On April 2nd I made my first trip out to the St. John's Rod and Gun Club for 2023. Back in February I was re-elected as President of the club for my 10th consecutive term, I'm pleased to get back out to the club to perform some of my on site obligations.

The main purpose for today's trip was to conduct our first new member orientation session for the 2023 membership year. Over 30 people attended and we had a great session, although visiting all the ranges was challenging in deep snow.

It will be a later start for some activities at the club compared to last year due to lingering massive snow drifts all across the facility!

New park style benches installed last summer are completely buried west (left) of Bailey's memorial rock on the trap field.

After orientation I took advantage of the vacant rifle range to take a few shots with my demo Fierce Carbon Fury. This beautiful bolt action rifle is chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor and features a very unique carbon fibre barrel!

It's a beautiful rifle to shoot, its been a pleasure to have use of it this past year.

By the end of April snow was finally melting enough to begin prepping for the 2023 shooting season at the club.

After experiencing a lot of troubles with our new (last summer) propane stove, we struck a deal with our local shop Eastern Propane to fully refund the unit and replace it with a larger 6 burner unit. This upgrade will get us clear of the troubled stove and will serve the kitchen well especially on larger events throughout the year.

Our new Husqvarna zero turn lawnmower has been a game changer for keeping our facility maintained and looking great. No more dragging our own equipment back and forth to the club, and now more members will have access to lending a hand with this never ending task.

After our July orientation I finally got a chance to shoot a round of Trap, my first in a very long time. I managed to squeak out a 21/25, 21/25, 23/25 and a 20/25 which I was quite happy with!

At the end of July we held our annual Youth Day Event at the club in Partnership with NL Wildlife division. It was another fantastic event where 30 youth (members and non members alike) took part in Rifle & Shotgun shooting, Archery and an Outdoor Survival station with Rovers Search and Rescue.

One of my ongoing projects at the club is maintaining all of our small engine equipment such as the 15kw generator, ATV and lawnmower. This summer the generator received a full service including oil, oil filter, fuel filters and fan belt.

The ATV received an oil change, new spark plug, general inspection and cleaning.

Another month, another new member orientation session!

One of my long term goals at the club was to finish the trail to the pond behind the clubhouse. This year we finally brought my idea to fruition taking advantage of a contractor already onsite completing other work.

Near the pond we made use of a natural clearing to create an area where fly fishing could be taught & practised. Later we plan to add a fire pit and benches for members to relax after a day of shooting at the club. Hopefully this can spark some of the 'Rod' back into St. John's Rod and Gun Club activities.

In November I headed out over the highway for the 2nd last new member orientation of the year.

It was pretty neat to see where the snow line lay on the hills above the club!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith