2005 Shooting Sports Weekend

Community Rod & Gun Club

Bechtelsville, Berks County, Pennsylvania

        Troop 461 held its 20th annual shooting sports weekend at the Community Rod & Gun Club, located at Bechtelsville, Berks County, Pennsylvania, during the weekend of 13-15 May 2005.  One of the troop's more popular camping trips, 45 scouts, leaders and parents enjoyed the Bechtelsville weekend and a Saturday's worth of shooting fun.  The shooting events were supervised by one of the troop's NRA-certified instructors who ensured that the event went off safely.

        The hub of the weekend's events was the Gun Club Clubhouse.  Since the clubhouse contained several large refrigerators and facilities for cooking, the Troop cooked and served all of the meals for the weekend in the clubhouse.  There was no shortage of volunteer cooks for the weekend, although the cooks weren't too thrilled with the clean up duties.  Still, the meals were good and there weren't any major complaints about the food, especially since it was plentiful.  With 45 persons eating at the same time, the clubhouse was pretty packed during mealtimes!  Between meals, the clubhouse also serves as a meeting area and a place to relax, play games or work on advancement during the times when the scouts or adults are not shooting on the range.  It is also a place to simply get away from the noise.  Of course, since the clubhouse has indoor plumbing facilities, that's another reason why a visit to the clubhouse for a break from the shooting.  (Only a few of the adult leaders recall the time when only a rickety outhouse was available at the gun club).

        The weather once again cooperated and the scouts enjoyed Saturday morning shooting .22 caliber rifles at the 50 foot rifle range.  While most of the scouts just enjoyed shooting for fun, several wanted to try their luck and attempted to shoot some qualifying targets for the Rifle Shooting Merit Badge.  To qualify for the Rifle Shooting Merit Badge, a scout must shoot five targets where a group of three shots can be covered by a quarter.  Once that is accomplished, the scout then shoots an additional five targets for score.  In addition to the ten qualifying targets, the scout must also show skills at maintaining and properly storing a rifle, what to look for when shopping for a rifle, and knowledge of the firearms laws of the jurisdiction in which the scout lives--in our case, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  During the course of the morning, the scouts shot more than 600 rounds of .22LR ammunition.

            Following lunch, the scouts and a number of the fathers tried their luck shooting clay targets with shotguns.  The shotgun shooting portion of the day was supervised primarily by Rich Hedrick, the troop's Chartered Organization Representative, and Assistant Scoutmaster Andy Cowles.  Those trying their hand at shooting the flying clay targets could choose between 12 and 20 gauge shotguns.  Some technical difficulties took both clay target throwers out of action for about an hour, cutting into the scouts' shooting time, but the problems were resolved and the shooting resumed until suppertime.  Several scouts tried their skill at shooting the number of clay targets required to complete the shooting requirement for Shotgun Shooting Merit Badge.  Four scouts were able to hit the required 24 out of 50 targets to complete that requirement. 

            Once everyone had gotten their fill of shooting the flying clay targets, the group retired to the 100-yard range at the shooting pavilion where larger bore rifles were available.  Several scout parents had brought their hunting rifles to give the scouts a taste of what shooting a larger bore rifle was all about.  The scouts were also given the opportunity to shoot an AR-15 sports rifle.  The large bore rifle shooting lasted until shortly before 7:00 p.m. when the range closed for shooting.

            Once the shooting was finished for the day and the evening meal cleaned up, the scouts went off on the traditional trek to Zern's Farmer's Market in Gilbertsville.  Zern's is about a 15-minute drive from Bechtelsville and the scouts have come to look forward to a Saturday night trip to wander around the farmer's market and to have an opportunity to spend some of their parents' hard-earned cash.  It usually takes only one trip to turn a young scout into a "Zernaholic" who looks forward to the next trip to Bechtelsville to spend yet another Saturday evening at Zern's.

Last updated on Friday, 25 November 2005