One hundred and forty youngsters from throughout Arizona were at Camp Raymond on Saturday October 2^nd eager to take part in a Scout annual competition that included archery, .22 rifle shooting, shotgun trap shooting and ax throwing.

           As firearms competition comprised half of the events, the Scouts needing qualified supervision to keep the entire operation running smoothly and most importantly safely, reached out to the Williams Sportsman’s Club (WSC) for assistance.  WSC President Keith Heimes was contacted, the call went out, and seven of the club’s Range Safety Officers (RSO’s) volunteered to assist.  “We absolutely want our youth to learn the proper and safe way to handle and use a firearm” Keith said.

           The Scouts were first given a presentation by the RSO’s on firearms safety and shooting fundamentals and then off they went to the rifle and shotgun ranges for supervised qualifications.  Each Scout fired 20 rounds of .22 RF ammo at paper targets and 10 rounds of 20 gauge shotgun ammo at clay targets.  In total over 2800 rounds of .22 RF and 1400 rounds of 20 gauge ammunition were consumed.  The scores from all these events were tabulated and the high scoring winners announced at the end of the day’s activities.

            WSC President Keith Heimes said that “Our youth are the future of shooting sports activities in this country.  Some might take up hunting, some may find competitive shooting their passion, but all of them started here learning safe firearms practices and being introduced to the proper fundamentals of the shooting sports.”                      

            The WSC RSO’s who assisted were WSC President Keith Heimes, Chief RSO Matthew Fleece, and RSO’s Warren Weir, Chuck Corcoran, Jack Douglas, Wynn Symon, and Chris Mayer.