where I had set up my hide, a perfect headshot after remembering as I was taught to slow my breathing and squeeze, not pull the trigger. The domed hunting pellet hit home with a crack and the rabbit jumped and somersaulted. I ran excitedly from the summer house up the orchard path to retrieve my rabbit, now lying motionless amongst the dandelions and daisies creeping through the grass. I hurried back to the house, rabbit in tow dangling from its back feet as I had tied it with some string to my belt. My Aunt had said she would show me how to dress a rabbit if I could bag one, I tried to hand her my Swiss army knife, something I never left the house with as a boy, but she handed it back and said I would be dressing the rabbit but she would talk me through it. I'll never forget that valuable lesson, this is where our food comes from and it has stuck with me ever since.
Ethical hunting and sustainable methods of harvesting food are what drive my passion for shooting and hunting. This is what brought me to start my @Sussex_Shooting Instagram account, it began as a diary to enable me to share my experiences with close friends and loved ones but since its inception in late 2015, It has become so much more. I have met and made friends with so many like-minded people through social media, and have been afforded some unforgettable hunting experiences as well as starting my journey as a field-sports writer. Watch this space for kit reviews, gun reviews, and so much more!