Chelsea Rod & Gun Club

By Len Ellsworth

We had a decent turnout for the last shoot of the year. 33 shooters, 4 ladies, 2 Jrs, and 3 cubs. It’s real nice to see the kids out here shooting. They are so excited and were real disappointed that this was the last shoot. Everyone liked the course set-up the last two shoots. It cuts out the time from 2 1/2 hrs to about 2hrs. It made it easier for the kids to make it around plus a couple of the older gentlemen we had. We have one grandmother who has brought her grandson to the last few shoots who doesn’t shoot just walks with her Jr. Class grandson so he can shoot. I would like to sincerely thank the members who have given their time and support throughout my time as the Archery Chairman. You have made it a lot of fun and without you we couldn’t have made it the success that it is. We might not have the numbers of yesteryears but those participants who are here really appreciate what we have done. The numbers are not there but we still are having better numbers than the other Clubs in the area. Thanks again.

The winners for the classes for this shoot are;

As you can see the Clayton Family all shot very well this shoot. Good to see a member bring his family out and enjoy the course.

By Len Ellsworth

We had 37 contestants at the shoot on Sunday, 9/11/16. Everyone whom I talked to loved the course. We changed it again this month from last. We were able to use all of the platforms at this shoot and because just about everyone uses a tree stand now, they got some good practice. We had 4 women freestyle shooters, 4 Jr. contestants, and 4 Cub contestants which was great to see. We let the Cub shooters shoot for free, 10 and under. We also had a novelty shoot his month with a shot at a 3 1/2” circle on a White Goat target at 98 yards. We had 10 participants in that contest. The winner of that contest was Max McFeters, who was 2 ¼” from the center of the circle. The next shoot will be on Sept. 25th and will be the last one of the year. Everyone who bow hunts should come on out and make sure they are ready for the 1st of October. You can bring your rangefinders if you are so inclined. You do not have to shoot from the stakes your “class” is supposed to shoot from unless you are using a crossbow. You don’t even have to keep score if you don’t want to, just come on out and shoot the best course in the area. I would like to thank Ron Mast, Nathan Sova, Bruce Sullins, and of course Mike Boyer for making this shoot run as smooth as it did. Mike will not be able to attend the next shoot so Gary Moore has volunteered to take over his duties in the kitchen.

Results of the shoot;

Archery report for July – by Len Ellsworth.

Well gentlemen, we had a perfect day for the shoot. We had 19 shooters show up. One member, Don Minock came to shoot and also has volunteered to help us out for the rest of the year. Don is a probationary member who enjoys shooting his bow and seems as though he will be a great help to the Archery here at the CR&G. The bad news is that Breck is moving back to his roots in Mississippi. This was probably his last shoot he will be attending even though I tried to talk him into staying a couple more days he is planning on leaving on August 5th which is two days before the August shoot. I personally want to thank Breck for all of the help he has given me and the Archery committee. You made it a lot easier to get this thing back up and running. Don has volunteered to help Greg with targets 21-30 for the rest of the year.

To the shoot results;

Mens Freestyle                      

1. Todd Martin        269
2. Mike Day             262
3. Jason Lantis      246          

Mens Open

1. Brandon Fredrick   247
2. Kent Marshall         175
3. Ed Miller                  246

Freestyle Women                    

1. Ashley Drake        241

Freestyle Cub

1. Trevor Lantis        188

Recurve/Longbow

1. Frank Thornhill        195
2. Mike Woods             188

The next shoot will be on Aug. 7th. We will again change the course for those of you who came to this shoot so it won’t be the same course. If there are any CR&G members who would be interested in getting involved with the Archery please get with me and we can work this out. If you haven’t shot the course in awhile come see the course. You won’t find a better set-up anywhere around the area and the guys helping are top notch with all of the time they put in to make this what it is.

We only had 13 shooters for the shoot in June. The first shoot in April we had 4′ of snow. The shoot in may it rained, and the June shoot the threat of rain was all day. July will be better. At least we had 3 Club members participate. Best all year! Remember to hand out flyers and post wherever you think some shooters might read about us.

OPEN MENS                                                        RECURVE

1) Todd Sherrard            241                                1)  Evan Kowalski  41
2) Kent Marshall             198

MENS FREESTYLE                                            ATLATL

1) Ron Doster                  259                                1) Dan Hovater  38

2) Kim Sherrad                237

3) Rob Hendricks            219

There is a young man who is working on becoming an Eagle Scout. His name is Bobby Denny. he would like to help out on the bow course and as of right now he is drawing up plans for replacing the bridge. He has to submit plans on what he plans on doing and how. He will have to acquire all funding and labor. After he submits them to me I will take them to the Chelsea R&G board to approve. We also have discussed him building some sort of a “running deer” target along with another practice range possibly behind the Youth building so we would be able to start the course from the opposite end at times.

I met him over at the Clubhouse today to measure and take pictures of the bridge and I tried to show him the course. I hate to say this but since the last shoot the course has fell into disrepair. Trees are down and a lot of limbs have to be picked up and or trimmed. I know a couple of you are going to be on vacation the first two weeks of July but the rest of us are going to have to step it up. We will not be using the field for the rest of the year, except possibly the last shoot of September, so the five targets located there will have to be relocated. There is a large tree down between targets #22 and #23 that will have to be removed. Breck and Greg, Target #20 will end up in the same place as it is right now but it won’t be going down the trail, it will be down the hill. I can be there just about anytime if someone wants to get with me to have a work bee. Chainsaw, pole saw, pruners, post hole digger, shovel, and drill will be needed. I will have to check the Club calendar to see what is going on as far as activities that would jeopardize our working the course.

Some members from Jackson County Outdoor Club attended our shoot in June and I for one am planning on attending their upcoming shoot this Sunday, June 26th so if anyone would like to attend, let me know.

Have a great 4th and be safe, Len Ellsworth

• By Len Ellsworth

We had a good turnout for the May shoot. It was raining a bit while it started, but we still had 24 participants. I would like to thank everyone who helped and a special thanks to the probationary member – you know who you are – that celebrated his last night of freedom on Saturday and still made it out to help Mike in the kitchen. For this shoot we had 3 gift certificates from Schupbach’s in Jackson to give away for the contestants who turned their scores in. The winners were Brandon Fredrick, Mike Woods, and Mikayla Becker. They can pick up their certificates at the next shoot which is June 4th.

There is some confusion between some of our members about the course set-up. We do not do it on Saturdays anymore unless we absolutely have to. It is hard enough for some of our members to get the one day off a month to come to the shoots to help and to make it two days, not going to happen. We are trying to change the course up a little each month to keep it fresh for the participants. We would like to see a little more participation from our members at the shoots. We only had one member shoot at this shoot and that member was me. We are setting up the course for the hunters in our Club. The shots are 20-32 yards. For the hunter class. For those of you who like the more challenging distances we have targets from 20-55 yards, and for the recurve/longbow shooters they are 10- 25 yards. Come on out and see what we have done with the course.

The Winners for each class are:

We had 23 shooters turn out for the first shoot of the year for 2016, despite it being colder than usual with a couple inches of fresh snow. Everyone like the course, and as an added bonus for us the Flintknappers held their annual show at the Club at the same time.

The top finishers in the shoot for April were:

Freestyle Mens:

Freestyle Junior:

Freestyle Cub:

Recurve:

Our next shoot will be held on May 1st. We start at 8:00 am and the last group is out at 2:00 pm. Come on out and shoot, support the Chelsea Rod and Gun Club, and get some bragging rights among your friends, and of course have fun! We have 5 new targets out there: Raccoon, Fox & Badger, and the course is set up for all different styles and experience. We will also be having a drawing next month for all shooters who turn in their scores, for gift certificates from Schupbach’s Sporting Goods in Jackson.