NRA Whittington Center hosts Black Powder Target Rifle

Haven't had your fill of rifle competition this summer? You're in luck. NRAblog is heading out to the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico, for the 2012 NRA Black Powder Target Rifle Championships starting next week.

More on the NRA Black Powder rifle championships ...

Shirts for the 2012 Black Powder Target Rifle Championships arrived this week and hey ... they look great. Made with lightweight, breathable fabric that only Under Armour can provide, these shirts are restricted. Restricted to those who come out to the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico for this year's Black Powder Target Rifle Championships.

Registration is currently open, so reserve your spot today. Shot August 18-25 at NRA's Whittington Center, these championships are a very fun week of shooting in the NRA's oldest discipline.

"I'm so excited for this year's championships," Match Director Jonathan Leighton told us. "The match is shaping up well, the prize table is filling up with many a great things and just about every shooter will walk away with something." 

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NRA Training Department staffers Andy Lander and Sean Thornton headed out west to the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico to teach an NRA Training Counselor Development Workshop. From April 20-22, 16 candidates took part in the training and earning their appointments at Traning Counselors. The group included 2012 Marion P. Hammer Woman of Distinction Award Winner Donna Vandermolen.

Candidates came from all across the country including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, California, Arkansas, Indiana, Oregon, Michigan and even as far as Hawaii.

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St. Louis, Missouri - Following yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony to open the NRA Convention, we headed over the GLOCK booth for a special event of our own. Extending a helping hand, GLOCK generously donated more than $100,000 to the National Rifle Association.

“There are millions of NRA members and thousands of certified NRA firearms instructors who continue to protect our Second Amendment rights and help to promote firearms safety,” said GLOCK Vice President, Gary Fletcher. “It’s important for us at GLOCK, Inc. to recognize that commitment by supporting the NRA and its affiliate organizations.”

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Reserve your spot today for this year's NRA Black Powder Target Rifle Championships. Held August 18-25, the championships are a week of great shooting and great people at the beautiful NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico.

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Heading out west to the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico is always one of the highlights of my year, so for my "honorable mentions" for top stories of 2011, I decided to go with two seperate events that took place this summer amidst the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

I've already used the winners of the 2011 NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) as my #3 story of the year, but there's one part of YHEC that everyone looks forward to - especially the participants. Although the bulk of the competition at YHEC takes place on the range or in the woods, it's the annual Tug of War that really gets the competitive juices flowing.

This year, I was able to capture it on film and watch as the teams were narrowed down to the final two team in each category. In the end, the Junior Team from Forbush, North Carolina, the ladies from New Mexico, and the Hempstead Swamp Donkeys Senior Team won their brackets, respectively, earning them Cabela's gift cards, a pretty awesome trophy, and bragging rights for the next year.

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Each summer, I look forward to attending the NRA International Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I get to spend time with the participants and their families. This summer, we found ourselves back at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico for the 2011 YHEC. Hundreds of young hunters and their families traveled from all across the country to compete in a series of eight events designed to test hunting skills and knowledge. While I am always impressed by the abilities of our YHEC participants, each year I am blown away by their dedication, commitment, sportsmanship, and their desire to preserve the sport of hunting.

It's no wonder why these young people are so incredible - talk to any of the parents and coaches that accompany them and you'll see the same dedication and positive attitudes in the adults who help these young hunters become skilled hunters and exceptional leaders. This year, participants from North Carolina, Oregon, and Louisiana dominated the leaderboard, taking home top honors in both the Individual and Team categories in the Junior and Senior age groups.

I choked up several times during the awards ceremony - not because of the excitement on the winners' faces, but because of the pride shown by the parents and coaches. Tears of joy streamed down their faces as they watched their children accept the awards they had worked so hard to acheive. Photographing them proved difficult as I could barely see through my own tears.

In the fours years I've been to YHEC, I've been able to watch these kids grow and mature as people and as hunters, seeing their skills develop year after year. Because of this, seeing the winners from 2011 accept their awards was moving for me because of all of the hard work they and their parents, coaches, and communities put in each year. It's something that I've discussed with the families from Louisiana, Oregon, and particularly the Efird family from North Carolina. 

In 2010, Hunter Efird from North Carolina was the top Junior individual, and in 2011 I was able to watch him win again in the Senior category. One of my favorite photos that I've taken in my career is that of Hunter and his father embracing following his win in Raton this summer. As I interviewed Hunter and the other winners and coaches, it was apparent that everyone wanted to acknowledge that hard work and practice pay off, and that it takes a group of people to come up with a win.

If that's the truth, then everyone who participated at YHEC this year was a winner, because if anyone knows the meaning of dedication and hard work, it's the people in our YHEC family.  

For the past few years the NRA Silhouette National Championships and NRA National Black Powder Target Rifle Championships have been held back to back at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico, throughout the month of July.

That's about to change as the BPTR Championships have moved to August 19-25, still at the NRA Whittington Center, for this coming year.

The decision to move the championship dates was made after a thorough process considering competitor travel schedules and local weather. Although the new dates may conflict with competitors who teach or have young children that must get ready for the new school year, it was ultimately decided that late August fit the needs of the most people based on a forum held at the conclusion of the 2011 championships.

If you've never shot a Black Powder match before and would like to learn more, check out the website for last year's championships or email the Match Director, Jonathan Leighton.

Black Powder is NRA's oldest shooting discipline and is a very fun sport that draws extremely talented and friendly shooters from all over the country. If you can make the trek out to Raton, the Black Powder Target Rifle Championships are definitely worth your while.

At the 2011 NRA International Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) this summer, I wasn't the only one on the range with a camera and notepad. Wendy LaFever, Managing Editor of NRA InSights magazine and NRA Publications photographer Hannele Lahti made the trek to the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico to enjoy the fun and bring NRA's junior members an indepth look at YHEC. Wendy's article on the 2011 YHEC is featured in this month's issue of InSights, which is now available as a digital publication. Here's a look at the article, but be sure to check out the entire issue.

Read the entire article and all of this month's issue are available online at www.insights.org, so be sure to check it out (with your parents' permission, of course) or visit www.nrayhec.org to learn more about the NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge.