Spring is almost here and for the Dead Eye Shooters 4-H Club that means BB gun and Air Rifle competition at State.
The Dead Eye shooters 4-H Club, led by Larry and Nicole Snyder for around 14 years, are at it again this year. This year there are roughly 20 kids shooting with the Dead Eyes.
The club teaches gun safety, proper gun use and gun care as well as skill with a BB gun and Air Rifle. The club meets Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday every week from January-March each year. Each member must attend two practices and pass the gun safety test to compete in the County Fair shoot.
The Dead Eyes provide equipment for members to use, buy and test out each year. Each member is not obligated to do any competition shooting, including the county fair shoot, only encouraged to shoot and participate as much as they would like, because with practice you improve your skill.
Kimball Health Services has once again this year graciously allowed the Dead Eyes to use the gym at the North Campus for all the practices and County Fair shoot. The Dead Eyes greatly appreciate being able to use their facility.
As we all know last year, we were faced with some challenges with COVID. The same happened for the Dead Eye shooter club. Although they were able to compete in most of their season last year and have their County Fair shoot, the State and National competitions were canceled last year. Because they were canceled, the kids were looking forward even more to this year to get back into shooting.
The Dead Eye Shooter club is part of the Panhandle Best competition group. The Panhandle Best shoot almost every Sunday from the last weekend of January through mid-March all around the Panhandle region. These shoots are all optional to attend by the club members but help build shooting skill and new friendships.
Each Panhandle shoot is scored and there are winners in each age division at each shoot: 8 years, 9-10 years, 11-12 years and 13-15 years for the BB Gun. The age groups for Sporter and Precision Air Rifle shoots are 8-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18. At the end of the season all the scores from each Panhandle shoot are tallied together and awards are given to the "best" of the Panhandle.
Club members have completed their shooting for County Fair and are excited to show off their targets. The results will be posted in the 4-H building along with all the 4-H exhibits. Make sure to check out their hard work when fair rolls around this summer.
The week after Panhandle Best competition is over, which happens to be this week, March 20-21, is the Nebraska State 4-H BB Gun and Air Rifle shoot. This year it will be at Fremont. This shoot is also optional for Dead Eye members to attend, but winning at State can qualify the team for a trip to Nationals.
The Dead Eyes last qualified and competed two years ago at Nationals in Rogers, Arkansas. The Dead Eyes are sending 12 kids to compete at State this year. We would like to wish all the kids good luck at State – and great job this year to all the Dead Eye members!
The Dead Eyes club won't be completely done for the year after the BB Gun and Air Rifle competitions because they also provide Archery as well; the Coach this year will be Ken Krakow. Archery season will begin later on this spring/summer.