Policies

All Instructors using The Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club facilities shall be members of the ChickOwa in good standing, for a minimum of 2 year, and be preapproved by the Board of Directors. Instructors shall preschedule their classes at least one month in advance. Only one range will be available per day for instructor use. Instructors are limited to one Saturday per month using the clubhouse and one time slot on the range to provide equal opportunity for all, additional time slots on the range will be available pending preference of the instructor scheduled. Weekdays are available on a first come first served basis.

When scheduling the instructor will provide the following information:

• Instructors name
• Contact information
• Date and time
• Time slot needed on the range
• Using the clubhouse?

In addition to the above all Instructors shall file with The Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club:

• A personal release of liability and have all students sign a release of liability, provided by the Club.
• Provide proof of insurance showing Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club as an additionally insured. Required values: General Aggregate $2,000,000.00, Products-completed operations aggregate $1,000,000.00, Personal injury & advertising injury $1,000,000.00, each occurrence $1,000,000.00, Damage to premises $50,000.00 any one premises and Medical expense $5,000.00 any one person stat. 

Fees:

• As of January 2017: Range fee $15.00 + a Building fee of $5.00 if using the clubhouse per student.
• Chick-Owa members w/paid range are exempt from range and building fees and shall receive a discount accordingly.

The Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club reserves the right to have a Board member or a designated Range Safety Officer (RSO) on site during any usage of the Club premises. The Chick-Owa Board member or RSO may terminate any training activity that is deemed unsafe, or unfit, for our facility.

The Board of Directors of The Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club reserves the right to add, modify, or eliminate any or all policy.

To ensure that our Rifle/Pistol ranges remain SAFE, please be aware of these safety rules.

An authorized Range Safety Officer must be present to use the Rifle/Pistol ranges.

(members who have completed the annual range qualification are exempt from this rule)

• Alcoholic beverages and drugs may not be consumed prior to or during shooting.
• (this includes prescription and over the counter drugs that affect the judgment of the shooter)
• Always Keep the Gun Pointed in a Safe Direction
• Always Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger Until You are Ready to Shoot
• Always Keep the Gun Unloaded Until Ready to Use
• Hearing protection is required within 100ft of firing line when range is “Hot”.
• Eye protection is required on the firing line when range is “Hot”.
• Know where others are at all times.
• All firearms must be unloaded and have safety on, action open (an empty chamber indicator is recommended), magazines removed and/or empty, and grounded or benched before a range is called “Cold”.
• Do Not handle any firearm or stand at the firing line where firearms are present while others are down range.
• Shoot only at authorized Targets.
• Maintain the proper target height (ground level targets are not authorized).
• Know your target and what is beyond it.
• Be sure your firearm is safe to operate.
• Use only the correct ammunition (no jacketed bullets may be used on steel targets).
• No more than 5 cartridges in your firearm at a time without permission from an authorized Range Safety Officer on duty.
• Store all firearms so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons.
• All persons using the ranges are required to clean up after themselves (this includes removing used targets and picking up spent ammunition & boxes).

In addition to the specific rules of the Rifle/Pistol and Trap Ranges the following rules apply to the use of Muzzle Loading Firearms.

• No Smoking within 25’ of a loading bench or the firing line.
• A loading bench located at least 5’ behind the firing line will be used for loading the main charge (absolutely no powder on the firing line other than priming powder for a flintlock).
• Exception: this rule does not apply during a woods walk type shoot.
• Firearms will be carried between the loading bench and firing line with the muzzle above the shooters head and pointed directly up. (Exception: pistol shooters need not keep the muzzle above the shooters head.)
• During a “cold” range and when someone is down range to post or retrieve targets all firearms on the firing line will be positioned safely and not touched. Rifles and/or shotguns must be placed with the butt on the ground with the barrel pointed up and leaned against the loading bench; pistols will be placed on the loading bench with the barrel pointed muzzle up.
• After the range is called “hot” shooters may cap/prime only on the firing line or a designated area with the muzzle pointed down range. (Do Not cap/prime at the loading bench)
• Extreme caution must be used for clearing misfires, including reasonable care to inform neighboring shooters. The use of a CO2 ball discharger is highly recommended.
• Only black powder or a BATF approved black powder substitute may be used.
• A separate powder measure or holder will be used to carry the powder charge from container to the muzzle of the gun. Charging directly from a horn or flask is unsafe and is not permitted.
• There will not be any containers of powder left open on the firing line or loading bench.

The following rules apply to shooting steel targets:

• Steel targets are allowed only on the 100yd, 50yd and 25yd ranges (absolutely no steel targets on the 10yd ranges).
• All targets to be placed within 3-4 feet of the berm, this means no more than 1 foot in front of the target backers.
• Place targets so there is no damage to the target backers, especially the post.
• All shooting must be done in the direction of the north berms, no shooting to the side. The exception is on the 50yd range under supervision of a qualified instructor or range officer.
• No fall back or tumbling targets are allowed.
• You may only use commercially manufactured targets used according to manufactures instructions as to caliber and distance. (for safety reasons 15yards is the minimum distance to shoot steel)
• Targets should be mounted with the face angled down toward the ground at a 10-20 degree angle from vertical.
• Any member or their guest that break any of these rules, that member shall be brought before the board of directors for disciplinary action.

To ensure that our Trap range remains SAFE, please be aware of these safety rules.

An authorized Range Safety Officer must be present to use Trap range.

• Alcoholic beverages and drugs may not be consumed prior to or during shooting.
• (this includes prescription and over the counter drugs that affect the judgment of the shooter)
• Always Keep the Gun Pointed in a Safe Direction
• Always Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger Until you are Ready to Shoot
• Always Keep the Gun Unloaded Until Ready to Use
• Hearing protection is required within 100ft of firing line when range is “Hot”.
• Eye protection is required on the firing line when range is “Hot”.
• Know where others are at all times.
• All firearms must be unloaded and have safety on and action open when not on the firing line. (Hinge action guns may be closed when placed in the gun rack)
• Only target loads are allowed. Approved shot sizes allowed are 7 1/2, 8 and 9.
• Do not put a shell in your gun until you are at your station and ready to shoot.
• Put only one shell in your gun at a time except when match rules call for it.
•  Do not close action until it is your turn to shoot.
• When moving from station to station your gun must be unloaded and action open.
• Do not pick up empty hulls until the end of the round.
• All persons using the range are required to clean up after themselves (this includes picking up spent ammunition & boxes).

To ensure that our archery ranges remain SAFE, please be aware of these safety rules.

An authorized Range Safety Officer must be present to use archery ranges.

(members who have completed the annual range qualification are exempt from this rule)

• Alcoholic beverages and drugs may not be consumed prior to or during shooting.
• (this includes prescription drugs that affect the judgment of the shooter)
• Do not nock an arrow until everyone is behind the firing line.
• Bows may only be drawn pointing down range toward target, absolutely no “sky-drawing”.
• Before firing an arrow, make sure the area behind the target is clear of any living creatures or objects that could endanger participants.
• Wait until all arrows have been shot before going down range to pull arrows.
• Treat a bow and arrow with as much respect as a firearm.
• If you must look for a lost arrow, place your bow in front of the target so others will know you are behind the target.
• Broad heads may only be shot at targets designed for such use.
• Crossbows may be used with the same restrictions.
• Be considerate of other shooters. Practice good sportsmanship and use common sense.
• All persons using the ranges are required to clean up after themselves (this includes removing used targets).

Disciplinary action will be taken for inappropriate actions, willfully doing damage to club facilities, failure to follow posted range rules and any action that jeopardizes safety while at the Club. Also any action that reflects negatively on the Club by any member anywhere including but not limited to game violations.

At the time of an incident a verbal warning should be issued to resolve such actions immediately and a report submitted to the board of directors for review. If after the review of an incident report or a formal complaint the board of directors feel it is appropriate, a letter of reprimand shall be sent to the perpetrator and may or may not suspend membership and range access until such time said perpetrator appears before the board of directors to apologize and/or dispute the allegations. A second offence will result in the permanent revocation of membership and range access.  Any member shall automatically be dropped from the rolls of this organization if found guilty of willfully destroying club property or is convicted of a violation of the fish and game laws of this state.