Great Outdoors Comes to Burroughs

You may have seen the posters: they promise outdoor activities and sports in the form of trap shooting. Who are they? The Great Outdoors Club, no less!

The club, started by PE/Health Department Chair Haillie Bell, has now had three official meetings.

The club’s main goal is to give students experience in both the outdoors and in community service. The outdoor activities will mainly be the sport of trap shooting, but hunting and fishing may become aspects at some point.

“The outdoors is a huge part of living in Ridgecrest and we want to create an opportunity for students to explore more of what that means,” said Bell. “The Great Outdoors Club gives students the support they might need to learn more about things like environmental conservation and animals, while encouraging them to actually get outside and hike and explore the Sierras.”

The trap-shooting teams will provide an avenue for Burroughs students to learn responsible firearms handling and safety and participate in the California High School Clay Target Shooting League, establish a competitive trap-shooting presence at BHS, and potentially compete at the state level.

“They learn about how to safely handle firearms, compete in trap shooting, and maybe even learn how to translate those skills into hunting small game,” Bell explained.

The teams, divided into Non-Sport, In-Season, and Women’s groupings, will be shooting at the local IWV Trap and Skeet Club or Sage Shooting Range. The club will not officially travel unless some members qualify to participate at higher levels.

Practices are on Wednesdays, with Non-Sport from 3:15-5:15 p.m. and In-season from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Competition days for all teams will be Saturdays, between 8 a.m. to noon.

Fundraising activities for the club will also provide new gear. The club is also on the lookout for sponsors who could help provide gear for the team.

The club has already had its inaugural Range Day, where those interested in the shooting activity, including myself, went and practiced at Sage Shooting Range, while Wednesday, Feb. 8, saw the group practice at the Inyokern Trap and Skeet Club, and do double what they had done previously.

Besides shooting, the club plans to do other outdoor activities.

“We will have outdoor outings such as hiking, learning about our specific terrains, our wildlife, and even filling water geysers. We will also have environmental clean-up days,” said Bell.

On the community service aspect, plans are to participate in range clean-ups, pick up trash along local trails, and help to update trailhead signage.

Freshman Phoenix Scherer, the club’s community service chair, is excitedly planning the club’s outings.

“I think that we should start organizing days that we can go and clean up our communities, with trash pick up and other community services,” said Scherer. “Being excited about this club is an understatement; I am more than thrilled about the promise of this club.”