President's Newsletter

June 2026

The beginning of summer is on its way, and after a windy spring things are heating up.

Heads up folks. Idaho and Eastern Oregon are heading into a potentially dangerous fire season I’m afraid. The Vale Range has a heavy cheatgrass crop this year due to some timely spring rains. It’s drying out fast, and with no cattle moved in yet, the fire risk is high. Please avoid shooting steel targets in the grassy areas. We put a lot of work and money into keeping the berms clean and weed free for hot bullet impact and possible sparks from steel targets. To further protect the ranges, there are no explosive targets allowed and PLEASE don’t smoke outside of your vehicle during the high and extreme fire seasons.

Check out the new Special Events tab on our website. It will have upcoming events added through the year —not just at our ranges but nearby ones too. Got a match or event? Let any board member know, and we’ll see if it qualifies and get it posted. Don’t forget to check the calendar before you head out - there’s stuff happening every month. And remember, Vale has more than just the big range - feel free to explore.

On a serious note, we have had three sightings of baby rattlesnakes around the big range this spring. That tells us we have a den somewhere on the property and most folks in our area know how dangerous a baby rattler is. They can’t rattle but they do bite and are just as poisonous. Keep this in mind if you have small children out there.

Vale Range

We’ve replaced the doors on the old scoring shed and slapped on a fresh coat of paint. A new metal roof is coming soon too. A huge thanks to the members who have stepped in to help us maintain our facilities. The labor was donated for the new paint job and we even got the roof and metal donated as well. These donations and volunteers keep the costs down for everyone. Have you priced a gallon of paint lately? Good grief!!! Because of these savings, we are working on putting up some permanent AR500 targets at 200, 300, 400, and 500 meters. It’s an expensive project so be patient. It may have to be done in phases. Just bring your own paint to touch them up. Our high power rifles really ding up soft steel fast.

Kerry ran a tough 300-yard double match in May with plenty of wind and mirage to really test everyone. Here are those results:

Group Match

Chris Johnson 1st

Shane Compton 2nd

Dave Schrum 3rd

Score Match

Dave Schrum 1st

Dave Bingner 2nd

Bruce Forsyth 3rd

Judy held her practical pistol match in May. Below is what I received from her:

“Congratulations to our winner today..Lynn Sorenson!!! Tell came in 2nd with Jim T a close 3rd!! Just a bunch of great shooting from everyone today. Our next pistol match will be June 27th and will try for PCC on the 28th, we need at least 8 Shooters to make that match work.”

I held our first 100-yard .22 rimfire benchrest match. That was a struggle for me but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think I’ll stick to 50 yards until I get a better scope. Here are the results from that shoot:

Open Gun:

Carrie Stanley 1st

Kerry Kegal 2nd

Dennis Stanley 3rd

Factory Varmint:

Casey Cleaver 1st

Mac Christofferson 2nd

Factory:

Chuck Otte 1st

Dan Hatfield 2nd

Cherry Hatfield 3rd

Brian held the High Power match in May: Results are as follows:

Shane Parker 776/15X

Rick Cram 755/20X

Sheb Powell 763/25X

Brian Eldredge 716/14X

Brian Zanotelli 724/16X

Ron Zimmerman 772/19X

Ontario Range

Curtis has been busy running matches on the sporting clays range. He is expanding the course and improving safety so we can run all three disciplines at once. If you have the time and energy, he is always looking for help during matches and setting courses.

Pat has been out of town, so not much news on the skeet fields. They seem to be getting some use however.

John is still running his trap program for the adults and youth. This is mostly practice so I have no results from any matches.

One other quick note, Howard would like to remind everyone that the registered name of our club is Snake River Sportsmen Inc, not sportsman. It really trips his set trigger when I use the wrong name. (I might do it intentionally once in a while.) We have had some issues with this in the past so he thought I should mention it.

Have a safe summer and enjoy your membership. Remember to thank the many volunteers and the people who run matches . We wouldn’t have a safe place to shoot without them.

See you on the range.

Bob Smith

President, Snake River Sportsmen