Quick Interview with a Legend: Jerry Miculek

Jerry Miculek is one of the greatest shooters of all time. Miculek began his shooting career over forty years ago and has collected multiple championship titles and world records along the way. We were able to gain a glimmer of insight into Miculek's life and values with a three-minute, post-match interview.

RECOIL: What do you like to do outside of shooting?
MICULEK: I’m a tinkerer, I like to play with things and work on any kind of equipment. I always work with my hands. I enjoy doing maintenance around the house, stuff like that. I’m just a handy-man kind of guy.

RECOIL: How many years have you been shooting?
MICULEK: I’ve been shooting with Smith & Wesson for twenty-eight years, but I started shooting in 1976.

RECOIL: How old are you right now?
MICULEK: I’m sixty-three.

RECOIL: What’s your favorite shooting discipline?
MICULEK: I enjoyed revolver a lot, but when my eyes starting failing and I couldn’t see as well as I used to, I had to go with the other sports. So, 3-gun with the optics on it is pretty much the old man’s game.

RECOIL: What’s your favorite piece of gear?
MICULEK: A pocket knife; can’t live without a pocket knife. I’ve been carrying a pocket knife since I was about six years old. I can’t see how anybody could get up in the morning and not put a knife in their pocket.

RECOIL: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
MICULEK: Don’t get a big head. In the end, we’re all the same.

RECOIL: What do you attribute your success to?
MICULEK: A lot of dedication and that I love to shoot. Everyone I’ve been associated with, mainly my family, I’ve been fortunate they have the same likes. It makes it easier when everyone enjoys the same thing and you don’t have to push. I really got lucky with Kay, she lets me do anything I want to do. So, I’m extremely lucky family-wise. That means a lot- you can get up and do what you want and nobody questions you, and everyone’s on the same team. We’re more of a team than family. Everything we do is team-oriented; no one is more valuable than anyone else. That’s how we approach things. All of that makes for a good family relationship.

RECOIL: Since your life and marriage revolves around shooting, what advice would you give to some of the shooting couples you’ve seen on the range?
MICULEK: Everybody’s an individual, all you can do is help another person- you can’t make them do anything. So, if you approach it with an aspect of being nice and helpful, the other person will much more likely take advice instead of you insisting. There’s no right and wrong way of doing something, there’s only winning and losing. You have to approach it that way.

RECOIL: Anything else you want to add?
MICULEK: [Laughs] I’m just thankful to be here.

Miculek has one of the most-subscribed gun channels on YouTube, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/user/MiculekDotCom

Find Miculek on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/projerrymiculek/

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