Eagle Cap Shooters Association Newsletter, July & August 2007

Tom Crooks (432-2580)–Editor

Next meeting: Tuesday, 7:00PM, 11 Sept. ( 2^nd Tuesday of the month)

Wallowa Properties Office Conference Room, Enterprise

Range Development: Jack Thompson continues to work on setting up the Black Powder Cartridge Rifle targets on the north edge of the range. Please do not shoot at these targets with your non-black powder center fire rifles.  Holes are easily punched through the thinner steel, which ruins the target for its intended purpose. And most important, to shoot at these from the rifle firing line requires that the shooter fire across the range—this is prohibited by the range rules and further, causes bullets to leave the range area. This is something we cannot afford to happen without risk of losing the use of the facility. All it takes is one dead cow or even a close call by someone on the adjacent land.

A committee has been formed to identify long and short term range development goals. At this point, several items have been designated as priority and any grant money received will be dedicated toward completion. At this time the priorities identified by the committee are: #1 berms behind the 100, 200 and 300 yard targets: #2 Purchase portable restrooms; and #3 Construction of a registration booth just inside the front gate with graveled parking. If you are interested in participating in the range development committee, please contact the Range Master, Eric Kozowski at 432-2214 or .

Third Sunday Monthly Shoot: Floyd McCadden held an egg shoot on Sunday the 15^th of July which was won by Tom Thornton. Tom also won the companion ground squirrel shoot. Contact Floyd for the gory details. The Third Sunday August shoot was to be an open range afternoon but was canceled due to rainstorms that persisted through the day. The next 3^rd Sunday Shoot will be 16 Sept. If you are interested in sponsoring an event serving as an on-duty Range Safety Officer for a few hours during an open range sight-in day at that time, contact either myself (Tom Crooks, 432-2580) or Eric Kozowski.

The 3^nd Annual Machine Gun Shoot: is scheduled for Father’s Day Weekend, 21 & 22 June 2008. It is not too early to start planning for this event. John Joyce is currently researching prices for commemorative "T" shirts with appropriate logos. If you would like to get involved in the early planning–publicity, etc. contact Eric and let him know.

Classes: A NRA Range Safety Officer Course will be scheduled as soon as we have 10 or more individuals committed to take the course. Contact Duncan Hunter at 569-2008 for additional information. Remember, this gives you unlimited access to the range.

Friends of the NRA: The 2^nd Wallowa County Friends of the NRA banquet/fund raiser was held on Saturday, 18 August at the Joseph Community Center. At this point, I have no information on the monetary success of the event but it was well attended. From my point of view, the participants had a good time, there were lots of nice auction items and raffle items that went out. Steve Lear’s prime rib and fixing were enjoyed by all.

Range Cleanup Day: I would like to schedule a range cleanup day for 9:00 AM, Saturday morning, 15 September. We need to pick up the remainder of the appliances and scrap metal left over from the machine gun shoot and deliver it to the dump. The area on the east side of the range house needs to be cleaned up–plastic bags full of disintegrating milk jugs, old tires, wood and assorted stuff are laying outside the door looking unsightly. The two wood cabinets donated by the courthouse custodian need to be disassembled and the wood salvaged. The small bore/pistol range has a large growth of dead tumble weeds that break off easily. A couple people with rakes could pretty well remove them all to a pile in a short time. It will only take a couple hours to handle all of the work items and we can do a little shooting afterward. Bring your pick up, work gloves, some tools, a rake (if you want), your favorite handgun or rifle, and some drinking water. A little enthusiasm wouldn’t be out of place.

Public Sight-in Open Range Days: We need to be scheduling open range days for sight-in activities, lining up RSOs to be there, and publicizing the fact that the range is open. In the past, we have charged non-members only $5.00 to use the range. Jesse Snively has suggested we raise that to $10. This is an item for the agenda of the next meeting. If you have an opinion, show up and make yourself heard.

Our Neighbors: I attended the Wallowa County Planning Commission hearing, Tuesday evening, 28 August, and read into the record a letter attesting to the Association’s support for the construction of an Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Park on the land north of the range. A copy of this letter will be available at the September meeting for members to read. There were several people opposed to the idea but also a large number in favor. At the present time, the Planning Director, Lance Bailey, has indicated that the matter is tabled until next month.

Membership: John Joyce, Jesse Snively, Treva Crooks and I set up a membership booth on the street in Joseph during the Bronze Bike event. We talked to a lot of people but got no new memberships. Out of town bikers were not too interested.