Arkansas Agriculture Edition 23 : Page 4

R ight on taRget 4-H Shooting Sports Program hits the bull’s-eye. Article and photos by Keith Sutton, Arkansas Farm Bureau Ready, aim, fire Designed for students ages 9 to 18, the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Program teaches marksmanship, safe use of firearms, principles of hunting and archery, and much more. 4 Arkansas Agriculture

Right On Target

Keith Sutton

4-H Shooting Sports Program hits the bull’s-eye. Ready, aim, fire Designed for students ages 9 to 18, the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Program teaches marksmanship, safe use of firearms, principles of hunting and archery, and much more. Youth involved in Arkansas 4-H clubs can participate in many activities. Horticulture. Food fairs. Livestock judging. Interior design. Photography. Public speaking. And much, much more. 4-H members can choose from 82 activity areas. Of the scores of activities available, however, participating in shooting sports stands above the rest in terms of popularity. In fact, 4-H Shooting Sports is one of the fastest-growing programs in 4-H today. This fact was evident at the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Range Event last July. Held at the C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center near Ferndale, this competition attracted more than 300 young shooting enthusiasts from throughout the state. “I think you’ll be amazed at the number of shooting activities we have going on consecutively today,” program coordinator Rex Roberg said as he drove around the facility to see the events. At a new outdoor range house constructed with assistance from Arkansas Farm Bureau, we watched as senior students competed in a .22 pistol-shooting event. Clay birds were getting powdered one after another by young shotgunning experts on a modified American trap course. Young men and women on a rifle range were charging the muzzleloaders with black powder and drilling holes through distant targets. And along a woodland archery course, teams of youngsters skilled with bows sent arrows flying into the bull’s-eyes on 3-D wildlife targets, including one ecstatic young lady — a female Robin Hood — who put two arrows in the center mark, one through the other. Two events took place indoors: .177 pellet-rifle and pellet-pistol shooting competitions. All activities were well-attended by parents and other family members, as well as the many volunteer adult instructors who devote untold hours working with a growing number of Arkansas youths who are members of shooting clubs around the state. Through the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Program, students ages 9 to 18 learn marksmanship, safe use of firearms, principles of hunting and archery, and much more. Many also compete in the state’s two major shooting competitions: the State Range Event described above, which is held the third weekend in July each year, and the 4-H Youth Hunter Education Challenge held the second weekend of June. About 350 young people compete in each. 4-H Shooting Sports also partners to put on the Arkansas BB-Gun Championship in early February. Last year, about 100 participants competed, but rapid growth is expected in future competitions. “Arkansas’ 4-H Shooting Sports program has grown tremendously in the past decade and half,” said Roberg, who works with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Little Rock. “In 1997, 74 kids participated in a single competition with three events (air rifle, .22 rifle and shotgun). This year more than 700 kids competed in two competitions encompassing 15 events: hunter responsibility exam, hunter safety trail, compass and orienteering, wildlife identification, hunting light rifle, sporting clays, hunting muzzleloader, 3-D archery, air rifle, air pistol, three-position .22 rifle, .22 pistol, shotgun trap and threeposition muzzleloader.” The State Range Event is primarily a “bull’s-eye” type of competition. The shooting events promote marksmanship and, more importantly, safety. 4-H’s Youth Hunter Education Challenge, sponsored in part by the National Rifle Association, differs considerably. At first glance, it resembles a regular shooting competition, but participants also learn leadership, ethics and safety in an environment that fosters interest in the outdoors, shooting and hunting. Some have described it as “Advanced Hunter Education.” Events such as the Hunter Safety Trail and Hunter Responsibility Exam inspire the participants to learn more about ethics, conservation and being good sportsmen. Other events, such as the Hunter Orienteering Challenge and Hunting Wildlife Identification Challenge, allow participants to gain knowledge and real outdoor skills. The shooting events (.22 light hunting rifle, 12- and 20-gauge sporting clays, 3-D archery and muzzleloader) promote marksmanship and safety in simulated hunting situations. All youth participants in Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports practice in their respective county clubs under the guidance of 4-H Shooting Sports instructors trained using the National 4-H Shooting Sports Curriculum. Furthermore, all youths must also have successfully completed an approved Hunter Education Course and meet certain minimum proficiency standards in firearms knowledge and use established by the Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports Committee. Instructor training programs are the backbone of 4-H Shooting Sports, Roberg said. “Gun safety is the backdrop against which we do everything else in the shooting sports program,” he said. “Only certified shooting instructors can work with the youngsters in 4-H clubs. So we offer 17-hour, spring and fall certification courses in rifle, pistol, shotgun, muzzleloader and archery. We have about 300 active county club instructors, plus 22 active national instructors who train the county people.” Sixty Arkansas counties have at least one certified Arkansas 4-H Shooting Sports instructor, but only 40 counties have active clubs that send kids to competitions. “We’d like to see more active clubs out there,” said Roberg. “There are many more young people in the state who would enjoy the hands-on, fun, learning experiences available through the shooting sports program, and those who participate develop life skills, self-worth, conservation ethics and other valuable qualities. We hope more adults will become certified instructors this year so we can offer more kids the opportunity to participate.” For more information about the Shooting Sports Program, visit the Arkansas 4-H website at www.Kidsarus.org or contact Rex Roberg at 501-671-2334 or rroberg@uaex. Edu. Shooting Sports Facts There are many reasons why young people are choosing to participate in shooting sports through programs in schools, 4-H clubs and elsewhere. These are but a few. • There are girls’ sports and boys’ sports, but shooting sports are both. Shooting sports also can be conducted indoors or out, and during all seasons. • Most sports are either team sports or individual sports. Shooting sports offer individual participation, team participation or both at the same time. • Shooting sports are among the safest of all sports. • Participation in shooting sports can help students earn college scholarships. These scholarships can be won by both men and women on the same team. • Qualifying for a team is not a guarantee that one will get a chance to play. Coaches often enter their best athletes, and the rest sit on the bench. In shooting sports, everyone participates. • In some sports, an athlete’s peak performance will ebb at 16 years of age, other sports at 20 and still others at 28 or even 30 years of age. Beyond the age of 30, an athlete is definitely “over the hill.” Not in shooting sports. This activity has had national champions aged 60 and 16! • In shooting sports, physically handicapped people are treated as equal competitors. • Shooting sports are among the most disciplined of all sports. Many students report a marked improvement in their ability to concentrate when they apply shooting sports principles to their academic pursuits. • “Purity” is a term used in sports to describe the degree of precision with which a physical function must be executed. Shooting sports require the highest degree of purity. Shooting Sports get boost from Arkansas Farm Bureau Arkansas Farm Bureau is a big supporter of youth shooting-sports programs in the state. The organization recently assisted with construction of a new shooting facility at the C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center near Ferndale. At the 4-H Shooting Sports Range Events State Competition held last July, hundreds of young shooting enthusiasts tested their .22-pistol shooting skills at the newly opened range. At the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission’s August meeting, Farm Bureau President Randy Veach (right) presented a $10,000 check to support the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program. Program coordinator Chuck Woodson accepted the donation on behalf of AG&FC. A new shooting facility at the C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center near Ferndale was constructed with financial assistance from the Arkansas Farm Bureau.

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