The Chinook Rod and Gun Club will be holding a Fall Meat Shoot Fundraiser on September 23. The purpose of the Shoot is to raise funds for the installation of overhead lights at the Trap Range and new Archery Range.

With gates opening at noon and shooting slated to begin at 1:00 p.m., the event will take place at the Club Range located four and a half miles south on Clear Creek Road in Chinook. Everyone is welcome to participate.

About the activity, a Board Member for the Club, Joe Kennedy said: “This is no turkey shoot because we don’t have any poultry. The event will continue until we are out of meat or shoulders are too sore to shoot.”

The Club encourages youth shooters with a parent or guardian to participate. “Never shot trap before? Come give it a try,” another member invited.

Kennedy went on to explain that the meat shoot features what are called money birds. “So if you buy into the money bird pot, which is a $5 buy in, there are colored clay pigeons, other than the normal orange color, that come out of the machine randomly. And if you hit that bird, it counts towards your score for that round, but you also win the money prize.”

The amount of the money bird will not only depend on color but on the number of participants in the Shoot. There will be $5, $10, and $20 money birds, and contingent on the number of marksmen and women in the Meat Shoot, the competition may also feature a few fifty dollar money birds

“It’s our first time ever doing a meat shoot, so we don’t know how long it will go. But if the Meat Shoot does go later into the evening, I do have a board member that said he would donate sausage dogs for a barbecue,” Kennedy reported.

The Rod and Gun Club wishes to thank their generous meat donors: Joe and Amanda Reed, Skoyen Ag, 3 Bar H Ranch, Nissen Angus, and Shane Fox. “In each round of shooting, five people will go up against each other, and the winner of the round receives a meat bundle from one of these sponsors,” Kennedy explained.

A portion of a $16,605 cash award from the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Shooting Range Grant Program will be paying for the installation of overhead lights at the shooting range, so future Meat Shoots will have the ability to continue into the twilight hours; whereas, this first one will likely be brought to a conclusion as dark settles in. Kennedy suggested there may be a slim chance that the light installation will be completed prior to the meat shoot fundraiser on Saturday, September 23.

Individuals with questions regarding this event are encouraged to call Kennedy at 406-879-9280 or Eric Billmayer: 406-654-7755.