Photo courtesy of Greene County 4-H
A youth outdoor activity made its return recently to Greene County after several years of hiatus.
Greene County ISU Extension and Greene County Conservation have partnered together to revive the shooting sports program that Extension 4-H and Youth Coordinator Samantha Hardaway says disbanded in 2017. However, she points out a survey was sent out and 60 percent of the respondents wanted to bring the program back.
Greene County Conservation Naturalist Jacob Fernholz states that the two entities fulfills the struggle the previous program had, where Extension has the resources to build the program and County Conservation has the volunteers and certified instructors to lead it. He talks about why Conservation was interested in helping to start shooting sports again.
“We have a really good program and partnership with the Iowa DNR (Department of Natural Resources) getting kids in and getting hunter ed certified. Well, unfortunately, hunter ed certified just allows kids to be safe with their weapon. Now we’re looking at going ahead (and) can you be proficient with your weapon? Know your target and beyond, can you actually hit what you’re aiming at now? Well, we’re going to take that next step. We’re going to get the kids safe with the hunter’s ed and now we’re going to get them proficient with this shooting sports program.”
Hardaway notes that shooting sports is a newer 4-H Club and about 30 youth recently participated in the fall session of shooting sports in October, but more 4-H’ers are welcomed to join.
“Shooting sports is a club that youth in 4-H can participate in, it can be their only club they’re a part of. So, if you’re interested, you can absolutely just join 4-H to be a part of shooting sports. Or, if you’re already a part of 4-H and you want to participate in shooting sports, you can do both your traditional club and shooting sports.”
Hardaway adds that the shooting sports registration fee is $50 for the firearms and ammunition for the year. Contact the Extension Office in Jefferson at 515-386-2138 or stop by to learn more or sign up.