About Us
County Impact Statements - Columbia County
Program Trains 4-H Members In Gun Safety
Hunting and shooting sports are popular in Arkansas. Many youth participating
in these pastimes have never had any instruction in safe handling of firearms,
hunting ethics, or the basic training in shooting fundamentals. The shooting
sports program is designed to address all of those areas.
All teaching in the shooting sports program is conducted by qualified
instructors who have been certified by attending a 2 day training and passing
the exam for the discipline in which they are trained. Disciplines offered are:
shotgun, rifle, pistol, archery, and black powder.
Two competitions are held at the State 4-H Center; the Youth Hunter Education
Challenge and the Range Competition.
In addition to the shooting competitions, participants at the Youth Hunter
Education Challenge also participate in activities such as orienteering, hunter
safety trail, wildlife identification, and the hunter exam. Orienteering trains
the youth to be able to navigate using map and compass. The hunter safety trail
places the youth in simulated hunting situations and they must make decisions
about it is safe to shoot under the scenario presented. Wildlife identification
requires that the 4-H’er be able to identify wildlife by tracks, scat, or photos
of the animal. The hunter exam tests the students general knowledge about
hunting safety and ethics.
The Columbia County team was trained and participated in the shotgun and
rifle events at the range competition. In addition Jeff Young participated in
the Youth Hunter Education Challenge.
A Columbia County 4-H’er sights in their rifle at the Magnolia
gun range.
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Impacts
- Certified instructors trained participants in shotgun and .22 rifle
- New instructors have been trained in pistol and blackpowder
- The Columbia County Senior team competed at the State Range Competition
- Jeff Young competed in the Youth Hunter Education Challenge
- Participants learned how to safely handle firearms
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