RAMBLINGS OF A NB SHOOTING BUM - Part IIt's October 10th 2014 already and the last match of the Fullbore season is scheduled this coming Sunday on Batouche Range in CFB GAGETOWN.
This summer has been extraordinarily busy for me as I competed in most of the major maritime long range target rifle matches this year as well as the Canadian National Championships held just outside our national capital.
Having fired over 1400 rounds with my new 308 target rifle this year I am very pleased with my rifle's performance. My own performance was somewhat sporadic and I am working on my training plan in order to improve my consistency next season. Having said that I was fortunate to shoot on the NB team which won the Inter Maritime and British Team matches as well as the Maritime Team who also won against the American New England Team in the Mini Palma match held this year in the USA. My shoot at this years Nationals was very rewarding as my planning and preparation payed off with a personal best 9th place finish in the Canadian Target Rifle Aggregate, which has earned me an invitation to compete on the Canadian 18 shooter team to Bisley, England next July for 3 weeks, ( I'm currently saving pennies for the trip).
Having been appointed Interim RNBRA President last December, due to the resignation of most of the previous executive, provided me with many opportunities to learn new things and step outside my comfort zone. It has also required that I learn to manage my time much more effectively. I am pleased that I am currently in a position to work for the RNBRA to help promote shooting sports in the province and country. I have enjoyed working with the board members and look forward to helping take the RNBRA forward to ensure survival of shooting sports. I must thank my supportive wife who regularly sees me come home from my job only to spend the next 2 or 3 hours working on RNBRA business and when the weekend or vacation comes, head to a competition somewhere in eastern Canada. Needless to say some of my household maintenance chores got put on the back burner this past year and truthfully will likely remain there as long as possible as I really am a SHOOTING BUM.
As I prepare for the series of meetings I will attend this fall and winter the most important is the RNBRA AGM which will be held at the All Seasons in Sussex starting at 9:00 am October 19. This will be my first AGM in the chair and I am excited and hopeful that the Membership will find the meeting informative and a good use of their time. I am excited about the business we have done and look forward to direct feedback from the members.
I am a bit conflicted as the President likely should take complete direction from the members, but I feel bound to make the point that we must work to grow the Association and it's full voting membership as we need more people willing to commit to running a strong & organized voice for shooters in the province. I hope that by beating the drum with the clubs we can leverage some of the obvious drive and intelligence that has driven the gun clubs in the province, to work for the bigger picture and and truly make the RNBRA the democratic voice that unites all shooting sport enthusiasts in the Province. It is my view that if we continue to function as a bunch of individual, small, disjointed organizations then our sport is vulnerable. Within our community we have many talented people and we must get them involved.
This has been my first formal rambling and I look forward to your feedback. I hope to make this a regular column and will be looking for guest authors. Talk about anything shooting related but let's try to keep it positive. I would like people with shooting articles they have written or stories they would like to relate to contact me.
Michael Lutes,
Interim President
Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association
No comments:
Post a Comment