The future of the shooting sports industry gathered in Rapid City, South Dakota recently for the 4H Shooting Sports National Invitational. The "Future" in this instance would be the 410 kids from 27 different states that are just a small fraction of the 300,000 youths that are involved in the 4H Shooting Sports Program.

4H Shooting Sports National Invitational was recently held in Rapid City, South Dakota

The event is held once a year and provides a setting for participants to showcase their skills in a competitive environment.

Awards are handed out daily to the top finishers in various handgun, rifle, muzzleloader, shotgun, and archery disciplines, but the real story behind this event is that these competitors should be viewed as the lifeblood of a shooting and hunting heritage -- a heritage that many in the shooting sports industry believe is declining rapidly.

HEAD/HEART/HANDS/HEALTH
The simplest way to explain how the 4H Shooting Sports Program got its start is to begin with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and 4H as a whole. 4H started near the beginning of the 20th century as a way the USDA and its Land Grant universities could get the word out to change-resistant-farmers about breakthroughs in agriculture and science technology by introducing these new practices and discoveries to farmer's children. The belief was that as these children got older and took over the family farm or started farming themselves, they would continue to practice what was learned during their time with 4H.

The county extension offices and its agents, which are apart of the Land Grant university system, ran the 4H clubs and still do today. All county extension offices of Land Grant universities must offer a 4H program.

As the 4H clubs and organizations grew, so did the various 4H program offerings that were available to children. Kids aged 9 to 18 were now getting education in a much broader range of topics from conservation efforts to photography to gardening and in the various 4H conservation camps that were hosted each year...shooting and firearms instruction.

While popular at the conservation camps and with rural farm children, a shooting and firearm education curriculum was never created by the National 4H Organization.

According to Bill Stevens, ATK Conservation Manager, and longtime supporter and committee member of the 4H Shooting, a grass roots effort started in 1976 to create a 4H Shooting Sports organization.

"The shooting program started in 1976 in Texas. There had been shooting in 4H for many years with some states having competitions, and Texas was one of them. In 1979, the NRA hosted a national meeting where many state representatives decided how to get (a program) going. In 1980, a committee was formed."

The committee outlined plans to raise funds, develop a curriculum and decided on a delivery system to reach as many 4H participants as possible.

Nine companies contributed $19,000 to help start the program while Stevens hit the road.

"I went to the different land grant colleges and met everyone. I went and visited and talked with them and brought them the idea of the shooting program. With the changing demographics of rural to urban and suburban -- it was a good way to get kids involved in the 4H program that didn't have to be agricultural related," said Stevens.

With start-up funds in place and a delivery system being ironed out, a curriculum was all that was needed.

Enter Johnny K.