The Bull River Shooter's Association held its first match of the season this past Saturday, March 23. Twenty-two men, women and juniors ranging in age from 11 to "senior" gathered on a very chilly morning at our range near Fort Steele to test their freehand rifle skills in spirited competition. At the end of the day, tremendous accomplishments were realized by the shooters.
Overall match winners are as follows:
Silhouette Rifle .22 calibre
B class — Dwayne Tiede
A class — Richard Carrere
AA class — Bill Johnson (won a shootout against Angie Graham)
AAA class — Jeramey Marsh
Match Champion Rob McKeeman
Hunter Rifle .22 calibre
B class — Clayton Williams
A class — Kalvin Marsh
AA class — Trudy Phillips
AAA class — Oliver Graham
Match Champion Rob McKeeman
We were very pleased to have five juniors shooting at this match and hope they continue to enjoy our sport. And to have 22 shooters at the first match of the year is a sign of great growth to come.
The great thing about silhouette shooting is you enter a class based on your ability and so compete against people of your skill level. It doesn't take long to get caught up in the enthusiasm and shooters are soon looking at the class chart to see how close they come to moving up. Of course you are competing against others, but most of us are really competing against our own scores.
Membership fees for the BRSA are $90 for the year (March 1 - Feb. 28). Additional dependant family members may join for $15 each, which covers insurance costs. In addition to insurance (which includes liability protection for members if ever involved in a shooting accident) and ongoing club expenses, dues cover your participation in four club matches, scheduled throughout the season. Juniors compete for free. Membership for those 65 years and up is $35 but does not include any match fees.
Memberships can be purchased from Rob McKeeman at 250-426-2794. Memberships can also be purchased at any club match. Anyone is welcome to enter a club match, including non-members, and spectators are always welcome! The entry fee is $10 per gun (Silhouette class and Hunter class).
Our next match is April 13 and 14. We are inviting anyone who'd like to try the sport to join us at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 13 for an introductory lesson and we'll even have some rifles available to try. Please let Rob know by phoning him at 250-426-2794. We will then have a regular club match after lunch (40 shot). Sunday, April 14 will be a high power match where shooters test their freehand skill at ranges from 200 metres to 500 metres.
We will be conducting our annual range clean-up on Saturday, April 27, to help prepare our range for the Victoria Day Weekend Annual Match, which will be the B.C. Provincial Championship this year.
A wealth of information about Metallic Silhouette shooting can be found on the Internet. For information about the BRSA please contact Rob as noted to the left. New members are always welcome. We look forward to seeing you at the range.