4-H air pistol fair shoot

Kaitlynn Vincent appears very relaxed during the sight-in portion of Tuesday night's shoot but her stance is correct for her age group. Gabe Franklin/Daily Mail

By Gabe Franklin

Nevada Daily Mail

The season drew to a close Tuesday night for members of Vernon County 4-H Shooting Sports' air pistol group. The results of Tuesday's shoot will be revealed at the Youth Fair the week of the July 11.

4-H mother Jesse Volkman explained that the target from Tuesday night's shoot counts as one project. 4-H members are allowed to complete four projects each year.

The 10 shooters of the air pistol group are broken down into three divisions by age. The junior division is for eight to 10 year olds, the intermediate division is for 11 to 13 year olds, and the senior division is for 14 to 18 year olds.

While the pistol remains the same, the difficulty increases as the shooter advances through the divisions. The junior division shoots while sitting in a chair with their pistol resting on sand bags. The intermediate division has the option of shooting either one handed or two handed from a standing position. The senior division shooters must stand and may only use one hand to hold the pistol.

In addition to their target, shooters from the air pistol group can make a variety the own gear they need such as sand bags used as a pistol rest, or a mat for the table on which to lay their equipment on.

Of the more interesting projects the shooters can make is a pellet board. The most basic ones are a paper targets glued to a board with recessed holes drilled out to hold the pellets (ammunition) for the air pistol. The pellet boards for the air pistol event have four places for five pellets each representing the single piece of paper with four targets that the shooters aim at. Shooters may forego the associated projects and compete in a different discipline as well.

Volkman said that most years over the past decade. Vernon County 4-H Shooting Sports has sent a shooter to national competition. Air pistol is only one of nine disciplines within 4-H Shooting Sports. Disciplines available for 4-H members are: Small Bore Rifle, Small Bore Pistol, Muzzleloading, Shotgun, Archery with both compound and recurve bows, Air Pistol, Air Rifle, and Hunting and Outdoor Skills.