There is no doubt that even in Oregon the Fourth of July is summer and will be here in a little over a week. Time is ticking and hunting season is rapidly approaching if you need to get into shape. I wish that I could say that I am taking advantage of the nice weather and just enjoy summer.

In just a few days we will be in the Portland area for the state Trap tournament. Apparently, if so inclined we are also invited to the national Trap tournament in Michigan in July. At this point, we got too little notice to plan on that one but this one will be a good first start.

Today I wanted to talk about youth and shooting sports. In my brief exposure, I have found a generous amount effort to make it happen. Here are some examples

  1. Friends of the NRA donated half a pallet of ammunition to our team. Remember that a box is 25 shells, a case is 10 boxes and half a pallet is 50 cases.
  2. Before we got the donated ammunition, I had another coach drive over 600 miles to get our team 15 cases of ammunition to buy. That was enough to make our season work.
  3. Oregon Hunter’s Association paid our team to draw raffle tickets. After it was done, one of the members bought every team member a box of ammunition
  4. We shot an ‘away’ match at another club. One of the club members that was also there paid the fee (for targets) for the entire day.
  5. One of our coaches was driving over 150 miles per practice to coach our team and then coach another team after we were done.
  6. Our team is shooting on a range that belongs to the Elks. The Elks have given carte blanche to use the range and all of the facilities at will.
  7. A target manufacturer has shipped a pallet of targets out of distribution for us to pick up at a local location at cost.

These are some of the examples of the efforts that others have made to enable this team to happen. That kind of generosity is astonishing to me, but that is the way it goes.

I am not totally naïve, there is a degree of self-service helping youth shooting sports. This can be a lifetime activity, so discounts and building positive memories can build a lifetime participants (customers). But, when I read the body language of those giving, I get the sense that the act is genuine.

Wish us luck. The forecast has the temperature over 100 degrees, this is our first organized tournament and we haven’t shot in over a month. But, these are the things that build memories.

End Your Programming Routine: If you have a youth or interest, consider looking into the shooting sports. The largest national program is through 4H. But almost always local ranges have knowledge of the different opportunities available and from there, you can get more information. From what I have seen, people are more than willing to go the extra mile to get you what you need.