BELLE FOURCHE—If you have an interest in learning about firearms, target shooting or even hunting safely, then Butte Lawrence 4-H Shooting Sports might offer a program that will fit your needs.
The most important part of what Shooting Sports teaches is firearm safety. “Well, our main goal is to teach safety—that is our number one goal. If they get nothing more than how to know what to do if they come across it [a gun] in their everyday life—a pistol at a friend’s house or somewhere else, they know how to safely handle it so nothing happens,” explained Edward Stumpf, president of shooting sports.
Butte Lawrence 4-H Shooting Sports has grown into one of the largest programs in the state. “Last year we had 102 [participants], 136 has been our highest… We’re probably one of the biggest clubs in the state—we’re in the top five,” explained Stumpf.
The program offers a variety of shooting sports disciplines, including Rifle (BB Gun, Air Rifle and .22 Rifle), Pistol (Air and .22), Archery (Recurve and Compound), Shotgun and Muzzleloading. Kids are able to choose to learn about what programs interest them the most. “We do rifle, pistol, shotgun, archery, muzzleloader and Western Heritage and hunting skills, but then in each one of them… there are subclasses,” shared Stumpf.
Even though safety is the goal, the 4-H program offers opportunities for participants to develop their marksmanship skills and compete at the county, state and even national levels. “In 4-H shooting they can take it as far as they want, whether it’s just come and shoot on Sundays and have fun, or if they want to take it to the full-blown state level and compete through nationals,” said Stumpf.
Rick Walton is a HuntSAFE instructor and has been involved with the Center of the Nation Sportsman’s Club since its beginning. Walton shared that when he started teaching he would sometimes see 12-year-olds arrive at HuntSAFE who had never held a firearm. Since the start of the local 4-H Shooting Sports program, he has seen that change over the years as more opportunities have become available for kids to learn at a younger age. “When kids can start young, by the time they get to us, they’re usually at least familiar,” said Walton.
“Even if they don’t think they like hunting, this isn’t about hunting—it’s getting them comfortable around a gun so they can defuse the situation before it gets critical,” added Stumpf. “They learn how to be safe. They learn, okay, don’t touch it, or if it is unloaded, they can check. It’s really a safety program—it will take the novelty out of it so it’s not a forbidden thing.”
All practices are held in the basement of the Economic Development building or at the Center of the Nation Sportsman’s Club. The Center of the Nation Sportsman’s Club supports the program in a variety of ways. “This club here supports us wholeheartedly. They support us financially, they have bought us bows… If we need something, we usually come to them and ask and they go above and beyond to help us,” explained Stumpf. “This club, I can’t say enough—they’ve helped us—and with the help that they have given us, just this June we sent six kids to Nationals.”
If learning about firearm safety and shooting sports has piqued your interest, now is the time to sign up. It is open to anyone ages eight to 18. “Our new year starts October 1, so if kids are interested in participating, now is the time to get involved,” said Stumpf.
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