When the word VARMINT pops up in hunting circles names like prairie dog, woodchuck, gopher, and coyote come to mind. Sometimes the daughter’s new boyfriend may be mentioned in the same breath. As the discussion turns to the Varmint Hunter’s Association (VHA), we think about the quarterly magazine and the annual Varmint Hunter’s Jamboree.

Every summer, for the past 15 years a cloud of dust rises in Pierre, South Dakota as shooters arrive from all over the country for a week of shooting and camaraderie. This year proved to be no different with more than 500 folks in attendance! I saw many familiar faces from years past along with lots of new people, especially youth shooters. I might add that these youngsters put quite a few of us so called ‘Hot Shots’ in our places this past week. This is what the VHA is all about. It is much more than trying to bust 18 balloons or becoming “Mr. Coyote”. The VHA is truly a family affair that revolves around passing the torch from one generation to the next, in hopes of keeping our shooting heritage alive and strong.

With the exception of scattered storms on Wednesday and high winds on Friday, the shootout went very well. Temperatures were cooler than normal and the competition was fierce in all classes. Even with the shaky economy and reloading component shortage, there were a record number of shooters in attendance!

Thanks to all of you who came by and saw Sinclair and Brownells on “Varmint Vendor Row”. The usual cast of characters was present along with some new faces this year. Jim Kelbly of Kelbly’s, Inc. was on hand as well as Don Lahr from Precision Bullets, LLC and A.J.Goddard who presented his new line of custom actions.

We all have to take our hats off once again to Gordy Gritters for performing admirably as range master and give special thanks to all the kids on the balloon and target crew who do such a fantastic job. Also, without the endless hours of work from the VHA Staff, none of this would be possible!

The 600 yard I.B.S. State Finals and Jamboree Banquet on Friday marked the conclusion of a great week of shooting, seeing old friends, and making new ones! As the cloud of dust leaves Pierre, South Dakota for the 15th time, I am proud to be a Life Member of such a wonderful organization and am already looking forward to next year.

Thanks to All !

Rod Green

Technical Staff – Sinclair International

Life Member #107 VHA.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Sinclair News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.