COSSA Bulletin PRESIDENT S CORNER AUGUST GENERAL MEETING

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1 COSSA Bulletin August 2017 A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to Keep and Bear Arms shall not be infringed. The Constitution of the United States of America Second Amendment PRESIDENT S CORNER Summer in Central Oregon has turned out to be perfect for spending time at the range. All of our matches have had excellent attendance and membership is up. I ve started up the Experts On The 20 s radio segment on KBND 1110 AM and FM Talk Radio program every other Thursday morning at 6:20 am and 8:20 am. I m promoting our beautiful range and all of the activities provided for our members and our community. Please give it a listen or you can go to kbnd.com and click on podcasts and listen from there. Fire danger is high so please follow all rules pertaining to smoking etc. Also, a reminder that steel core ammo is not allowed on the range! We ve also had a few cattle on the range. There are now 300 cattle with calves and a few bulls grazing on surrounding lands and they do make it into the range from time to time. If you see one on the range give one of us a call and we will direct the proper cattle managers out to move them. Our phone numbers are posted at the gate. Volunteer when you can because we really need your help. Check the calendar for events in August at cossapark.com Be safe out there! Sharon Preston, President Together We Make It Great AUGUST GENERAL MEETING This month, our speaker, Gary Lewis, will present a program about hunting blacktail deer with a blackpowder muzzleloader in the land of legal and illegal pot grows. This was Lewis' fifth season hunting deer in Josephine and Jackson counties in southwest Oregon and is likely his last. On this recent hunt in late November, Lewis and his hunting partner spent 5 days on public and private lands, covering the area from Cave Junction and Selma, all the way east to Medford. The slide presentation will show how deer habitat is being fragmented by high-fenced pot farms and why, Lewis thinks, deer numbers are plummeting in this once gamerich area. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 1 President s Corner 3 ODFW Grant Award 6 COSSA Disciplines 8 Calendar If you have any questions about your membership or would like to receive an copy of this newsletter, please send an request to: COSSAmembership@gmail.com Find us on the web at Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association COSSA Bulletin 1

2 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED For many years COSSA has provided the public with Sight-In Clinics to help hunters sight in before the hunting season. The clinics have been run by just a few members. This year we are attempting to get more volunteers to help out. If we do not get volunteers this year, this will probably be the last year that we hold the Sight-In Clinic. What we need are members to help with setting up the shooters and helping adjust their scopes. You do not need to have any tools or prior experience with these clinics. We have people with the knowledge to fix, reset, or replace scopes and other sights. The clinics will run 4 days, September 9 & 10 and September 23 & 24. The hours for the public will be from 9 until 4. Volunteers will start setup at 8 AM each day. At present we only have 2 members that have signed up. To run the shooting line efficiently, it takes at least 5 people helping the shooter set up, call his shots and help adjust his sights. This means that we will need at least 20 more volunteers. You may volunteer for as long as you can but we need help. If you want to learn more about sighting in rifles, this is a good place to learn. If there are not enough volunteers, the Sight in Clinics may be canceled this year also. Contact Bill Lewis, lewis.w.l@hotmail.com, if you want more information or want to volunteer. FOCKLER SIGHT-IN RANGE The sight in range is intended primarily for rifle shooting. Pistols and pistol caliber rifles should use Bay 1. Shotgun shooting on the sight in range is only allowed for sighting in and practice with slugs. Patterning shotguns should be done on the patterning range just past bay 18. No clay bird shooting is allowed on the sight in range. The shotgun range has 4 throwers for members to use and a special area for members to use their own throwers. JULY WORK PARTY There were 2 work parties held in July because of the NWMGC that was held in mid-month. The first work party was held on July 5 to get ready for the event. The main work to be done was to cut the grass in the area for the parking and the event tent. This was accomplished by Bob Elliott and Bill Lewis. The trash trailer was also dumped by Eric Brown and David Sweet. However, there was a problem with the dumping of the trash trailer. There were loose small pieces of foam and they were blowing out all the way to the dump. Please make sure all garbage is put in plastic bags before depositing in the trash trailer. Bill Lewis recycled the cardboard also. The second work party was on July 17 to clean up after the NWMGC event. The event people did a good job at cleanup and we did not have much to do for cleanup after them. There were some spools left in some of the bays and we did not have enough people at the work party to take care of them. We did the usual trash cleanup and cleared up branches that were left from some tree cutting. We also were able to get a load of scrap metal taken in to recycle thanks to Jim Mooers and his trailer. Those at the work party were; Jeremy Lewis, Rich Mahder, Gary Pirkl, Ron Glover, Rich Fleming, Jim Mooers and Bill Lewis. GREAT BASIN PRECISION RIFLE We are improving the way we set up our targets and still making a fun and interesting match. Set up 10 reactive targets 400 to 1,000 yards. Extended our mid range to 1,150 yards. Added more Iron maidens that are 19.5 x 40 between 750 to 1,150 yards. This month added wind socks to help with wind changes and reference points. To help guide you to targets. More flags, ribbons to help you learn to read the mirage which is typically only a few feet off the ground. We are getting some very good shooters that come to the monthly matches. This is still a fun and relaxing shoot for beginners. You should know how to adjust your scope from 100 to at least 1,000 yards. If we can see your miss, we can get you to the target. Rod Campuzano Match Director COSSA Bulletin 2

3 AN EAR TO THE GROUND With the BLM at a sage grouse lek near Millican By Gary Lewis East of Bend, a person in the know might find a sage grouse lek, a dancing area where the male attracts the female. This particular lek is located a few miles from the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association (COSSA) range near Millican. On a Saturday morning in June, Bill Lewis and I drove to the lek with, Jeff Kitchens Deschutes field manager, BLM, and wildlife biologist Larry Ashton also with the BLM. Meanwhile, back at COSSA, the Open House was in full swing with at least 300 people in attendance, shooting rifles and handguns in a number of disciplines. The BLM and ODFW were concerned noise from the range could be a limiting factor in the mating activity of sage grouse in the vicinity. We wanted to find out. For half an hour, four of us listened and we did not hear a single gunshot from COSSA. Kitchens described BLM best practices, how the agency works with their partners, including grazing permittees, and organizations who lease public lands - like COSSA. "We sit down with our partners, listen to their needs, and figure out the best path forward that will allow for multiple uses while providing conservation measures for the sage grouse. This is the process we used working with COSSA." I sat with my ear at the level of the tops of the sagebrush, on the edge of an ancient dancing ground for the sage grouse. Bill Lewis dialed Mark Fero on his cell phone and told him to commence firing. We wanted to make sure the big guns boomed. And we didn't hear a thing. The sound of gunshots vanished in the dry desert air. "The neat thing about COSSA is that it is a 24- hour range that can be used for law enforcement training at night," Kitchens said later. "We didn't just say to COSSA, you can't shoot (during the sage grouse mating season). We went out to monitor the sound levels when there were a lot of people out there and there was a lot of noise at the range. We needed to find out what is the sound, what are the impacts?" Kitchens said. And now we know. It was good to be a part of the process. ODFW GRANT AWARDS $35,000 TO COSSA! ODFW provides, through the Federal Wildlife Restoration Act, assistance to shooting ranges to enhance hunter education, range access and range safety. COSSA has been advised we have been awarded a grant of $35000 to construct a training center pending confirmation by USFWS. ODFW conducts several Hunter Education courses at COSSA Park every year. This is a 70/30 grant and COSSA will be expected to provide a minimum of $15000 to the project. The new training center will replace the current structure which has many structural and other issues. Final design of the new center is underway and siting options are under review. Nominally we are looking to locate the building in front of the old training center as the area is quite flat and has great room for parking. Thoughts are for a sq. ft. structure with a small office and storage facilities. Construction must be completed by September This building offers COSSA the opportunity to better promote the shooting experience at COSSA Park. COSSA Bulletin 3

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5 Trading Post The trading post is a benefit that we provide for our members. Each ad will run for one month and then be deleted, unless it is resubmitted. To run an ad, content to lewis.w.l@hotmail.com by the 15 th of the month COSSA Bulletin 5

6 COSSA Disciplines The range is located ¼ mile east of Mile Post 24 on Highway 20 East. GPS location of turnoff road is N , W COSSA GENERAL MEMBER MEETING Meetings are held at the VFW Hall on 4 th Street and Olney on the 2 nd Thursday of each month at 7PM. There is no meeting in October. COSSA Kids Regular Shoots: Third Saturday of every month regardless of weather. Contact: Don Thomas COSSA Practical Shooters (CPS) USPSA-First Saturday of every month. 3 GUN-Third Saturday of months April thru October. IDPA- Second Saturday of months April thru November. Mixed Steel-Third Saturday of months November thru February. Contact: Dave Webb deployed_dave@hotmail.com Cowboy Action: Horse Ridge Pistoleros (HRP) First, Third & Fifth(if one) weekends of every month yearround. Contact: John Merritt Cowboy Action: Pine Mountain Posse (PMP) Second Sunday of every month year-round. Check our website or Facebook page for more information. Contact: Dave Romine or stonewoodkid@ymail.com Lady Hawks: Women s Defensive Shooting (LH) Second Saturday of months April thru October. Contact: Sharon Preston Central Oregon Precision Riflemen (COPR) Long distance high performance rifle shoots. Contact: Walt Angle Handgun Silhouette (HGS) First Sunday and third Saturday of each month, Matches begin at 9 am. Contact: Dan Butala Great Basin Sharpshooters and Pine Mountain Riflemen (GBSS and PMR) Fourth weekend of every month April thru October. Friday 8:00 am Lever Action Rifle Caliber, Military Bolt Action, Military Breech Loading, Single Shot (Friday p.m. range open for sighting in.) Saturday 8:00 am.22 Match, Buffalo match out to 1,200 yards Sunday 8:00 am Quarter Bore Match, Lever Action Pistol Caliber. Contact: Brownie brownienash@centurylink.net, Butch Butcheast2020@gmail.com, or Rod rj_camp@msn.com Great Basin Precision Rifle (GBPR) First Saturday and Sunday of months April thru October on the Buffalo Range. These shoots are set up for the beginner and experienced shooter to know their rifle, scope, judge distance, windage, working together as a team, keeping up your skills and to have a fun and challenging shoot. Match fee Saturday $ ,760 yards Match fee Sunday $ If you do both days $30.00 Targets: Steel, reactive targets, military infantry, iron maiden, IPSIC targets and more. Ammunition: NO steel core, green tip or military surplus. Saturday: Precision Rifle - 7:30 a.m. 1,000 1,760 yards. Shooting rounds. Rifle caliber up to.338 Lapua. Approximately 10:00 a.m yards. Shooting rounds. Rifle caliber up to 300 WM. Sunday: Semi-Auto 9:00 a.m yards rounds. Please Pre-Register. gbpr@cossapark.com Rod Campuzano, Match Director. COSSA Bulletin 6

7 AT THE SAFETY BENCH The Orientation classes for new COSSA members is resulting in many side benefits. During the range tour, the class stops at the Sight-in Range. Thanks to the courtesy of members already there shooting and who very willing take a break in their activities, we discuss hot and cold range postures and the rules governing shooting at this range. Members often participate in the discussion and even more interesting realize some of their practices are not up to the COSSA safety requirements. Our applicants are often the first to ask why do I see what I see given what they just heard on COSSA practices. In particular is the need to stay behind the firing line in a cold range condition unless you are going down range to place or remove targets. Even more fundamental is the need to NOT touch anything on the bench during a cold range and having all firearms pointed down range with actions open and if appropriate magazines removed or cylinders open. Many members do not seem to realize the only time you can move your firearms to or from your vehicle is during a hot range condition. We also discuss the need to keep muzzles at all times pointed downrange. On the last orientation tour, we came across a shooter with three firearms on an adjacent bench laying parallel to the firing line with muzzles pointed at shooters at the other end of the bay. We also talked about the 180 rule and keeping muzzles up when handling your firearm. Sweeping your fellow shooters is a serious offense. MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Membership renewals are due in the month of the expiration date shown on your membership card. Watch for an advising you of the need to renew with an invoice that reflects your membership fee offset by any credits for volunteer hours at $10/hr as well as credits of $5 for each new member you have signed up to join COSSA. Volunteering can easily get you a no cost membership! Contact Bill Lewis for volunteer opportunities. Payment is due within the 30 days of your expiration month. You can pay by check or by calling our treasurer Donna at Bookkeeping Tax Services at (541) Credit cards cost COSSA about $3 per transaction so COSSA prefers checks. If no payment is received, COSSA sends out a letter by US mail advising you are in a grace period for another 30 days. If no payment is received after the grace period, you are moved to an inactive status and your gate access code is deactivated. Letting your membership lapse requires you to re-apply as a new member and to attend the safety and range orientation class. Please renew promptly as all the administrative work is added expense to COSSA which could be better devoted to range activities and improvements. Current members if you have not gone through orientation Are you as knowledgeable as the those that have? Longer term members, join us at an orientation. We need help with the class as we many times have as many as applicants. You can earn some volunteer hours in assisting. E- mail Ed Hauswald at kickon@msn.com. COSSA Bulletin 7

8 AUGUST 2017 CENTRAL OREGON SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION PO BOX 1606 BEND, OR COSSA Bulletin 8