Where to begin? Once again it has been a very wet year. Unlike last year when the rains hampered projects at the range, Pete was able to get some much needed work done on the road and get some new steel put up. And then the rains came, again, and again. There are plans to make some more improvements to the range when it dries out. We may have to wait till next year to put up more steel and a little more dirt work. The pollinator plot north of the archery range is coming along nicely. Not a lot of flowers yet. I am told it takes a couple of years. Other than that things are looking pretty good around the area. We need to thank Bob once again for the many hours he spends on the lawnmower.
We had another great turnout for the Annual Banquet. Well over 200 members and their families come out for the evening. Tersteeg’s catered once again and provided us with great food. River Valley Arms and Ammo provided FFL service for those lucky folks who won a firearm. Also, many thanks to the local vendors who provided prizes for the raffle or silent auction.
Upcoming meetings Second Wednesday of the month 14 Nov, 12 Dec, 9 Jan, 13 Feb, 13 Mar, and 10 April, starting at 7:00PM, at the Redwood Falls American Legion. Come out and join the discussions.
Our membership continues to grow. We are presently at 400+. All of the ranges see lots of use and we want to thank everyone for their assistance in keeping the ranges in top order by policing trash and brass, especially the steel cased ammo and shotgun hulls that nobody wants. If you see anything that needs attention please give us a call. Some steel on the pistol range got shot up and damaged with centerfire rifle and repaired. Sadly there are a couple of members who don’t read the sign and shoot centerfire rifle calibers at the pistol targets. The damage caused by such actions creates an unsafe condition for the other members.
We want to send out a big thank you to all of the local businesses in the Redwood area community that support us with plowing snow, road maintenance, trash and septic service, selling memberships, banking and internet support.
Our annual Hunter Education Firearm Safety was well attended again this year. However, due to the large amount of rain we were unable to conduct the field day as scheduled. We ended up completing everyone but in small groups throughout the summer as everyone’s schedule permitted.
We had several 3D archery shoots. Ryan and the crew set out an array of 16 targets on the east side of the club property. They did an outstanding job creating trails and setting up targets. A little damp in a few areas, I guess that is what the velociraptor likes. The City of Redwood Falls used the archery range for city deer hunt qualification. Congratulations to those who earned a slot.
Trap House #3 is progressing. We had hoped to get it operational this year but there were too many schedule conflicts.
High School Trap continues to be a fast growing sport. This year just short of 13,000 athletes participated in the state shoot at Alexandria. We support teams from Echo Charter, Wabasso, and Redwood Falls. They are usually shooting on Sunday afternoons in April, May, September, and October in all kinds a weather conditions. It is exciting to see these young adults improve through the season and achieve some personal bests at the State Championship.
Tuesday night trap had a good turn out this summer. This is open to everyone and all levels of experience are welcome. Come out and join the fellowship and fun.
Military Rifle Day had a great turn out of folks showing off and shooting their unique rifles. We plan on hosting this event again next year.
The Coyote Match was first conducted in January and another one in June. This two man team match is shot at 200 and 300 yards. Any rifle, any sight, ten shots for record by each team member at each range. If you can hold and shoot two minutes of angle you can win this match.
4H Shooting Sports is hosted at the range on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. This year a large part of the MN team that participated in the Nationals at Grand Island, NE in June was from our local club. In September they participated in the State Shoot and brought home a lot of awards. Are you interested in participating? Archery, trap, air rifle and pistol, smallbore rifle, black powder rifle and pistol and BB gun. There is something for all ages including adults. There was also a team of 4H air rifle competitors that participated in the CMP Nationals at Camp Perry, OH.
Annual RVAA Demo Day was a big hit. The staff at RVAA had a large variety of firearms that you could shoot along with vendors from Mossberg and Alex ProFirearms (APF). There was a small competition event, a mini training series, and a lot of steel ringing with pistols and rifles. There always seemed to be a line to shoot the full auto AR.
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We would like to conduct even more events, shooting competitions and the like throughout the year. What would you be interested in participating in? Would you be interested in running or assisting with an event? How about Hunter Education/Firearm Safety? We are always in need of instructors in the classroom and in the field. It is a great way to give back to the community, share your experience, and develop our youth to be safe and ethical hunters. This program is recommended for everyone even if you are not a hunter as it promotes safe firearm handling.
Shooting is Fun!