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Photo by Matt Lindler
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Girl wins gold
The Marshall County 4-H Sharpshooters from Britton, S.D., brought home gold from the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match, held in Rogers, Ark., in July. One of the team members, Abby Flanery, 12, is a JAKES member, who has participated in the Rutland (N.D.) Sportsman's Club Youth Day and JAKES Event for the last four years.
The team, comprised of seven girls, ages 12 to 14, also won the championship in 2009. During the 2010 competition, they fell a mere nine points short of breaking the national record.
"Competing in BB gun has been a great experience," said Abby. "I have learned gun safety, patience and teamwork."
Abby started shooting BB guns after watching the success of her brother, David. "After his team won nationals, it inspired me to keep practicing, so I could make the next nationals team," she said.
Abby's team travels South Dakota to compete. And apparently the state has its fair share of young sharp shooters; five other teams from the Mount Rushmore State competed in the national competition in 2010.
Abby first shot a .22 rifle at a JAKES event, where she also learned to enjoy archery, fishing and shooting small-caliber rifles. During the 2010 event, hosted, in part, by the Windy Mound Chapter, Abby and the members of the Daisy National Championship team demonstrated how to properly handle and shoot a BB gun and helped other youth at the range.
Abby's father, Patrick, is president of the Windy Mound Chapter and a member of the North Dakota Board of Directors. He says the shooting sports have helped Abby understand the importance of conservation and hunting, as well as gun etiquette and safety.
The Windy Mound and Gateway to the Glacial Lakes chapters have supported the Marshall County Sharpshooters program.
Teen wins African safari
Cason Berg, 13, of Soda Springs, Idaho, won the grand prize in the NWTF's 2010 Dream Hunt Conservation Project, an all-expenses-paid, chaperoned hunting trip to Namibia, Africa, sponsored by Flies and Fletching, Outdoor Pursuits Worldwide and Ekuja Hunting Safaris.
Cason's winning project implemented a comprehensive wildlife management plan that took more than four months to complete. Work included planting and caring for trees, shrubs and vegetation that provide necessary wildlife habitat components such as nesting, food and escape cover. Cason built a bridge and trails in the project area for increased public access and developed education materials for it as well.
Haley Pierce of Greenville, Ill., won first runner-up, and Jackson White of Cape Girardeau, Mo., took third place for his wildlife refuge project. Both will receive hunting prize packages during the NWTF convention.
Stay tuned for details on the 2011 Dream Hunt Conservation Project sponsored by the NWTF, Flies and Fletching and Outdoor Pursuits Worldwide.