On target: Paul Schefferle at one of Eagle Park’s shooting stations with the range in the background.
By John Van Klaveren
EAGLE Park shooting range is a far cry from the cowboys and Indians games kids used to play in the backyard.
The cowboys have grown up and can create an OK Corral themed range for themselves.
That’s just one of the shooting clubs accommodated at the Little River range, owned and operated by Sporting Shooters Association of Australia.
The cowboy range features single-action shooting, in which contestants compete with firearms typical of the guns used in the taming of the Old West.
The shooting competition is staged in the attire of a typical cowboy.
It’s a timed sport, with shooters competing for prestige on a course of different shooting stages.
Each scenario or stage features an array of situations – many based on famous events or from movie scenes – where shooters must test their mettle against steel targets.
Eagle Park manager Paul Schefferle said the entire range covered 160 hectares backing onto You Yangs.
Police regularly trained at the pistol range for training, which closed for undercover officers.
Paul said Eagle Park also featured a big-game, clay target and rifle ranges.
Victorian Muzzle Loading Club ran competitions at Eagle Park for all black powder original and reproduction firearms such as muskets.
“The sport (shooting) is going gangbusters at the moment but we don’t quite understand why,” Paul admitted.
“We have an excellent junior program and as a result we have a number of mums and dads saying they’d like to have a go, so some of the growth comes through that way.”
Paul said the junior programs were a great way to emphasise responsible gun use as young people were introduced to the sport of shooting.
The association had 140,000 members nationally participating at various ranges around the country, he said.
But Eagle Park facility was the “jewel in the crown”.
Paul said the rifle range’s 100 stations were usually full on weekends.
The association was building a new range next to extend capacity.
Top shooters could hit a fly-sized target over the existing range’s 500 metres, Paul said.
“Some of the top equipment now includes a small computer that helps the shooter calculate distance, wind, fall and other factors affecting accuracy,” he explained.
The range works with Leopold Wildlife Rescue Centre as a destination for releasing recuperated animals.
“We’re proactive when it comes to environmental concerns,” Paul said.
Hunting and conservation groups allowed qualified shooters to use their skills to assist in the conservation of native fauna and flora through the management of feral and other pest species.
Paul said more information on Eagle Park was available at ssaa.org.au.
