I have often wondered how many of our target shooters have any idea of the amount of work that goes into preparing for a seasons shooting when it comes to the targets we shoot at. The folks who show up for Target Day would know. We use two sizes of target frames in the ORA. One frame holds the short and medium range target sizes and the other bigger frame holds our long range (800/900/1000 yard) targets. The target frames are constructed of wood not steel. This helps with the safety aspects in that when a bullet hits the wooden portion of the frame it generally passes through and ends up in the butts. If they were made of metal bullets would ricochet off angles which would be a definite safety hazard. Where do they come from? Well I know Roy Ginn has had a big hand in producing them for the last several years. A decision comes down from the “higher ups” probably a phone call to Roy when he least expects it and Roy goes about putting them together. I have no idea of the dimensions involved but Roy certainly does! Then at some point in the season Roy loads them up on his trailer, hooks the trailer up to his car and drives them out to the range. I know because I’ve been there when he’s arrived with a new pile during our Target Day practices. I believe Roy has been doing this for quite some time and I would like to thank Roy personally for his efforts in this regard. Recently Roy underwent some pretty extensive knee surgery and had a few complications with it and that’s putting it mildly. Yet Roy during all this time still continued to work on our targets when he can. So thank you Roy for all your efforts. Also Roy’s back to doing some target shooting and he certainly shoots well. I’m glad to see him back target shooting as well.
On Target Day we spend the better part of the morning getting all the targets and target frames ready for the up and coming provincial matches and for the balance of the years shooting. The turnout in numbers for the event is good but we can always use more. The more we have the sooner we finish and the sooner and longer we get to shoot in the afternoon. Some bring hammers, staplers and assorted paraphernalia like garbage bags but mostly they bring themselves and we pull off and reface all the targets and fix the frames. Some are organized into little groups to sort, repair and clean up the target indicators and target sheds. After the work is completed we have lunch courtesy of the ORA. After lunch we get to shoot a practice in the afternoon. If you’ve never done Target Day you should come out and try it because it’s a lotta fun.
