Youth day at gun club aims first at safety
Florence area youth got to shoot bows and arrows, shotguns and small arms Saturday. That, plus lunch, were all free of charge. A dozen Florence area youngsters had a blast Saturday with shotguns, small arms and bows and arrows as part of youth day at the Siuslaw Rod & Gun Club on Munsel Lake Road.
The event was sponsored by the five-year-old Siuslaw Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association. The gun club offered its action-shooting facilities free of charge.
"This is one of the best facilities on the Oregon Coast," chapter president Dan Straight said. "The local gun club really tries to get youth involved, they really do."
But involvement comes with an obligation. Before the kids could shoot, they had to do their lessons.
"Safety is the No. 1 priority, any time you're dealing with firearms," Straight said. "That's the goal of youth day, to show firearm safety. Knowledge is always best."
Volunteers were drawn from the gun club and the Eugene and Florence chapters of OHA. The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife supplied bows and arrows, small firearms, shotguns and clay targets and all the ammunition.
"Our hunting licenses and tag fees help pay for that," Straight said.
The event had nine attend last year and 12 this year.
"We're trying to make it a regular annual affair," Straight said. "Some local chapters do fantastic youth days, and my goal is to get to where they are now.
"They have weekend campouts for families, and they teach kids how to identify poisonous plants and plants you can eat. They teach them to track, how to use GPS. They shoot firearms.
"I would like to get to that, a family weekend thing."
The Siuslaw Chapter holds regular meetings at 6 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month and Chen's Family Dish Restaurant on Highway 101.
For more information on the club, call Straight at 541-999-9222.
IMAGE GALLERY
