Iceman's Answers: Should I learn to shoot before I join?

Haven't done one of these in a while, so let's start with a question I see popping up somewhat frequently.

Will learning to shoot before I join give me an edge over fellow recruits, and possibly help me get through the advanced marksmanship schools?

Short answer: No.
This time round, I've actually got the input of two different people who've served in the military, and with their kind permission, I've posted it below:

Daniel (US Army, Infantry)- My dad taught me to hunt when I was really young. I developed habits with positioning of the rifle, my stance, and such, eventually all of which were broken and redeveloped on the range during Basic for me. The drill sgts have their own method of teaching you and they want you to perform a certain way. They expect you to be ready to fire your weapon in combat if the need arises. It isn't the same as carrying an old .30-06 with your pops and brothers around the woods looking for buck. So no, learning to shoot beforehand won't really give you any advantage. It might actually impede you a little. As for getting to SS school, that's all you. Learning to shoot a long gun before signing up may give you less of a hard time than others because if you look at it, the rifles our snipers use are pretty much hunting rifles except.. for hunting people lol. 

Len (Canadian Army, Infantry, sniper)- In all honesty it really doesn't make sense to learn something like that before you get over to BMQ. You'll learn the basics eventually, and it's not something that's overly difficult to grasp. I hadn't even seen a gun up close let alone touched one when I joined up in 05. My advice is to focus more on getting yourself physically prepared. For someone who's out of shape, that's going to be your worst enemy. It's very physically-demanding and your instructors aren't going to let up on you.

The Canucks

Everyone makes fun of Canada's military. I'll admit, even Canadians make fun of them too. Does it consist of hockey players trained in the art of slapshotting explosive pucks at enemy combatants? Are its submarines really canoes with holes in them? Does it even exist?

Haha, well yeah. It exists. They're only hockey players in their spare time, and their submarines are real, modern diesel-electrics. Actually they don't get as much credit as they deserve. Though it's a small fighting defense force, Canada's military is among the most modern in the world, and its intense recruit training churns out highly-trained and qualified soldiers, airmen and sailors fit for service in their respective branch. Granted, there are a few things I'd personally like to see changed (along with a good number of others who'd support my notions, I'm sure), and yeah, it's definitely not comparable in terms of size, strength and technology that you'd find in the US or British armed forces, it can hold it's own for a while. 

Did you know that the Canadian Forces pioneered the use of digital camouflage patterning? Yep! In fact, the United States Marines wear a derivative of CADPAT.

Did you know that a Canadian Forces sniper broke the record for the longest kill in the world, in 2002? 2657 yards! It was later surpassed by a British sniper in 2009, however.