Grimes County 4-H Shooting Sports at National Championship

From June 26 to July 1, the 4-H National Shooting Sports Championship was held in Grand Island, Nebraska at the Heartland Public Shooting Park. At the championship, each state sends a team of its best 4-H shooters to compete for the first-place trophy.

To qualify for the national team, shooters must be high-school age and fill out an application to join. Team members are chosen based on a combination of factors including past shooting scores, leadership experience, and level of activity within 4-H, especially 4-H Shooting Sports.

Competitions were held in the following categories: compound archery, recurve archery, air rifle, air pistol, .22 rifle, .22 pistol, shotgun, muzzleloading, and hunting skills. This year, Texas finished in third place overall, behind Louisiana in second and Kansas in first. Grimes County had a great showing on the Texas Team, with four Grimes County 4-H members participating.

In order to prepare for the National Championships, competitors had to train with their teammates and coaches over a period of several months. For some teams, such as the shotgun team, training mainly included shooting practice. However, other teams such as the hunting skills team, had to study hunting laws and wildlife information. Regardless of their training process, all of the Texas team members put in a lot of effort to represent their state at the national level.

Enrollment for 4-H (including Shooting Sports) opens Aug. 15 at www.4honline.com. Anyone from third grade through high school can join 4-H. If you are interested in joining the 4-H Shooting Sports program, you can contact James Leman, 936-349- 5802 or get in touch with the Grimes County 4-H Extension Office. We encourage you to enroll if you are interested in 4-H.