The North Thompson Fish and Game Club Society (NTFG) continues to move forward in becoming one of the prime competitive locations in British Columbia.
Most recently the NTFG held a successful ‘Frosty Farky’ competition on Oct.31 - Nov. 1, at their range. The match was held in honour of the late George “Farky” Farquharson who was a long time shooter and resident of Kamloops. He was also the founder of ‘F-Class’, which is now a recognized international sport.
“F-Class is a precision long distance target shooting sport, in which competitors shoot at targets between 300 and 900 meters, with the object to place shots as close to the center, or ‘Bull’ as possible,” says The Dominion of Canada Rifle Association website. “This sport involves using highly accurate single-shot centerfire rifles, high powered scopes and a means of steadying the rifle such as a bipod or pedestal rest. Participants shoot at paper bull’s eye targets at long distance, where the ability to read wind and other conditions determines success. The sport was developed to address the fact that many shooters such as George were finding that in the face of advancing age and diminishing senses, it was difficult to shoot target rifles using open iron sights, and shooting off the elbows, and thus the sport of F-Class was born. From those humble beginnings, the sport has exploded in popularity all over the world and is now governed by an international regulatory body (http://www.icfra.com). Far from being a sport of the elderly and infirm, F-Class involves superlatively accurate equipment combined with exceptional shooting skill.”
NTFG Director Don Piper (who is also British Columbia Rifle Association F Class director) says the NTFG is moving forward now in leaps and bounds.
Most recently the organization was gifted a cheque for $5,000 from Mark Anderson, the owner of The Powder Keg in Kamloops, for long range development of the NTFG gun range. A giant leap that will put the NTFG on the map for long range shooting.
“We have had a good year despite all of the restrictions.,” commented Piper, “It’ll only get better once we have our extension in place.”
Piper noted the club has also been approached by members of the Canadian National Bisley (long range target rifle) team to be their Western training location.
“So, we are definitely moving along,” said Piper.