Hi-Line Living: Junior rifle club celebrates end of season

The morning of April 28, the VFW Bear Paw Junior Rifle Club shooting range beneath Havre Fire Department was filled with the laughter and chatter of parents and children as they enjoyed a potluck lunch that spans two rooms, talking with friends, and trying to hit the 10 ring, or center dot, on the shooting targets.

The poster for the End of Year Parent vs Junior Shoot advised parents to "bring your A game as the kids are shooting great ... Thank you for a wonderful year!!"

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Bear Paw Junior Rifle Club, which has been functioning in the Havre area for more than 60 years, started out as two separate clubs, the Havre Girls' Rifle Club and the VFW Bear Paw Junior Rifle Club because girls and boys were not allowed to shoot together. These day, on paperwork, they are still listed as two clubs, but they all shoot and participate together.

Cal Burr, who has worked and taught at the junior rifle club since the mid 1960s, said that Havre has the only girls' shooting club in Montana, and it may be one of the only all-girls' clubs in the United States.

He added that he thinks the club is important because these kids are learning skills that he had to learn very quickly when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps.

Chad Verploegen, father of club members Kylie, 18, and Elyssa, 12, said he is glad that his daughters joined the club because "shooting is awesome."

"It is something to do together," he added. "It helps them learn not to get discouraged because it takes a long time (to master)."

Verploegen also said that it is great to see the older kids of the club helping and mentoring the younger ones.

The 2017-18 year had around 38 kids in the club, with around 24 kids shooting in eight lanes a night. The junior club shoots on Mondays and Tuesdays with kids able to sign up for a one-hour slot from 6 to 9 p.m.

Club leader Niedert said that they have those time slots open because it is important to work around the kids' and parents' schedule, as many of the kids are involved in other activities outside of the club.

Anyone from ages 10-21 can join the rifle club. Dues are $30 for the year and this helps fund the club. Everything from rifles to targets are furnished for the members of the club; the only thing the members need to buy is a special kind of ammunition that is bought in bulk by the club. Extra money to pay for traveling and other needs is raised through fundraising activities, such as members helping at the Havre Trap Club in exchange for a donation to the junior rifle club.

After 21 years old, the shooters can join the senior program, but they must have their own equipment.

The season runs fall until spring of the following year. The season usually ends with the club going to the sectional tournament where the National Rifle Association presents awards in Missoula in the middle of March. The scores are then sent to the national tournament. This year, though, the club went through some changes so it was decided to not attend sectionals.

Niedert became team leader this season after long-time leader and instructor, Randy Martin, stepped down because he was battling cancer.

"This club is Cal's legacy and Randy's baby," Niedert said, adding that he is not so much a leader as a coach, and he wants to build up the shooters for next years' sectionals so they will be better qualified and ready as a club.

To be able to step up as club leader, Niedert completed NRA certification along with his wife, Tammy.

Niedert said this kind of club is important because it provides kids with an activity to do in the winter as well as keeping them involved and out of trouble.

He said that another important aspect of the club is to instill firearm safety at a young age.

Niedert's daughter Linzy Niedert, 17, said she agrees with her father.

"It teaches you discipline," Niedert said, adding that she was a little nervous when she moved from California to Montana and shot a gun for the first time.

"(Club members) know what the consequences are," she said, "We are taught from a young age to respect a rifle."

"A gun is not a toy," she added, "If someone hurts other people (with a gun) then it is a disrespect for humans."

Niedert said that the first thing children are taught when they join the club is gun safety. They are taught to hold the gun a certain way; hand away from the trigger, barrell above the head.

"Safety is first," she said.

If more than two incidents happen because of a child being unsafe and not following rules, Niedert said, that person is out of the club.

Niedert said she always feels safe at the club because she trusts the instructors and everything is locked up except the targets, with the only keys belonging to her father and Burr.

After they learn basic safety, she said, the kids get to start learning to shoot. She said that they learn to squeeze the trigger slowly instead of pulling quickly.

"Beginners strictly work on position," Niedert said.

The positions for shooting include prone, sitting, kneeling and off-hand - standing - and they can only move onto the next position after they have mastered the previous one.

On the spotting scopes that the shooters can use, Martin has placed a small piece of paper for them to focus on and read if they are not happy with how they are shooting.

It says:

"Why am I not in the 10 ring? How do I get myself there?

1. Position!

2. Breathing!

3. Sight Picture

4. Trigger Squeeze!

5. Follow Thru!"

Each level that a shooter attains is marked by a pin. The levels are pro-marksman, marksman, marksman first class, sharpshooter, expert and distinguished expert.

Niedert's younger sister Abby obtained the highest rank the NRA offers to a junior rifle club member, distinguished expert, earlier this year.

Linzy Niedert is working on a rank the club created that is higher than the top NRA junior shooter rank - master distinguished expert.

Decades ago, after club members obtained distinguished expert at a young age, the club created master distinguished expert to continue to offer the shooters a goal and challenge.

Niedert, who also plays the clarinet in the Havre High School marching band, says that she really enjoys shooting, and she would like to be in the Olympics some day in an event where she can target shoot.

"College competitive shooting would be a goal," she added.

Niedert and her father both agree, though, that the club is about more than shooting. It is a time to learn self-discipline and how not to give up. It is also a time to be with friends and help each other.

"We are a community down here," Niedert said.