It was awesome! The Scouts had a great time - and it is all thanks to you great patriots here in the AZ HTF. Without you we wouldn't have been able to pull this off. A huge THANK YOU to everyone here who donated ammo and clays. I just can't say thanks enough - we still have some ammo and clays left over to go shooting again in the near future, which we will absolutely be doing!

We got out to the shooting spot on Friday afternoon and I had a great opportunity to talk about range cleanup - there was a lot of trash out there. We had a safety briefing and then did some cleanup, followed up with the "First Shots" - each Scout fired three rounds with the shotgun at clays, just to get the bug out of their brains. It got dark after that and we got a big fire roaring, then retired about 15 American flags. I am always very proud of the Scouts when we do this because of the respect that they show. Did a little night shooting to demo muzzle flash and weaponlights to the Scouts - just for fun.

In the morning we got started nice and early - got the range setup and split into two groups, one for rifle and one for shotgun. I won't go on about that too much, because we shot ALL DAY! (thanks to all of you amazing HTF members!!) FYI, the requirements for the shooting merit badges are:

Rifle: Five 3-shot groups from 50 feet that must fit under a quarter. I have to mention that we had a 10mph wind with 20mph gusts all day, so it was a great chance to teach the boys about wind drift, even at 50 feet.
Shogun: 24 out of 50 clays, some were hand thrown and others were machine thrown. Again, lots to learn about wind drift.

And I am happy to announce that every Scout got qualified! And they had a great time, got to shoot all they wanted, and got introduced to the sport of shooting. Only half of these Scouts had ever fired a gun before, and none of them that often, so it's a lot of fun to see these boys pulling the trigger. And we had a first timer, our Patrol Leader actually, who did everything I said to the 'T' and qualified with the first 5 groups he has ever fired in his life! He was super excited. He also had the longest streak with busting clays, 10 in a row.

And I got some video of our "organic shooting" at the end of the day - busting fruit and veggies with 12ga slugs. I will get it posted as soon as I have the time.

Now on to the pics!

Flag Retirement Ceremony - Scouts not in uniform have their hands over their hearts, in uniform they are saluting.



Our Firing Line - shotguns one direction, rifle in the other.









Clay busting caught in action!


Tightest group of the day!


The Scouts shot almost a thousand clays!


Group Photo


When we left, we put all of our empty shells into small piles so that a reloader could pick them up later . . . . or Reservist could come and hit them with the Mosin! (sorry dude, it's the first thing I thought of! )

Not really of course - we actually left the place much better than we found it. If I only had a dumptruck I could get the rest of the crap out of there.

neways



Good job bro.  glad to know there will be a new batch of pro 2a Americans around the corner.



 

Charlie Sheen don't know shit about winning, but you guys do.  

Nice pics `rizz.....glad the boys had fun! Looks like you had a beautiful day, too.

Looks like a lot of fun.



And another group of young men not afraid of their own shadow.



Do the parents of the non-shooting scouts ever squawk about the guns? Just curious.



Great job.
DSRV

Not really - no parents are "anti-gun", they just don't really shoot or own many guns. When I first became Scoutmaster a few parents grumbled about the fact that I carry a handgun everywhere, but they eventually got over it. I am who I am, and their kids learn so much and love Scouts so much that nobody says much of anything to me.

This group of Scouts is mostly made up of new Scouts, so their parents are still adjusting to me a little bit, but so far no one has anything negative to say.

It is good to see that there are still Scout Chapters/Groups out there that will do these types of things with them.

We had our two Boys in Scouts a few years ago and when I initially asked them if they did any shooting outings I got glaring
stares. All they said they did was when the Boys got older they would do Archery. After a couple of months of the Boys doing
Scouts, it was clear that most everything was essentially inane, lacking any merit other than to obtain a badge.

I questioned them about doing some real life skills, like how to tie a fish hook on a line, how to start a fire from nothing, basic
firearms skills, how to sharpen a knife etc... Unfortuantely I didn't have the time to give to the scouts to be a teacher in order
to get them to teach the Boys these things, so the Boys no longer wanted to be a part of the Organization.

I do all the things with my Boys already, but that is just the way I am. We go fishing , camping (tent), shooting, do knife throwing,
they can sharpen thier own knives, we built our AR-15's together, go hunting together, etc...

I am passing on an Heritage to only my Boys, and I commend you for doing the same with all those Boys in your Troop.
I just wish I would have had a different experience intially with out Local Troop!

Yeah I did Boy Scouts in Phoenix and we didn't do anything fun, I did it for about 2 months and had my mom take me out of it. We mostly tied knots in some dudes living room while he watched football, or collected insects in shoe boxes or some such nonsense. Did Karate instead and had a lot more fun. I wish I would have been in the real Boy Scouts like Rizzo is running. Good Job Rizzo!



 

The Boy Scouts organization has been "liberalized" significantly over the years. I kinda run our Troop off the grid - my Troop is successful, our Scouts get their Eagle Scout Awards, and nobody questions my methods. We are very much NOT a traditional Troop - the only songs you'll hear us sing are running cadences. We backpack once a month, and I mean backpack - we rarely do anything less than 8-10 miles, and we only car camp once a year. We learn real-life skills and merit badges are a side-effect of that. My Scouts can hunt, fish, patch up wounds, fix cars, manage money, and generally survive. And more importantly they have learned to take care of themselves and each other, and how to work as a team and lead others, if needed. The Scouts love it, and that's why we do it. If you want to see a small portion of what we do, you can check out our blog: Red Riders Troop 95. It mostly just talks about our monthly campouts and special activities, not our weekly meetings.

I highly recommend working with youth any chance you get - whether that's Boy Scouts, YMCA, Church Youth Group, etc. Almost everyone has something to offer when you're building the future.

This post makes we want to move to Tucson so I can join your scout troop.    Oh, and my son too.  

Seriously, though.  I've taken my son to 2 different scout troops near us and both were the suck.  I'm pretty sure one guy was a chomo and the other guy was just in it because his kids were and all he really cared about was if they were happy.  I wish I could find a good troop somewhere near me.

You mean Prescott Valley? Ouch - I thought we were closer than that. But that's fine . . . . I understand you're just "too busy" to pay attention to me . . . .

Anyone who ever wants to come our campouts, hikes, or events is always welcome - that goes for kids or adults (as long as you pass my B.S. test. And that doesn't stand for "Boy Scout") We often have campouts in the Valley area, too. We hit the Superstitions every spring and fall, for example.

Do you know of any youth hunting organizations?  I wouldn't mind taking out a group of kids during the youth hunt for a weekend or something. or even dove hunting.  I always manage to get out and do that and wouldn't mind teaching others and taking them along.  



I  plan on doing some stuff like this when I get my house paid off and am not working so hard.  My weekends are mostly for sleep and a few hours of hunting here and there and family.  Once i can back off of work I would be more comfortable committing to something regular. I just don't have the time right now. trying to get all the work out of the way before I get old.





 

Holy crap.  LOL.  I have to go to Tucson on Thursday and was having a conversation with my wife about it just before I posted.  I guess it stuck in my head.  

You should check with the AZGFD - they have a youth dove hunting camp every fall. And yes, there are dozens of organizations that have youth hunting and fishing camps and events, from the predator hunting clubs here in AZ to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. It's not hard to find someone to volunteer with if you are willing to donate the time.

If you go to the Sportman's Expo the end of March at Ben Avery (which I highly recommend for a number of reasons) you'll be able to find a plethora of organizations that are looking for volunteers, especially when it comes to kids. And if you don't have the time to work with an organization, then just take the time when you have it to show a young kid, maybe yours or a neighborhood kid, how to hunt or fish or hike. Even if you just show them the fish you brought home and they help you clean them, or maybe you teach them about gun safety. Anywhere you think you can help, you'll make a difference.

Ya know... If I had more volunteers like you I might have stuck with the whole boy scouts thing.  I joined when I was young to lean the skills that you are teaching... the most I got was camping (which was fun) and once a year went to a large gathering (week long camp) where they had shooting (not any more I understand)... but that figures for NorCal in the 90's.  that is really when things started going downhill quickly.  i.e. in my jr. high school (7-8th grade) my class was the last to have archery because it was decided it was too dangerous to have weapons in school.......

Richard

EDT: it actually appears they are a little less liberal now... a little.

Great job Glen!
Those boys are very fortunate to have the opportunities you provide.

I'm guessing that location is along the power lines going toward that "mystery ring"?

Haha - I'm surprised you remember the "mystery ring" - that was a lot of fun. But no, actually this location is farther south along those lines, at the base of Mingus a ways off of Hwy 89A.