The Alamo Area Council Shooting Sports Advocates are working hard to bring opportunities for you to get involved with one of the most beloved and exciting parts of the 
scouting program….Shooting! Who doesn’t love knocking that clay pigeon out of the air with a well placed shotgun shot or creating holes in it with a BB Gun at one of our camps? These activities are vital to the excitement of our program and one of top reasons scouts initially join the Boy Scouts of America.
Volunteers are a vital part of this program and trained volunteers are extremely hard to find in the shooting arena. For older units (Scouts BSA, Venture, Sea Scouts) if you have trained adults you can run a program in your unit. How nice would it be to add some range time to one of your weekend rentals at Bear Creek Scout Reservation? You can do it. For Cub Scout Packs, scouts can only shoot at a Council level event and we always need volunteers willing to help on the ranges during those events. The more volunteers we have, the more likely we are to be able to share the load (schedule 1-2 hours volunteer on the range instead of volunteers giving their whole day).
So, how do you get more involved?
- NRA (Shotgun, Rifle, Pistol) – Click on this link to find the dates of the upcoming classes we are offering and how to register. There is a minimum of 8 participants for a class to make, so register early and bring your friends to ensure your class holds! NRA_BSAInstructorClassesFall2020
- NRA Range Safety Officer (RSO) – Any range that runs is required to have an NRA RSO present and in charge of the safety of that range. We are currently in need of more RSOs as we need them for every range. If you hold a current NRA Instructor certification you can take the RSO training online through the NRA. If you don’t, you will need to attend an in person class. We are gauging interest to be able to schedule a class in person at McGimsey or Mays this fall. Please email Adventure@AlamoAreaBSA.org if you are interested in attending an in person NRA RSO certification training, we will add you to a contact list and notify you when we get a class scheduled.
- Archery – We have a USA Archery Level 1 training scheduled for August 1 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at McGimsey Scout Park. Course materials need to be ordered in advance so registration closes on July 15th. Register here
- Cub Scout Rangemasters (BB or Archery) – To volunteer to help at a Cub Scout event you must either be NRA Trained or hold a current Cub Scout Rangemaster Training certification (good for 2 years). You must be 18 years old to be trained as a Rangemaster. We are offering shooting activities beginning in July at McGimsey and continuing at all of our Cub Scout Events through December 2020. If you are interested in receiving Cub Scout Rangemaster Training for either BB or Archery please email Adventure@AlamoAreaBSA.org and let us know. We will add you to a contact list and let you know when we get training scheduled.
- Shooting Sports Advocates – We have a wonderful committee of volunteers that are considering how to best support our scouts in both what events are offered, how they are run, and considering facility and equipment requirements. If you are interested in joining this group, please let us know, we are happy to have you join us. We support all the Cub Scout level events, Powderhorn, Council Wide Campout, and we host the Beast Feast and Shooting Sport University each year. Email us at Adventure@AlamoAreaBSA.org and let us know you are interested in joining our Advocates and we will add you to the communications list.
