It is in very good condition. I paid about $1,300 for it new a little over a year ago. I’m looking to get $700 for all of it. Send me an email and I will send back pictures or I can send my address and you can come over to look at it. This is a very good deal. Contact: bsuter@austin.rr.com

As I walked down a trail in a heavily wooded area I came across a large pile of hog poop. Beyond that pile was another and beyond it was many more. I counted at least 15 piles, many of them fresh, and radioed that fact to the other hunters. I then took a couple of steps forward and heard movement in the heavy brush to my right. I radioed that there was probably a hog to my right and circled the brush, going to my left. Suddenly three hogs bolted in single file across my bow, about 25 yards away. I shot once with my rifle at each of them and hit the second one in the head.

After my companions convened at the hog, I took them to the hog outhouse. As we were talking, I spotted two hogs, a blonde one and a grey/black one, in the heavy brush where the other hogs had emerged. I shot at the blonde one. It was standing still just 15 yards away but my bullet must have deflected off of a branch. Both hogs then scurried deeper into the brush.

When the hogs moved I went to the left and Ken Miller went to the right. His movement pushed the grey/black hog towards me. It bolted from the brush and at first it looked like it was going to run right over me, but when it saw me it ran across my bow only five yards away. Somehow I missed it with all three remaining shots in my magazine.

Incredibly the pair of hogs hadn’t moved until the fourth shot from my .30-06. It held fast.

During a 2003 hunt I walked up on a hog that didn’t run until I was three feet away from it. I originally thought that it was dead but after it ran I figured that it had either been asleep or was deaf. I chalked it up as a fluke. However, since that 2009 stalk I’ve been on other hunts where hogs held fast when they sensed danger coming, unlike deer which always run. I think that hogs do this because they know that hunters will often walk past them if they don’t move.

The Bible has several accounts of people who stood fast when faced with severe duress. A couple of the most famous are Daniel in the Old Testament and Peter and John in the New Testament.

The book of Daniel reveals that Daniel and the rest of Judah had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Some years later King Darius issued an edict that anyone who prayed to any god or man other than him during the next 30 days would be thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel defied the king and continued to pray to the Lord. Daniel was caught in the act of praying to the Lord and was then thrown into the lion’s den. You know the rest of the story (see Daniel chapter 6). One of the worst deaths imaginable is to be killed by a pride of lions, but Daniel stared death in the eye and stood fast.

The book of Acts reveals that one morning Peter and John went to the temple in Jerusalem to pray. Along the way they encountered a beggar who asked them for money. The man had been lame since birth. Luke recorded in Acts 3:6, “Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk”” NLT. The man rose and then went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God. Peter gave credit to Jesus, which greatly distressed the priests. They had Peter and John jailed.

The next day Peter and John were interrogated by the Sanhedrin. Peter responded in Acts 4:10b, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.” The Sanhedrin commanded that they no longer speak to anyone about Jesus. Peter replied in Acts 4:19b-20, “”Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”” The Sanhedrin threatened them and then let them go. Peter and John knew that these were the men who orchestrated Jesus’ death, and that they could easily do the same to them, but they stared them in the eye and stood fast.

Fortunately, we live in a country where Christians are presently are not being physically persecuted for their beliefs. However, there may come a day when you have to take a stand with a boss, relative, neighbor, school teacher, coach, or scout leader. Admitting your beliefs may result in ridicule, being passed over for promotions, your kid sitting on the bench, or worse. Do you know where you stand on Biblical issues? Are you able to articulate them to others? Are you ashamed about being a Christian or embarrassed to discuss your faith?

The reason that many Christians falter when questioned are they simply don’t know what the Bible says about various subjects, such as money, relationships, service, trials, forgiveness, and abundant life. They are clueless about how the Bible addresses problems such as greed, jealousy, doubt, fear, and anger. They’re spiritual babies who have never grown.

There are primarily three ways for Christians to learn about God’s promises.

1. Join or attend a church in your community that preaches and teaches what God’s promises are.
2. Read the Bible frequently and memorize key passages. There might come a time when you are presented with an opportunity to take a stand and there isn’t a Bible nearby. Memorizing God’s word ensures that you won’t forget key points.
3. Find one or more mentors who will challenge you to learn about God and who will help you build a Christ-like character.

There are many who believe that a person’s character is established around age three or four. Although there is evidence to support this, there is also evidence that supports that we are capable of learning, growing, and changing all throughout our lives. Psalms 27:1 (“As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another”) is just one of many verses that support this. Notice that the verse did not say, “…so does one child sharpen another.” Mature Christians are equipped to help spiritual infants build Godly characters.

We weren’t born with a Christ-like character. Before we came to a saving knowledge of Christ, our characters reflected the ruler of this world – Satan. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” NKJV. “All things” includes our characters. After Jesus becomes our Savior and Lord, our worldly character dies and we receive a new character that is like our new master. The Christian life is a growth process of our characters becoming more like Christ’s.

Jesus said in John 15:18-20b, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” If you haven’t had to take a stand for Christ you will. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ – rather it’s a matter of ‘when.’ When the time to take a stand happens only one question will remain – will you hold fast like those hogs did on that stalk or will you flee?

When I was growing up, my father would give me rules for living a good life. Sometimes when we were fishing or hunting, I would ask questions and he would respond by giving me “sayings” instead of full-fledged answers. It frustrated me then, but it makes good sense now. Once I complained to him about a teacher that was grading unfairly on the work I turned in during class. Dad looked at me and said “Just keep your head down and keep working, eventually it will pay off”. I have to tell you, that was not really what I wanted to hear. In fact, a little sympathy or “I will handle that teacher for you” would have been great to hear. But what he said to me had far reaching implications in many areas of my life, especially Skeet Shooting.

I can take a snap shot of the many different students I have had over the years, and so many have the same issues. It doesn’t always have to be a brand new shooter; even guys who have been shooting a long time seem to have some of the same issues. The biggest of these, is lifting the head while swinging the gun, or not “Keeping your head down”. A shooters head should be firmly pressed into the comb of the gun. That area of your cheek that should be pressed against the comb is what I like to call the “Anchor Point”. When your Anchor Point is not firmly against the stock, there are two primary things that can happen as a result. One, the point of impact of your pattern can change. Two, the swing of the gun slows down. 

Let’s tackle the point of impact first. To find out how lifting your head changes your point of impact, let’s do the following experiment:

take your shotgun and mount it facing a mirror in your home (please do this with the gun unloaded and finger off the trigger). Mount the gun just as you would when you are about to call for the bird. Then, watch the end of the barrel in the mirror as you lift your head off the comb of the stock. I would be willing to bet that the end of your barrel moved either up or down when you eased the pressure on your Anchor Point. It was probably not more than an inch or so right? How far were you from the mirror? A foot or so? Take that inch and multiply it out over 20-25 yards and just imagine how much it changes the point of impact! Lifting your head will cause you to shoot over or possibly under the bird (depending on how your shotgun is balanced).

Now, let’s talk about gun swing or barrel speed as some like to call it. Standing in front of the same mirror, mount your gun again. Start at the left side of the mirror and start to swing all the way to the right side. When you reach the middle of the mirror, lift your head slightly. I would be willing to bet that if you were watching the end of your barrel when you lifted your head, you would have noticed that the swing of the gun(the forward travel) slowed just slightly. Now without getting into ballistics, geometry or any mathmatics, let me explain what happens to the swing as you lift your head; The swing slows down just enough for you to shoot behind the target! Now, there are exceptions to that rule. In fact if you are extremely athletic and use your legs really well to move your gun barrel, you might get by occasionally and somehow keep the barrel moving at the same speed when lifting you head. You also might occasionally be able to keep the gun swing level and not let the barrel lift upwards or downwards as you lift your head. Quite frankly, I am not that good…I need everything working in unison to shoot well, and I bet you  do too. 

In the picture below, one of my 4-H students is shooting from station 2 on a low house bird. My wife just happened to shoot this picture during practice.

What great form, and how firmly he has his head into his Anchor Point. This young man will do well as long as he keeps this up!

 Make no mistake about it, lifting the head can cause several problems in your shooting game. There are some fundamentals to this sport that you just can’t compromise if you want to be in the winner’s circle at the end of the day. And you bird hunters out there would do well to follow this young man’s example. Developing these good habits will serve you well in the field.

 Keep your Head Down and Keep Working! 

 Wishing you good shooting!

 Joe Schram
Wing & Clay Shooting Sports

You best bet is to see a gun fitter to get the right change made the first time, which will ultimately be cheaper in the long run. It will also give you many hours of fatigue free and accurate shooting enjoyment.

Let us know how we can help you with your gun fit, because you can’t hit if your gun doesn’t fit! 

We had nine members renew their memberships and 10 first time guests!

We conducted two officer votes.

Yearly Attendance Grid

Yearly Events Grid

* = Record

# = Includes Drott and/or Sullivan season dove lease hunts

2011 was a very good year for the Club. We had 465 attendees for the year, which was out fourth best year to date. We hosted 52 events, which was also our fourth best year to date.

We had 37 more attendees and five more events than last year. Our average number of attendees per event declined slightly from 9.11 in 2010 to 8.94 in 2011.

As was noted on the Statistics page, we set five event categories attendance records for 2011, including: sporting clays and skeet shoots (152, the old mark was 134), sporting clays tournaments (44, the old mark was 14), ministry events (30, the old mark was 20), student instructor/student sporting clays shoots (17, the old mark was 16), and deer and hog hunts (14, the old mark was 12). We tied the attendance record for duck hunts (21).

We also set two event attendance records in 2011; including the parent/child deer and hog hunt (14) and a student instructor/student sporting clays shoot (14).

The following scheduled events did not occur: three hog hunts (we were unable to fit them into the land owner’s schedule), a student instructor/student sporting clays shoot (the head instructor had a schedule conflict), a winter dove hunt (lack of interest), a self-chartered white bass fishing trip (lack of interest), a guided crappie fishing trip (the leader had a work conflict), a sporting clays tournament (lack of interest), a winter dove hunt (lack of interest), and a shooting range shoot (lack of interest).

We ended the year with our second highest number of first time guests (43; the record is 50), our fifth highest number of membership renewals (36; the record is 52), our ninth highest number of active members (46; the record is 81), and tying our tenth highest number of new members (7, the record is 32).

During Fiscal Year 2011 (9/1/10 – 8/31/11) we took in $ 1,454.50, which was our fifth best to date (the record is $ 1,791.87). We spent $889.32, which was our eighth highest amount spent.

We did not meet any of my 2011 goals (but came close to meeting three), which included:

1. Gain eight new members (a 60% increase over 2010) - not met, we gained seven.
2. End the year with 63 supporting members (an 11% increase over 2010) – not met, we ended the year with 46 supporting members.
3. Have 471 participants (a 10% increase over 2010) – not met, we had 465 participants.
4. Implement 55 events (a 17% increase over 2010) – not met, we implemented 52.
5. Implement a Clay Target Shoot for a youth organization – not met, we implemented a Parent/Child and Youth 5-stand and Skeet Shoot for First Baptist Church of Pflugerville.

For 2012 I have seven goals:

1. Have 512 participants (a 10% increase over 2011).
2. Gain eight new members (a 14% increase over 2011).
3. End the year with 51 supporting members (an 11% increase over 2011)
4. Have 46 guests (a 10% increase over 2011).
5. Host 65 events (a 25% increase over 2011).
6. Implement a wild game dinner for an apartment complex that houses persons who are elderly and/or disabled.
7. Implement a Clay Target Shoot for a youth organization.

The next quarter promises to be an exciting one for FCS members and guests. We have 16 events planned, including:

• Saturday, 1/7/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Friday, 1/13/12 through Sunday, 1/15/12 – Parent/Child Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 1/14/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 1/14/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Clay Targets Covered with Ice Sickles” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane , Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 1/20/12 through Sunday, 1/22/12 – Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt near Port Aransas.
  Saturday, 1/22/12, time TBD – Promatic Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 1/27/12 through Sunday, 1/29/12 – Self-Guided Hog Hunt at the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.
  Monday, 1/30/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at Mighty Fine Burgers (10515 North MoPac # B205, Austin, 512-524-2400).
• Saturday, 2/4/12 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with the Schumann Brothers near Dime Box.
  Monday, 2/13/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Cookoff at Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/18/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Spread the Love (Broken Clay Targets) Around” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 2/24/12 through Sunday, 2/26/12 – Self-Guided Hog Hunt at the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.
  Sunday, 2/26/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Red Apple Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 3/3/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Spring “Break the Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 3/23/12 through Sunday, 3/25/12 – Self-Guided Hog Hunt at the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.
• Thursday, 3/29/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Wild Game Dinner at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Saturday, 3/31/12 – Self-Chartered White Bass Fishing Trip at the Colorado Bend State Park.

May the Lord bless you with this coming new year and always.

Hunting His way,

Randy Rowley

President
The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen

Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry is an outreach ministry of the people of God called upon to feed venison to the hungry among us nationwide.  All you need to do is take the field dressed deer (they no longer take hogs) that you wish to donate to the Bon Ton Meat Market (115 South Camino Real Road, Uhland, near Kyle, 512-398-3810) and tell them that it is for Texas Hunters and Hunters Feeding the Hungry.  There is no cost to you.  For more information contact John Hilgers at 512-350-4011. 

Hunters for the Hungry is a program of the Texas Association of Community Action Agencies, Inc.  It is a statewide wild game donation program that provides a healthy source of protein to Texans who need assistance obtaining well-balanced, nutritious meals.  Simply bring your field dressed deer (they do not take hogs) to a participating processing plant, tell the clerk that the animal is for the Hunters for the Hungry program and pay the approximate $20.00 processing fee.  The meat will be given to low income people.  Participating processing plants in the area include Hudson’s Sausage Company and Texas Sausage Company.  For more information e-mail or call them at 800-992-9767 or 512-462-2555.

Hunters Harvest is a group of people that utilize their skill, expertise, and love of hunting and fishing to feed hungry people served by non-profit organizations.  Since February 2005, Hunters’ Harvest has provided 93,000 lbs. of wild game and fish to organizations in our community.  Their purpose was to encourage hunters to donate fish and game to Get Together Partner Ministries feeding the hungry.  To donate see Pacto con Dios (below).  For more information contact Cathy Lawdanski or Wade Mattingly. 

Pacto con Dios (A Pact with the Trinity) is based out of San Marcos.  They distribute any edible meat (deer, hogs, and birds), as long as it is field dressed and in good condition, to those that are unable to feed themselves along with sharing the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There is no cost for donations but they are appreciated.  The meat needs to be delivered to San Marcos.

 Members, I have long been convicted that as a Christian group, we first and foremost should reflect the character of Christ.  As a hunting and fishing fraternity, we should look for ways to support our sports, and introduce others to it.  I discovered a group in Mason that allows us to “look after orphans” and introduce young people to hunting.

 “Operation Orphans” provides hunts on hill country ranches for youngsters without parents of guardians.  They have a number of needs, as you might imagine, and I think our club can help out in a significant, but inexpensive way.  Most of us probably have a number of these items lying around the house, or could purchase an item or two at a minimal cost.  The officers of the Club have agreed to hold a collection drive for Operation Orphans.  The list of needs is:

• Cash
• Stocking caps (I found some at Academy for $.99 each)
• Cotton Jersey gloves
• Ammo – 223 in 55 gr. and 243 in 80 gr.
• New or gently used camo in all sizes (up to adult large for the bigger boys)
• Warm coats

Bring your items to the Club officers at any Club event or contact one of us to arrange a pick up.  Contributions will be accepted year round but we especially appreciate them right before Christmas.  Members are invited to see the ranch in action or volunteer as a guide.  They conduct several hunts each season.  They require competent females or couples to guide the girls.  They want to wall off a portion of one dorm for a place for ladies to sleep when they have a boys hunt.  This is the material needed for this project.

• 8    2x4x12? SPF
• 32  2×4 studs SPF
• 1    36? prehung hollowcore door
• 1    keyed lock set
• 16  sheets 4×8 drywall

For more information contact me at 512-773-9115.

Mark Dillow

Coming soon!

Coming Soon!

2/13/12 FCS Meeting

Six officers, six members, one guest, and two sons (15 total participants) had a great time at the 2/13/12 FCS Meeting at Charlie Batts home. The meeting featured our Annual Chili Cook-off. Thanks to John Murray who brought his Lake of Fire Chili and cornbread, Ken Miller who brought his Mystery Meat Chili, and me, Randy Rowley, for bringing my Randy’s Radioactive Road Kill Chili. Thanks also to Charlie Batts for the IBC Root Beer and iced tea and Joan Batts for the homemade chocolate cake. We watched the Spiritual Outdoors Adventures DVD A Look at Life from a Deer Stand. The following events were discussed:

Hunt

Saturday, 2/18/12 – Guided Quail Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box

Sporting Clays Shoots and Tournaments

Sunday, 2/19/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Red Apple Open Sporting Clays Tournament

Saturday, 3/3/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Spring “Break the Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot

Sunday, 4/1/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – South by Southwest Open Sporting Clays Tournament

Saturday, 4/7/12, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – “April Showers of Broken Clay Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot

Ministry Event

Thursday, 3/29/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Wild Game Dinner at St. George’s Court

Fishing Trip

Saturday, 3/31/12 – Self-Chartered White Bass Fishing Trip at the Colorado Bend State Park

Meeting

Monday, 4/9/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Catfish Fry

2/2/12 Officers Meeting Minutes

Six officers attended the 2/2/12 Officers Meeting at Mighty Fine Burgers. I, Randy Rowley, led us in prayer. The following issues were discussed:
1. Statistics for the past year. The short version is 2011 was a very good year for the club.
2011 Facts
   • We had 465 attendees for the year, which was out fourth best. We had 37 more attendees than last year.
   • We hosted 52 events, which was also our fourth best. We had five more events than last year.
   • Our average number of attendees per event was our 18th best. It declined slightly from 9.11 in 2010 to 8.94 in 2011.
   • We set five event categories attendance records for 2011, including:
      • sporting clays and skeet shoots (152);
      • sporting clays tournaments (44);
      • ministry events (30);
      • student instructor/student sporting clays shoots (17); and
      • deer and hog hunts (14).
   • We tied the attendance record for duck hunts (21).
   • We also set two event attendance records in 2011; including:
      • a parent/child deer and hog hunt (14); and
      • a student instructor/student sporting clays shoot (14).
   • We ended the year with:
      • our second highest number of first time guests (43);
      • our fifth highest number of membership renewals (36);
      • our ninth highest number of active members (46); and
      • tying our tenth highest number of new members (7).
   • During Fiscal Year 2011 (9/1/10 – 8/31/11) we took in $ 1,454.50, which was our fifth best. We spent $889.32, which was our eighth highest amount spent.
My only concern is the fact that our membership renewals were down from 52 in 2010 to 36 in 2011 (down 16 members). This was offset by a donation of $260 from a Mr. A. Nony Moose on 5/8/11. We have enough money in the bank to run the club for another two years, even if no one renews. The officers discussed the following ideas to offset lost revenue from having fewer members:
   A. Give shirts as membership benefits. This idea was rejected because most members have a closet full of shirts and we tried it and it proved to not be a factor in increasing memberships.
   B. Charge a higher due for non-members. This idea was rejected because we tried this and it resulted in fewer new members. Everyone paying the same due is the easiest to manage.
   C. Charge a due or fee for events we control (dove retreats, parent/child deer and hog hunts, self-guided hog hunts, and self-guided duck hunts). This idea was rejected because we tried this and very few of those who were forced to join the club at dove retreats ever renewed.
   D. Have a membership box at events (where new members can drop their membership due in and a much abbreviated application). The officers agreed that this was a good idea and to implement it as soon as possible.
2. Review of difficulties with the new website. I noted that a couple weeks ago Bruce Crockett went to add pictures to our duck hunt pictures page and all of the pictures were gone (WordPress has some glitches). Unlike FrontPage, which allows the webmaster to save pages to his hard drive/jump drive, WordPress does not have a user back up feature. However, SiteGround (our hosting site) can back up our website for $2.50/month. The officers voted unanimously to purchase this protection.
3. Thursday, 3/29/12 Wild Game Dinner at St. George’s Court apartments (which house people who are elderly and disabled). I noted that it would cost approximately $230 to feed 75 people. We have $775.39 in our ministry fund so this will not break the bank. We will not charge a fee to the diners. As we will not have the same facilities that we had last year (at Great Hills Baptist Church) we will need to arrive earlier to prepare the food.
4. Saturday, 6/23/12 Skeet and 5-stand Shoot for Operation Orphans or another Youth Organization. I noted that, as Operation Orphans is based near Llano, they will have difficulty getting their kids to Austin to shoot. We also would not have nearly as many volunteers if we went to Llano. We discussed extending an invitation to Kids Outdoor Zone (KOZ) instead, as they are based in the Austin area. I will extend an invitation.