April 2026 – Monthly Meet – The Barn Bear
by John White
April 25, 2026
This week, our state declared a state of emergency for nearly 60% of its counties due to the lack of rain and the number of active wildfires. A total outdoor burn ban is in effect—no fire pits, no leaf
burning, nothing that might spark, and no yard debris burning. One timberland owner even told all his leaseholders that lighting a cigarette on the property would cost them their lease. That’ll make you think twice before flicking a lighter.
Naturally, we were concerned about sparks from our own activities. After checking with the fire marshals, we received approval to proceed with our shoot—unlike one of our fellow clubs, which had to cancel theirs yesterday. A tough break for them. We hate to lose any opportunity to shoot our smokepoles.
With a bit of luck, we got some rain overnight and even a light sprinkle while gathering and setting up. It didn’t slow us down one bit. We kicked things off with the safety briefing and course of fire description right around 9:00 a.m., under cool temperatures and minimal wind. About as nice a start as you could ask for.
We had 20 shooters, along with 9 admin, guests, and visitors. Feedback was positive—either that or everyone was just being polite, but we’ll take it.
We opened with a bear target at 50 yards, 10 shots. This was in honor of the local bears that occasionally wander through the range looking for snacks and redecorate our trash cans with their paw prints. Targets were scored, and we moved on to the 25-yard stage.
As usual, the commentary among shooters was lively. Complaints about poor shooting were met with overwhelming “support” from fellow shooters—things like, “Yeah, I’ve never seen you shoot this badly.” True camaraderie at its finest.
The second stage tested whether participants could, in fact, hit the broad side of a barn. Six blue bullseyes, two shots each, worth 10 points per hit. Miss those, and just hitting the “barn” still earned 5 points. Standards were… flexible.
Shooters fired a total of 22 shots for a possible 220 points.
Our results are as follows
Offhand:
1st – Billy T.
2nd – James W.
3rd – Jim G.
4th – Bob W.
5th – Jimmy H.
Bench:
1st – Steve B.
2nd – David A.
3rd – Tim D.
4th – Charlie R.
5th – Tim C.
Now, not to jinx anything, but we had the usual assortment of cap pops, flint flashes… and six dry balls. Yes, six. Four new members were inducted into the TRBPS Dry-Ball Club, and even two of our founding members added to their legacy. That’s 30% of shooters earning membership in a club no one actually wants to join.
There were, of course, a few creative explanations—claims that these weren’t dry balls, but “patch pulling incidents.” Sure. We’ve heard that one before.
After the shoot, we enjoyed burgers on the Blackstone, deviled eggs, potato salad, chips, homemade cookies, and cake for dessert. Folks stuck around for nearly an hour, talking and relaxing—a great way to wrap up the day.
We caught another hint of moisture in the air as we packed up, but overall, it was a fantastic day to shoot and enjoy the outdoors.
We’ll see you all at the next gathering on May 23rd. Gates open at 7:30 a.m. for a 9:00 a.m. start.
Enjoy the video of the April 2026 monthly meet below:
TRBPS April 2026 video on Rumble
The rumble video is undedited, whereas the Youtube video has to be edited for its strict guidelines So, the rumble video will have a little more content.
Below is the YouTube Version