On April 2nd I made my first trip out to the St. John's Rod and Gun Club for 2023. At our Annual General Meeting back in February I was re-elected President of the Club for my 10th consecutive term. I was pleased today to get back out to the club and perform some of my in person obligations.

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

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

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

After orientation I took advantage of the vacant rifle range to fire 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, it has been a pleasure to have use of it over this past year.

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

After having a lot of trouble with our new (last summer) propane stove, we struck a deal with the shop, Eastern Propane, to fully refund the unit and replace it with a larger six burner unit. This upgrade will get us clear of the troubled stove and will serve the kitchen even better 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 Outdoor Skills Event at the club in Partnership with NL Wildlife Division. It was another fantastic event where 30 youth (members and non members) 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 club's Honda 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 down 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 an existing 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 August I made a couple trips to the rifle range, one with Bassan and one with Michael Stroh. I checked my Browning 30.06 then did some shooting with my Steven's .223 (equipped with a Boyd's grey laminated thumbhole stock) and my Marlin 30-30 lever action with steel sights.

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

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

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith