October News & Views
4th Quarter October, 2006 - December, 2006
Dr. Ron Howard

CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

Indoor Rifle Rule Changes
The rules for Roundup have changed effective September 1, 2006. Since the Indoor Rifle Match is preserving its option to return to Roundup if/when we can develop an indoor facility close to College Station, these rules (below) apply to District Qualifying matches in smallbore rifle. NOTE: This does not impact any other 4-H Shooting Sports contest or competition, the change impacts the Indoor Rifle Match ONLY!

1. The top three teams and individuals can come from one or more counties within the district (i.e. all three teams can be from the same county). Mixing of individuals from various counties to create district “all star” teams still] is not allowed. Individuals qualifying for the Texas Indoor Rifle Match need not participate in the District Match on a designated team, i.e. they may enter and compete as individuals only.

2. Entry Composite: All team members must be active shooting sports members registered in the same county 4-H program. Participation in the District Match is mandatory for eligibility in the state match.

3. Teams and High Point Individuals: In the Texas 4-H Indoor Rifle Match, the three highest scoring individuals in the district contest may participate in the state contest. Since all team members compete for individual awards, if the three high point individuals at the district match are members of the first, second or third place teams, no individual entries will be accepted from the district.

As always, please report your District Match results as soon as possible to permit us to contact your team members with squadding information and to allow us to modify that information to make the event as efficient as possible.

Anschutz Target Rifle for Sale
Bruce and Lori McCarty have a very lightly used Anschutz 1451 target rifle available for sale within the 4-H Shooting Sports community. You may contact them at 125 Wilson Lane, Weatherford, TX 76087 or by telephone at these cell numbers: Bruce: 817-596-3503 Lori: 817-991-882. The asking price is $750.00. Lori’s description follows:

- Anschutz Model 1451 Smallbore Target Rifle
- Single shot, bolt action, .22 Long Rifle chambering
- Two-stage trigger .5066 with safety
- Adjustable butt plate adaptable to 8 mm spacers
- Accessory rail
- Aperture sights
- Includes metal gun case
- Excellent rifle for a young shooter
- Contact the McCartys directly. Do not contact the state office. We are merely passing on this offer from another 4-H family.

Next National Workshop in Coastal Virginia
While we are in the Extension Region, we are a “fur piece” from the Virginia Workshop scheduled for this year. As a result, we will be toward the bottom of the list when it comes to any space at the workshop. In the past, this area has been more attractive to those from the eastern part of the South Region, the southern part of the Northeast Region and the eastern part of the Central Region. We have sneaked in a few, but travel costs are more or less prohibitive for those of us on this side of the Mississippi. I have lodged a fairly serious complaint about the last three workshops for our Region being held in Virginia, South Carolina and Virginia. In addition, we have applied to host a workshop in 2008. The results of that application will not be known until sometime in December or January. If we are successful, we will attempt to fill all positions 2-3 people deep with Texas volunteers.

NRA Withdraws the Home Study Training Option – Possible Alternatives
During the National Committee meeting at the May workshop in Kansas, the National Rifle Association announced that the home study option for 4-H leaders to become dual certified has been withdrawn by their Board of Directors. In my discussions with David Cullivan, NRA representative on the committee, he revealed that the overall failure rate on the home exams was slightly under 80 percent! I asked specifically if it was our people. His response was a strong “NO.” Regardless, that process is no longer available. One option for bringing dual certification back into the Texas 4-H workshops would be to extend our workshop for those who want to have NRA certification. The extended session would be solely based on NRA materials, focused on the unique content of the NRA courses in question, and entail additional fees to cover those materials and applications. I suspect that those costs may be as much as $40-60 for materials and a minimum of $15-45 for application fees. The committee will weigh in on this, but I would like those of you who are current or potential participants in workshops to add your comments as well. Please contact the State Office to express your opinion on the matter.

Texas 4-H Foundation and LaQuinta
A few weeks ago, the Texas 4-H Foundation and La Quinta Inns signed an agreement that will both save you money with motels and bring funds into the Texas 4-H Foundation. LaQuinta has agreed to give 9 percent of their lodging profits for all rooms rented by people mentioning 4-H in making room arrangements. In addition, they have granted us a discount below their lowest room rates for all rooms reserved prior to the lodging nights. I believe that discount is 15 percent below the lowest rates. While we have some cards being printed, they are NOT necessary to obtain either the discount or for the funds to be received by the Foundation. Simply mentioning Texas 4-H should be sufficient to get the rate and the payment to the Foundation. Once the cards are received, we will make them available at workshops, meetings, and other events in case you want one.

Just in Time for Christmas
Some of you have had the chance to see the games produced by Interactive Sports Entertainment. They include four games currently: “ Daisy Air Gun Fun”, “NRA Varmint Hunter”, “NRA Xtreme Accuracy Shooing”, and “NRA High Power Competition”. I have not had the chance to use them yet, but there was always a crowd around those computers set up at the last workshop in Kansas. Normally these games sell for approximately $20 per game. The company is making them available to 4-H members, leaders or programs at one quarter of that price. This is a “no-risk” offer to leaders and coaches who may wish to use this as a club fund raiser. ISE will rebate @0.50 per game to the club for every game sold and will take any remaining games back. Your risk is simply the cost of shipping them back to the company. You decide the numbers and make the contacts directly. See the web addresses with the newsletter for additional information.

Changes in State Workshop Format
For many years we have been hosting workshops that span three days, starting on a Friday and ending on Sunday with about 16 to 17 hours in discipline sessions and a black powder session on Sunday morning.

Several changes have taken place recently allowing us to use a more compact format. First, hunting is offered in a single discipline format over a longer time frame, nearly reaching the level of the national training and surpassing it in many ways. Second, the black powder committee has recommended that we cease offering a condensed course and permit them to be a full discipline teaching the equivalent of a NMLRA instructor”s course including black powder rifle, pistol and shotgun. The coordinator group is considering a similar approach, although it may be a hard, one-day event. That means that we can start at 1PM on the first day and be finished at about 9-10 PM on the second day if all goes well. Several items flow from those changes.
1) Folks can get home very late on a Saturday or early on a Sunday and be rested going into the work week.
2) Nearby folks who want to be in services on Sunday can do so without being overwhelmed or missing anything.
3) Muzzle Loading Workshop participants will get a much more intense and effective training session that will better equip them to use the materials and to lead youngsters in that discipline.
4) IF we decide to include NRA training within our workshop structure, an additional (but short) day can cover the NRA fundamentals, reinforce some of the training processes, and allow on-site testing and certification for those desiring it.

Hunting Workshop Being Planned
As this is written there are two potential sites for hunting workshops being explored. As soon as we get one of them locked in with dates, the next hunting workshop will be posted. If you want to take on the most complex of the shooting sports disciplines, get a friend or two and come along. Thanks to a National Wild Turkey Federation grant, we are able to subsidize these workshops somewhat. Come ready to be hands on and to have your brains stretched. Plan on working hard for four days and going home with a national level of training using the local site’s resources as examples.

Precision Air Rifle Match Change
After hosting the Precision Air Rifle Match for many years, and after seeing participation in the event decline over the past several years, Stanley Baumbach has asked that the state office take over management of that match. We will, of course, comply with his wished while offering a very hearty “THANK YOU” to Stanley for the years that he managed that match faithfully and well. Be sure to read carefully when sending your registration forms for the match so they come to the PO Box here, not to the address you have used for years. In addition to the change in match directors, we will require you to provide your own AR 1/10 Air Rifle Targets. We will supply official labels for those targets to be attached to the target backs prior to firing at any record shots. If you need a source, please contact the state office for assistance. All scoring will be done here. Any target that has been plugged or otherwise modified will be disqualified.

Other Winter Postal Leagues Announced
Registration forms for the air pistol, archery, light rifle, smallbore silhouette and smallbore three-position postal leagues are also attached. Registration deadlines and match dates are listed below for your convenience. For registration forms and annoucements, click here.

Sporter Air Rifle Rule Changes
Earlier this week CMP announced that the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules. We use these rules as the standard for sporter air rifle events in Texas 4-H. Changes will take place effective immediately in our events. Printed rules are available on line and will be published by the end of September. These are the rules we use in defining sporter air rifles and in governing three-position air rifle matches. For Texas 4-H the rules are effective as of October 1, 2006. A quick synopsis follows.

1. CBI’s (Clear Barrel Indicators) are now mandatory along with grounding rifles before preparation and after firing is completed.
2. After shooters finish firing a stage and as long as the STOP command has not been given, they may make sight, buttplate or cheek-piece adjustments on their grounded rifles, but rifles may not be removed from the firing line. Once the STOP-UNLOAD commands are given, all handling of rifles must cease.
3. Range offices have the option to permit removing of the safe (action open, CBI in place) air rifles from the case behind the firing line or on it. In either event, the CBI must be inserted as soon as the case is opened.
4. Several rifles have been approved, including the Daisy 853CM (special marketing at $190), Daisy M887 CO2 (special market pricing of $295), and a special version of the Air Arms T200 available through Champions Choice, a rifle very similar to the XSV-40 Daisy that is now discontinued. A compressed air rifle, this air rifle complies more fully with sporter air rifle guidelines ($445).
5. The Avanti XSV 40 continues to be permitted but butt plates that are adjustable must be placed in the neutral position in sporter events.
6. Added weights must now be either internal or added to the barrel only. No other weights may be added.
7. Slings with non-slip rubber or similar lining, but not with padding, in the part of the sling that fits around the arm are permitted. These “Top Grip” linings are now deemed to be similar in function to safety pins or buttons permitted to prevent sling slippage.
8. Detachable fore-end risers, standard on many aluminum stocked precision air rifles are not considered prohibited palm rests and may be used in any position.
9. A shooter in a 20 shot stage who errs in firing sighting shots at both targets must call that to the attention of the range officer in order to receive a warning only. If they fail to call it to the attention of the range officer before firing a record shot, the sighters on the second target will each receive two penalty points.

These rules are currently in effect and should be applied in any matches from this announcement forward.

Becoming a State 4-H Shooting Sports Committee Member
With very few exceptions, the process of becoming a state training team member requires:

a. successful completion of Texas 4-H training and local participation in that discipline within the Texas program,
b. nomination by a state committee member
c. application to the state office
d. a signed contract with the state office to teach a minimum of one workshop per year for a minimum of three years
e. active participation in state committee meetings, appropriate discipline meetings, and events and activities
f. an agreement to pay back the costs (tuition, fees, transportation) of the workshop if (d and e) are not achieved (note that exigent circumstances may delay or defer this and are considered in those situations)
g. active participation in the national workshop and the training methodology demonstrated
h. follow up with active, positive participation in committee business.

This demands that people be willing to go not only the second mile, but often the third, fourth and fifth miles as well. It is a serious commitment. Count the cost and the demand before electing to go. We count on you, but more importantly the kids and the leaders of the state count on you. Interested individuals who have met the requirements should contact any committee member or the state office to pursue their desire to serve.

Pending Workshops
In addition to the workshops currently posted on the web site or those with closing dates looming, we have several workshops that have not been fully arranged. As soon as the information is set and our dates and locations are firm, those workshops will be added to the schedule and applications will be posted to the web site. Lubbock should be set for a winter meeting by about December 1. Elgin will likely have a February date. Waco is not yet established, but should be soon. The second workshop in the South has not been firmed up yet, but I expect to hear from the Region within a few weeks.

Reloading Workshops and TC Training Available
As most of you know, the Texas 4-H Shooting Sports Program permits the use of reloaded ammunition ONLY if specific requirements are met. Among them is the requirement that the ammunition be loaded by a certified reloader or under the direct supervision of a certified reloader. There are no waivers for these requirements. If you wish to use handloads in ANY event (this includes practice at your home ranges), you must comply with these requirements. Should you wish to set up a reloading workshop (it can be accomplished in a brutal day or in multiple sessions, you may contact the State Office or a certified instructor in your area. After a great flurry of activity immediately after the rule went into effect, the demand for workshops has declined. This note is intended to refresh your memory and to remind you that the certification card is your proof of course completion. With about 50 to 60 volunteers who are trained across the state, we can assist you if you ask.

National Matches – Want to Go??
The 2007 National 4-H Shooting Sports Invitational Matches will be held for the second time in South Dakota in June, 2007. All senior shooters who will be 14 by January 1, 2007 may submit applications to the state office to be considered for one of the 36 places available to us each year. That allows us to fill two archery teams (recurve and compound), two pistol teams (air and smallbore), two rifle teams (air and smallbore), a muzzle loading rifle team, a hunting team, and a shotgun team. Each team consists of three or four members. Having the fourth member helps, since the top three placings in each event compose the overall team placing. Our teams are chosen by the state committee using a three-tiered process. The first step is blind, meaning that the committee members reviewing the applicants have no information on name, locality or age of the applicants. Once a preliminary ranking has been made, the full applications are reviewed, permitting knowledge of the individuals to be included. Finally discipline groups may find they need to argue their case for an individual who placed high in more than one ranking. When possible, we use the order specified by the applicant; but some circumstances may force us to contact the applicants directly to see if they are willing to alter that preference list (e.g. there were only four applicants in a given discipline). Pure shooting skill is important, but it is NOT the only criterion. The Texas 4-H Shooting Sports Committee views these teams as ambassadors for the state and the program. As such, we are looking for great kids who can shoot well, and there are lots of you out there.

All of this starts with YOU. You are the one who must download and fill out the application and get it to us before the deadline - December 1, 2006. While that seems a long ways away, it will be here more quickly than your think, about two months! The application takes some time and effort, and you need some supporting documentation. Like filling out college applications for you seniors, the fuse is shorter than you think. Some kids and leaders have expressed the opinion that they do not have a chance for selection. The only way that happens is if you do not submit an application or there is some reason that you would be ineligible by national rules. Others want to delay until their last year thinking they can only go to nationals once. That is both true and false! You can only represent the state once in any given discipline, e.g. smallbore pistol. However, you can return in a different discipline, e.g. air pistol or smallbore rifle or hunting, in another year. Since eligibility starts at 14 and ends at 19, you have FIVE opportunities to be selected if you do it all. (I continue to fight for a second shotgun discipline to include the international games, but that may be a long time coming). In other words, you could go every year from the year you became 14 until you aged out and still would have four disciplines you did not get a chance to represent.
The mailbox is open. Let’s see your name on an application.

Content of the National 4-H Shooting Sports Games
We require that you have experience with the various games included in each of the venues for which you apply. That need not be at the Texas 4-H Shooting Sports Games, although that is preferred. A listing of teams and the disciplines in which they compete follows.

*Live fire included: smallbore and MZ animal targets, shotgun quail walk, and 3-D archery

Indoor Archery Match Set for 2007
Ben Dybala, match director for the indoor archery match, has announced that the 2007 Indoor Archery Match will be held in Graham on March 23 and 24. Pre-shooting for those with academic conflicts or those that wish to shoot in both recurve and compound divisions will take place on Friday evening. As usual, the format will include the JOAD 9 meter round (first year Juniors only) and 18 meter rounds. No Clover Kid competition is permitted because of the rule change in 2005. Registration forms will be posted in January (or earlier if we have them in hand) on the 4-H Shooting Sports web site at: http://shootingsports.tamu.edu . Note that entering this site through the general 4-H web-site may result in some problems, due to the use of frames that are not easily handled by some browsers or systems. Please go directly to the site above for better service.

Other Opportunities for 4-H Shooting Sports Youth
While we may think our program is the greatest, there are many other opportunities that young people in shooting sports may find both interesting and beneficial. The Brigades - Buckskin, Bobwhite, Feathered Forces, and Bass - are managed through the Texas Wildlife Association, but they retain the leadership of folks like Dr. Dale Rollins, Tamara Trail and Larry Hysmith. Participant reports are almost overwhelmingly positive, and both adult and youth participants learn a great deal through their participation. Many of our members find them well worth their investment in both time and funds. Keep watch for announcements of these programs and consider them as opportunities for your shooting sports kids, particularly those with an interest in hunting and wildlife.

The Master Naturalists Program includes Junior Master Naturalists. Again, this is a demanding program that can be life changing. Contact Michelle Haggerty in the TAMU Wildlife and Fisheries Science Department for more information.
For the hunting participants who want another element to add to their knowledge, exploring the Texas Wildlife Habitat Judging Program and its background information might be valuable and fun. Dr. James Cathey in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at TAMU is the leader for this program. Workshops should be going on. Maybe you can get to one and explore this program as well.

The Oudoor Skills program might be of interest, too. Contact the Texas 4-H Center in Brownwood to find the particulars (what, where, when and how) of the program.
Add to these our own Field and Stream Program and the Texas 4-H Sportfishing Program, and you have lots to do. Contact Ron at the State 4-H Office for these last two. Expand your horizons. You might find something that you really like and that changes your career objectives. Your local Extension Office can assist you in finding these things.

Ambassador Applications Now Available
The Texas 4-H Shooting Sports Program has produced a group of outstanding ambassadors who have served at both the state and national levels. After ours was in place for several years, the National 4-H Shooting Sports Committee adopted a proposal encouraging development of such programs to provide youth equipped to meet donors and to interpret the program at all levels. Since we continue to see a few good young people of senior age to expand the ambassador corps, we have attached an application. The deadline for 2007 applications is December 1, 2007. That will give us sufficient time to prepare review copies for the committee before its January meeting. All interested senior shooting sports members are encouraged to apply. Click here to for applications.

Invitational Match Dates — We NEED Your Help!
Many counties or clubs host invitational matches both as ways to expand shooting opportunities for their kids and others and as fund raisers for their clubs. Some of them are traditional. Some operate on word of mouth only. Traditional ones include March Madness in Travis County, the Hot Box Match in Brown County, the Silhouette Match in Brady, and many shotgun matches. To help the new people and some who are just getting involved in shooting in places other than their own counties, putting as many of those as possible on the calendar and listing contact people along with dates and places is a tremendous help. You know where and when you will be doing something, but we cannot get someone to you unless we have all the pertinent information, including contact persons and their full contact information. Drop us a note or an e-mail (ra-howard@tamu.edu) with a description including: match type(s), location, dates, match director or contact(s), telephone number(s), addresses for applications, e-mail addresses and fax numbers if available. If the match name is not an adequate description, a synopsis of the events being fired would also be helpful. If folks outside the district or region cannot compete, please make that clear in the match information sent to us. Thanks in advance from us and from those who would love to be there if they know about your event.

Hunters and Trappers: Help STILL Needed
We got some action on our appeals to hunters and trappers last year, and we are making that same appeal for help again. We can use the parts that you normally throw away in the hunting discipline. Skulls, skins, wings, body feathers, tails, and similar items from your forays in the field (anywhere in North America) can be extremely useful to us in both teaching (among other things participants in our workshops learn to work up specimens for teaching or practice) and in our contests. Any furbearer, varmint, game animal taken by legal means, skull, wing (you only need one while in transit and none after the animal is “prepared for consumption, e.g. cleaned and frozen with a label). Helping out is as easy as writing a short note on who took the critters represented, when, where and how, and sending them to us or bringing them to a workshop. Wings can be sent through the mail in a stout paper envelope (NO PLASTIC). If you want to be neater, allow them to dry for a day or so before shipping. Please think of us when you are in the field or at the cleaning table. Skins and skulls of mammals, complete wings of game birds, or well-done and documented plaster casts of tracks, even dried droppings, can all be used in the program. Remember that “hunter’s document” to keep us all from violating Texas wildlife law. Trappers, we can even use pelts that are so poor that they are hardly worth skinning. Help me get our specimen array up to a level that lets our kids have excellent training!

Texas 4-H Shooting Sports Committee Meetings
New committee officers were elected at our late summer meeting in Kerrville. Eddie Lero was elected committee chair. He replaces Stanley Baumbach who been an outstanding chair for the committee since it was formalized nearly 20 years ago. He leaves BIG shoes for Eddie to fill, but I believe that he is up to the task. Jeff Dietrich was elected vice-chair, and Evelyn Capps was elected secretary of the committee. Discipline chairs are:

Theses individuals, along with the committee officers, form the Board of Directors for the foundation.

Who Serves on the Committee?
You may wonder who represents you in committee meetings. In truth all of us do, since the committee is state wide and we do not get into partisan politics. However, those listed below are the ones living in your districts. Any of the committee members can carry your questions, concerns or suggestions to meetings, if you do not want to send them directly to the state office for inclusion on the program. Emeritus members, who are welcome any time, but do not have an obligation to come to meetings include: Lanny Bullard (Bryan), Fred Cross (Stephenville), Bill Deauman (Crockett), Margaret and Terry Ellis (Clyde), Richard Johnson (Robert Lee), Nick Nichols (Pleasanton), Ricky Linex (Weatherford) and Earl Williams (Kerrville).

District 1 - Jim Finley (Claude)

District 2 - Nelda Blackwell (Littlefield)
Rick Monger (Levelland)

District 3 - Kenneth Jarosz (Wichita Falls)
Don Van Meter (Wichita Falls)

District 4 - Roy and Joanne Bouldin (Gainesville)
Tamara Trail (Mesquite)

District 5 - Sean Healy (Tyler)
David Williamson (Crockett)

District 6 – George and Debbie Brenzovich (Fort Hancock)
Bobby Wade Welch (Gardendale)
Gary Willhelm (Wickett)
Michelle May (Monahans)

District 7 – Linvel Baker (Marble Falls)
Robert Wade Black (Cisco)
Pat Gary (Lohn)
Bob and Cookie Robinson (Clyde)
Tom Sammons (Brady)
Craig and Beverly Sullivan (Lometa)
David Williams (Brooksmith)

District 8 – Russ Arnold (Mansfield)
Evelyn Capps (Arlington)
Ron Green (Rockdale)
Roy Green (Stephenville)
Jerry Provorse (Copperas Cove)

District 9 – Charlie Coble (College Station)
Mike Eubanks (Caldwell)
Jim Haynes and Kitty Haynes (Fort Bend)
David Hellard (Mongomery)
Wally Hess (Humble)
Rick Howard (Huffman)
Milton Kolb (Beaumont)
Eddie Lero (Bryan)
Bill Massey (Madisonville)
Larry Perez (Bryan)
Tom Rawlings (Wharton)
Charlie Wicke (Rosenberg)

District 10 – Philip Calk (Bracketville)
Jeff and Jennie Dietrich (San Antonio)
Leland Gebert (Elgin)
Drew Pickle (Bastrop)
Billy Snow (Kerville)
Earl Wellborn (Pfluegerville)
Wayne Harlow (Pfluegerville)
Clifton Wing (Round Rock)

District 12 – Tommy Allmand (Pearsall)
Donald Hessong (George West)
Kelly Macmanus (Pharr)

State Wide – Terry Erwin (Texas Parks and Wildlife)
Larry Hysmith (TAMU)
Denise Harmel-Garza (TAMU)

USA Shooting Coach Certification Workshop
Russ Arnold has announced a USA Shooting, NRA, CMP Coaches Certification Workshop to be held 27-29 October 2006 at the Rock Creek Range in Joshua (near Fort Worth). Application and agenda are attached (Coaches Certification Package.pdf) for those interested in attending. Some spots for adults and senior 4-H members remain. This certification DOES NOT replace the required Texas 4-H Instructor/Coach certification. It is strongly recommended that attendees already have that certification prior to taking the course offered here. If you have any questions, please contact Russ at either: phone: 817-690-6194 or e-mail: rgatca@msn.com.

Shotgun Still Missing
Kenneth Bass (stripertx@yahoo.com) reports that a shotgun taken from the rack on Field 7 between a skeet match and trap practice during our 2004 State Matches is still missing. The SKB 585 Sporting 12 gauge over/under had 28 inch ported barrels and a silver receiver. The stock had SKB decals on both sides and there were porting decals on both sides of the barrels. The gun, which bore serial number AS10437, was fitted with Briley Spectrium Extended choke tubes. If anyone locates this gun please report it to both local police and to Mr. Bass at the above e-mail address. This is also an all too graphic reminder that, while our kids are honest to a fault there are some people who hang out at our major matches who are simply predators seeking easy prey. Nobody thinks about stopping someone simply walking off a firing line or down the walks at National with a shotgun over their arm.

Black Powder Silhouette Changes
The black powder committee has adopted new rules on charge weights of various propellants for the silhouette matches. These are designed to minimize damage to our silhouettes while providing adequate energy to cleanly knock down those targets. A table of permitted loads is listed below to permit you and your kids to work out loads that will work well in their MZ rifles. Note that FFg black powder is the foundation for these loads. Charges based on FFFg powder must be reduced below these maxima due to its more rapid pressure development. Black powder substitutes like Pyrodex, 777, Clear Shot or Clean Shot must be reduced to the energy equivalents of the loads permitted. This table will serve as an initial set of maxima for you. Further reductions will be made of we continue to encounter target damage.

Distance           FFg                 FFFg                       Black Powder Substitutes
25 Yards           35 gr                30 gr                                       30 gr
50 Yards           45 gr                35 gr                                       35 gr
75 Yards           50 gr                45 gr                                       45 gr
100 Yards         60 gr                50 gr                                       50 gr

Note that some counties are currently using 30 grain charges at all distances and e

Parting Shots

While this is the last newsletter of 2006, it is the first one of the 2006-2007 4-H year. I guess that means we are winding up a year and starting a year at the same time. On the wind up side, we had a good year with a few warts and wrinkles in it. Our state matches hosted slightly over 800 entries with 787 of those entries posting scores. Three of our kids went across the pond in shotgun and came home with the team gold and an individual silver medal in international skeet in those international games. I think we can forgive them for being no-shows at the state event while we offer them congratulations on the international performance. We welcomed several new instructors to the training team at the workshop in Kansas with Jim Haynes, Van Gaskins and Raye Murrell going through the shotgun discipline, Michelle May going through the archery discipline, Wayne Harlow going through the pistol discipline and Leland Gebert and Cliff Wing going through the muzzle loading discipline. These folks were nuts enough to purchase yours truly in an air rifle calcutta designed by the coordinators’ group - a 10 shot air rifle match, standing only, among the lead instructors in all disciplines. The rifle instructor, Dick Fultz, finished second. It was my good fortune to be the high scorer, and I was pleased when the group returned their winnings to the national committee as a donation from the Texas program. We are now listed as a $1000 donor along with the New York Program, which has grown much stronger since I left a young program there in 1985.

We fielded another excellent team of young people at the National Games in Rapid City, South Dakota, and brought the H. T. “Tom” Davison trophy home for the seventh year in a row. Missouri is still gunning for us and they came pretty close, but the team prevailed. We saw outstanding evidence of sportsmanship when our smallbore rifle team called the Kansas team to the podium after getting their bronze medals in silhouette and exchanged them for the 4th place ribbons Kansas had won because of an interpretation error by the judges. While the standings did not change because their protest was filed too late, our kids felt it was just and proper to recognize them and swap awards. It brought several seasoned veteran 4-H specialists to tears, and I have to admit to being a bit choked up myself. What a marvelous bunch of kids we have! It indicates that YOU are doing a great job in keeping things in perspective and remembering that this program is not simply about winning, but about live skills, honor, integrity, and character. If you are among those teaching these young people, feel completely free to give yourself and your parents a huge pat on the back.

We have come through a rough year fiscally and survived. State funding for Extension was expanded, but with several unfunded mandates, which means that operations funds, which are always hard to get, were in short supply. We operated for the entire year on Texas 4-H Foundation funds with no state funding support. In addition, the continuing confusion over the TSRA License Plate funds, intended to be split between Texas 4-H Shooting Sports and the Texas A&M Foundation for the Tubb Scholarships, remained in the control of the state Comptroller for the lack of an appropriate bill in the legislature. After considerable negotiation and an apparent resolution, those funds were all moved to the A&M foundation. Thus we have been without the support of one of our cornerstone funds for two years. That, along with the continuing high cost of doing business, particularly travel costs, has pinched us quite a bit. Reassessment of costs will be essential for the program to remain on solid ground fiscally. I do not count on rapid change in the situation, but I remain hopeful. Several legislators are working on getting this problem within state government fixed. All of us have been hit at the pump and in every place where transportation is involved, so none of this is news.

I predicted some rough patches a year ago. I believe that I underestimated a bit, yet we appear to have grown during this time frame. Folks from at least three counties have contacted me in the last three weeks attempting to start a program. The Kingsville workshop had one of the most excited groups of new instructors I have seen in a while, and we are off to Weatherford for the first time in about a decade next weekend. We continue to believe that the two basic principles we must live by are: 1) this program is about the kids and youth development first and foremost - other things are secondary to those objectives and 2) if we keep the reasons for the program continually fresh in our minds most other things become much less significant.

Great! So where are we headed? We are firmly committed to training with a new format as outlined above. We have some excellent instructors joining with a great staff. They are ready to dive in and make a difference. We have leadership on the committee that is committed to positive growth and change for the better where and when it is needed. We have a great wealth of experience that is not merely slipping away, but providing wisdom and support to the new folks who bring their great energy to the program. I believe we have a commitment to the cause of youth development through shooting sports and without losing the desire to promote excellence, self-defined and driven, among the participants. Programs with relatively low participation levels are working on means of expanding their outreach and impact. We are attempting to use more flexible means of meeting our training needs without compromising quality. We are identifying some new opportunities for expanding our funding base, including some games offered at a discount. We are committed to the notion of keeping tangible awards secondary to intangible awards, i.e. not putting lesser motivators before stronger ones.

I started working for Extension on 13 January 1973. I have done lots of other things during that time period, but I have never felt called to do something different. If I had been so called, I would have been gone to that calling. This is not a job. It is a calling. I believe that the impact of this program on kids, parents and leaders is such that we can make differences in the lives of those families for many years to come. We may not remember the score we shot or the awards won or missed. We will remember the principles and the learning that is applicable to everything we do in the rest of our lives - the real stuff, not the recreation that keeps us sane. I believe that the vast majority of us involved gets this point. I hope very earnestly that the rest of us get it, too.

Remember that when we put first things first the other things will fall into line. When we put other things first, nothing comes out right. Remember, too, what was shared a year ago. “ You can either take the time to do the things that keep you healthy, or you will take the time to recover from not doing those things. Until next time, try seeing a sunrise and a sunset, try putting yourself and your short span on the earth into perspective, try to do something that rebuilds, refreshes and sustains your spirit. All of us will be better for it.

May you be blessed in doing so.

Ron