Boy/Girl Scouts and Shooting

[Clifford]

Former life scout here (girls and trucks distracted me before I could finish my eagle project). I grew up around guns but some of my best memories were from scout outings while shooting.

Here in AZ we have camp Geronimo where I shot rimfires and archery. My first year at Camp Geronimo was the first time I shot a muzzle loader. Our troop was lucky enough to take 11 outings a year and from time we would have some trigger time with .22's and a 16 gauge.

Soon my oldest son will be of age to join cub scouts. I'm looking forward to that and I hope he enjoys the scouting life as much as I did.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // Been Away

I'm glad to see the Scouting way has had an affect on some of the THR folks.

I do believe Scouts taught me important things early, treating firearms with respect, safety and without fear is high among them.

Our troop often shot .22s on outings other than camp. One winter outing we stayed in a cabin and were able to shoot a .30-06 and a shotgun at milk jugs. This had a great effect on the milk jugs and an even bigger one on us.

I was hooked on shotguns from then on.

Shooting the heavier recoil firearms made shooting the .22 much more fun as well.

Thanks to all of you for posting your related experiences.

 

[SSN Vet]

I'll always regret dropping out after Webelos...

I only have daughters, and from what I can tell, the Girlscouts is not the type of organization I want them in.

The emphasis appears to be feminist indoctrination with such exciting adventure topics as "Sexual Harrassment training"

 

[speaksoftly]

Man this thread takes me back. I was in troop #101 and we went yearly to Camp Pioneer. It was there that I was introduced to the .22 and shotgun. Good times.

 

[BlisteringSilence]

Another Eagle Scout here that got their intro to firearms via BSA.

Upon re-reading the rules about Boy Scouts and guns it kinda of bugged me that the rules are so strict regarding rifles for Boy Scouts (not Venture Scouts). For those that don't know:

Boy Scouts are limited to
-Single Shot Rimfire .22lr Only
-.50 or smaller Muzzle-Loaders

Personally it bugs me because that is such a small segment of the firearms out there. IMO that is not enough knowledge to be thrown into the modern world of guns.

BigAlexe,

I totally see where you're coming from here, but I want to take this chance to try and explain where the scouts are coming from here a little bit.

In the last 10 years or so, Scouting in the US has started to place a greater emphasis on the transition from Boy Scouts to Venture/Varsity. Because of the age differences (min. 10.5 for a Boy Scout, 14 for a Venturer), I don't know that the restrictions are really that far out of place.

When you consider that Rifle Shooting merit badge is an introductory course for many scouts, what better introduction is there than the classic .22 bolt action rifle? ANYONE that I am introducing to shooting starts with a .22, be it pistol or rifle.

Moreover, when you're talking about teaching a large age range, with differing skill levels, and your goal being to make your scouts proficient marksmen at the most basic level, I think that the .22 is a perfect compromise. You can't develop trigger slap anticipating a huge recoil if you don't have that recoil.

Also, that restriction puts more emphasis on moving to a Venture Crew, where you can step up to centerfire rounds.

Also, most scouts get their rifle badge at summer camp. That means that they have about 8 hours of instruction and range time, combined. That's not much time.

Additionally, as we adults strive to keep scouting as cheap as possible for the scouts, anything other than the .22 greatly increases our costs, not just in ammo and rifles, but in range construction and maintenance as well.

Is is perfect? No. BUT, we're willing to pay the massive insurance to keep it happening. This is not the case with many scouting movements overseas.

Man this thread takes me back. I was in troop #101 and we went yearly to Camp Pioneer. It was there that I was introduced to the .22 and shotgun. Good times.

That's awesome. Camp Pioneer is where we took the kids for their summer camp extravaganza this summer, and they loved it. It is a great facility.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // Takes me back too.

I still use my Dads cook kit and my Sig. comes from my Uncle's(and then my) Brass Neckerchief slide. Good times year round.

Camp Horseshoe has a website now. Troop #130 commin by...
Looking for a Winchester 69 is a fun reminder, shooting it with the family will be even better.

 

[mannac]

If it weren't for the scouts, I might not be a shooter today. I had a pellet gun and brought the bow out every now and then. But summer camp at Bear Paw in WI was my first real experience with rifles. I shot .22lr and did some archery there but never ended up doing the shotgun one. I remember shooting so well with that .22 that I finished the merit badge a day before everyone else. I was stoked. Our instructor was a Marine so he was well versed on training us.

<-- Eagle Scout

 

[bigalexe]

Ok I understand the rules a bit better Blister and there is of course not much stopping us from having a Non-Scout outing.

What bugs is not that the merit badge only includes the firearms listed, but that according to the guide for safe scouting it is not acceptable for Boy Scouts to be handling any but the firearms listed in any instance.

In fact contrasting the skill required to complete the Rifle Merit badge with that required for the Archery Merit badge, the archery is extremely difficult. For those that don't know: We had to shoot 5x 5 shot groups the size of a dime @ 50ft. on a single target.

Oh and on another note: Scouting has directly influenced my firearm choices because now I have a shotgun, and my ONLY rifle is a Savage Mark II. In scouts @ D-Bar-A we shot Savage Cubs.

 

[kd7nqb]

Even though my Father always owned gun and taught me the 4 rules young the vast majority of my early shooting was in Scouts. Mostly because the range my dad shot at didnt allow people under 14 to shoot.

 

[Mt Shooter]

Former life scout here (girls and trucks distracted me before I could finish my eagle project).

My buddy and I started the first registered coed explorer post in the U.S. according to the council back then. We did have our motives, get to take your girl friend out into the woods with her fathers blessing.

I remember going to camp in Kalispell and shooting 22 rifles at 25 yds. bolt action rifles with bird shot and small clays. And of course Archery, still remember those things after all these years. Well that and our canoe trip out of the camp in Ely Mn.

 

[Zanad]

yep, eagle here. I have an interesting story abotu my .22 shooting. At scout camp I was shooting .22s to qualify for the merit badge. the standard target was 5 circles and and we had 3 shots for every target on that page. out goal was to shoot quarter sized groups @25 yards. After many tries I ended up with a questionable target that was missing a shot in one circle and an extra shot in another. The range insturcter told me to shoot 3 more shots to clear up what "really" happend so I proceded to shoot my group again and when I was done, I had the range instuctor speachless and a group about the size of my 14 year old thumbnail(about the size of a dime).

 

[Matthew Courtney]

BSA shooting sports programs across the country are in jeopardy because of the lack of qualified volunteers who are willing to help out. It only takes about 20 hours of training for an experienced rifle shooter to become an NRA Certified Rifle Instructor. There is no reason to let the valuable resource that BSA shooting programs are cease to exist.

C'mon guys! Let's contiue to pay it forward. If you saw benefit from BSA shooting programs, get certified and help keep it going.

 

[bigalexe]

Taking my RSO class Sunday, been signed up for a few months now.

 

[plsander]

1988, to be specific. The requirements were last updated in 2007, and I maintain that it is one of the hardest merit badges to earn, from a skillset perspective.

It was Rife and Shotgun shooting before 1988. I did the rifle option -- Had to qualify in prone, kneeling, sitting, and standing. Took two summers to shoot well enough at camp to complete that badge

 

[wishin]

I didn't do any shooting in my brief stint as a Boy Scout almost 60 years ago, but "Be prepared" has stuck with me through the years. Surprising enough, I can still recite the oath.

 

[Curator]

Boy Scout shooting sports is in danger of fading away due to many factors, not the least of which is the lack of supporting volunteers. Many council camping committees are dominated by women these days and their priorities are different. Shooting is one of the things that keep boys in Scouting. But we are still losing most boys before they turn 14. After all, how many 13 year olds want to go to camp with their mom? We need more men to get involved at every level.

My council (southwest Florida) runs at least 6 NRA instructor workshops each year. We just completed the shotgun instructor course last weekend. We have a muzzle loading rifle instructor workshop scheduled in September over Labor day weekend. Cost of the entire weekend for everything including meals is $120 for most disciplines. Most of the instructor candidates camp at our facility. It is a long weekend but everyone leaves happy and significantly more knowledgeable (really!) We are happy to host out-of council attendees.

 

[dogngun]

I learned to shoot in the cub scouts at Camp Trexler in PA,

but well before the 1970's - it was in the late 1950's. We shot Mossberg and Marlin bolt action .22's, some single shot and some with box mags, without the mags...We also learned to shoot a shotgun using IIRC and H&R Topper 20 Ga.
I later got a shooting merit badge in Boy Scouts, shot an Anshutz-Savage .22 in competition in college, and m-14/m-16 rifles and m-12 shotgun in the army in the late '60's... still own and shoot 2 old Marlin .22 rifles.

I hope they are still teaching gun safety and basic shooting skills today.
The scouts started me on a lifelong hobby.


mark

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // I think it is great that shooting has been introduced through Scouting across the U.S.
Are there any non U.S. Scouts that were introduced to shooting by the troop?

It sounds as though we here at THR represent many decades/generations of Scouts, each with different shooting opportunities depending on the local leadership. I thank the leaders of my troop for helping me develop a life long interest in safe shooting.