A Little Bit Closer

A couple of nights ago I attended the Board of Directors meeting at Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club, my home club. I put on a presentation proposing that a a large and currently vacant area on the club grounds behind the rifle range be excavated in such a way as to create eight full sized multi-use pistols bays. Much of the current club activities are oriented towards the club's shotgun activities.

At the present, all of the lead shotgun pellets land in some scrub trees and are virtually impossible to recover. It had been proposed to build a really large berm on the shotgun ranges to catch the lead so it could be recovered and sold. To build a berm, of course, requires a lot of dirt be brought in. To build eight full sized pistol bays requires a lot of dirt be taken out. Digging out the pistol bays would provide the dirt for the berm, and also provide a whole new range area for shooting activities we currently can't do. Sort of a Win-Win as I see it.

I explained a bit about Steel Challenge, IPSC, SASS, IDPA, GLOCK, and lots of other uses. The consensus was that it was a really good idea, and it should be done once the permits finally go through at the county. We could do the dirt moving ourselves, and we have a number of members with excavators, backhoes, dump trucks, and so forth that would volunteer to do the job.

Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun is already an excellent club, and with the pistol bays it would become a world class facility. We have our own restaurant, bar, meeting rooms, dance floor, RV hookups, shotgun ranges, a rifle range, and a pistol range. The Rifle and pistol ranges have covered shooting stations.

With the new pistol bays we would have the facilities to put on state, regional, or even national level matches in the future. Here on the South end of Whidbey Island we have numerous restaurants, a State Park campground, tons of bed and breakfasts, and a couple of motels. A really good match should be able to draw from all over the Pacific Northwest.

First we've got to get the permits and move the dirt. After that, the sky's the limit!