4-H web address is bcss4h.org
Project Completion and Judging Guidelines
Butler County, Ohio
*** Projects that fall under the Shooting Sports Disciplines can only be taken under the instruction of a state certified 4-H instructor. These projects include 750 Rifle, 751 Archery, 752 Shotgun, 753 Pistol, 754 Hunting and Wildlife, 755 Muzzle Loading, and 756 Living History.***
750 Rifle: To complete the rifle project the members must complete the basic requirements of the Member Record Book. This includes setting goals and reviewing them at completion and keeping a log of shooting activities and scores. They must demonstrate basic knowledge of the firearms and the safety guidelines to be followed. They must also have participated in at least six weeks of instruction taught by a state certified 4-H rifle instructor. County judging for rifle and pistol will consist of the completed project book, the written test score and the scores of targets specifically shot for fair judging at the county indoor match. Written test will be given during the county match (see below). Member Record Books must be signed by a state certified 4-H rifle instructor and are to be turned in at the match registration. Placing will be based on 40% Match Scores, 40% Written Test, 20% Record book completion, Report & Leadership/Citizenship.
Butler County Rifle Match
Indoor Range (50 ft) – Butler County Sportsmen’s Club Preparation time is 5:30 PM (you will register for one of the two weeks)
Rules:
- Must bring Member Record Book that has been signed by your certified instructor
- Must bring signed permission slip
- Rifle will be shot from the prone position
- Shooting jackets and gloves are allowed and will be provided if wanted
- Any 22 rimfire rifle with iron sights (no scopes or red dot or holographic sights allowed)
- Entry fee is $1 per competitor (to cover ammunition and target cost)
- 22 long rifle standard velocity ammunition will be provided and must be used during the match. Outside ammunition is not allowed.
- If any competitor wishes a rifle can be provided for him/her, but privately owned rifles or rifles owned by another club are allowed, as long as they are safe and conform to the rules for caliber and sights
- All rifles must be loaded as single shot regardless of action type or magazine capacity
- Up to five warm-up shots will be allowed on a practice target
- Standard NRA fifty-foot targets will be provided
- Two targets will be fired slow fire, five shots each, ten minutes allowed per target
- Targets will be scored using clear overlays centered on the group to eliminate the need to sight-in
- Targets will be scored anonymously, competitors will be given a number and the targets will be
- scored without any name or club being associated with the target
Age groups (based on age on January 1st)
- Beginner (10 and under and must not have won the beginner category in the past),
- Junior (under 14)
- Senior (14 and over)
753 Pistol: To complete the pistol project the members must complete the basic requirements of the Member Record Book. This includes setting goals and reviewing them at completion and keeping a log of shooting activities and scores. They must demonstrate basic knowledge of the firearms and the safety guidelines to be followed. They must also have participated in at least four weeks of instruction taught by a state certified 4-H Pistol instructor. County judging for pistol will consist of the completed record book, the written test score and the scores of targets specifically shot for fair judging at the county indoor match. Written test will be given during the county match (see below). Member Record Books are to be turned in at the match registration. Placing will be based on 40% Match Scores, 40% Written Test, 20% Record book completion, Report & Leadership/Citizenship.
Butler County Pistol Match
Indoor Range (50 ft) – Butler County Sportsmen’s Club Preparation time is 8:30 PM (you will sign up for one of the two weeks)
Rules:
- Must bring Member Record Book that has been signed by your certified instructor
- Must bring signed permission slip
- Must be at least 12 years of age on January 1
- Pistol will be shot two handed from the standing position
- Any 22 rimfire pistol with iron sights (no scopes or red dot or holographic sights allowed)
- Entry fee is $1 per competitor (to cover ammunition and target cost)
- 22 long rifle standard velocity ammunition will be provided and must be used during the match.
- Outside ammunition is not allowed.
- If any competitor wishes a pistol can be provided for him/her, but privately owned pistols or pistols owned by another club are allowed, as long as they are safe and conform to the rules for caliber and sights
- Up to five warm-up shots will be allowed on a practice target
- Standard NRA slow-fire fifty-foot targets will be provided
- One targets will be fired slow fire, ten shots in the target, ten minutes allowed per target
- Targets will be scored using clear overlays centered on the group to eliminate the need to sight-in
- Targets will be scored anonymously, competitors will be given a number and the targets will be scored without any name or club being associated with the target
Age groups are 4-H Junior and Senior
751 Archery: To complete the archery project the members must complete the basic requirement of the archery Member Record Book. This includes setting goals and reviewing them at completion and keeping a log of archery shooting activities and scores. They must demonstrate basic knowledge of archery and the safety guidelines to be followed. They must also have participated in at least four weeks of archery instruction taught by a state certified 4-H instructor. County judging for archery will consist of the completed Member Record Book, the written test score and the scores of targets specifically shot during county outdoor match (see below). Written test will be given during the county archery match. Project books are to be turned in at the match registration. Placing will be based on 40% Match Scores, 40% Written Test, 20% Record book completion, Report & Leadership/Citizenship.
Archery Match
Archery Range – TBD
Preparation time is TBD
(note: match details are currently being reviewed to possibly include compound bows. Final determination will be made by April 1st)
Rules:
- Must bring Member Record Book that has been signed by your certified instructor
- Must bring signed permission slip
- Straight or Recurve bows may be used
- If any competitor wishes, a bow, arrows and safety equipment will be provided for him/her
- Privately owned bows or bows owned by another club are allowed as long as they inspected and determined by the range officer to be safe
- Archers will shoot at (B-6) slow fire pistol targets to allow ease of scoring
- Juniors will shoot at 30 ft and Seniors will shoot at 50 ft.
- Archers will shoot 4 practice arrows, just prior to shooting their match arrows
- They will shoot 4 arrows per target for a total of 40 possible points per target
- They will shoot 4 ends (4 sets of 4 arrows) for a total of 160 possible points
- Ties will be broken by the number of X rings
- Instinctive style or sight may be used (any type of sight)
- All competitors must wear eye protection, arm guards, and shooting glove or finger tab
- Arrows will be aluminum only (no carbon or composite material, nor arrows made of a combination or aluminum and carbon. (This is due to the slivers and shards usually present on damaged carbon and composite arrows).
- No mechanical releases will be allowed
752 Shotgun: To complete the Shotgun project the members must complete the basic requirement of the Member Record book. This includes setting goals and reviewing them at completion and keeping a log of shotgun shooting activities and scores. They must demonstrate basic knowledge of shotgun and the safety guidelines to be followed. They must also have participated in at least four weeks of shotgun instruction taught by a state certified 4-H shotgun instructor. County judging for shotgun will consist of the completed member record book signed by the state certified 4-H Shotgun instructor, the written test score, and the scores shot during shotgun county shotgun match (see below). Written test will be given during the county match. Record books are to be turned in at the match registration. Placing will be based on 40% Match Scores, 40% Written Test, 20% Record book completion, Report & Leadership/Citizenship.
Shotgun Match
Trap Range – TBD
Preparation time is TBD
Rules:
- Two trap rounds of 25 targets will be shot from 16 yards
- If any competitor wishes a shotgun can be provided for him/her, but privately owned shotguns or shotguns owned by another club are allowed, as long as they are determined safe by the range officer and conform to the rules for gauge
- Commercially-loaded 12 gauge and 20 gauge ammunition will be provided at club cost (TBD).
- There is an additional charge of $0.05 per target for clay targets.
- Up to five warm-up shots will be allowed.
- American Trap Association rules will apply
Skeet: County Awards will be given in skeet based on High Score shot throughout the season. Skeet is available at the Middletown Sportsmens Club under the direction of the Middletown Sportsmens 4-H Club. For more information, contact your Shotgun Instructor.
To be eligible to participate, you must be signed up for the 752: Shotgun Project by April 1st and be actively shooting under the instruction of a 4-H certified Shotgun instructor. You must have a completed permission slip with you when you participate Shotgun used must be capable of firing two (2) shells without reloading (a round of skeet has four doubles). A semi-automatic or double barrel is recommended but some use Pump action. A member must shoot at least one round of sheet, with a “Shotgun” certified 4-H shooting sports instructor and he or she must sign the scorecard. Only the shooters highest score will be entered.
755 Muzzleloading: To complete the Muzzloading project the members must complete the basic requirement of the Member Record book. This includes setting goals and reviewing them at completion and keeping a log of shooting activities and firearms used. Score are optional for muzzleloading. Members must demonstrate basic knowledge of black powder firearms and equipment and the safety guidelines to be followed. They must also have participated in at least four weeks of muzzleloading instruction taught by a state certified 4-H Muzzle Loading instructor. County judging for muzzleloading will consist of the completed Member Record book signed by your state certified 4-H Muzzle loading instructor, the written test score, and knowledge of the firearms and safety. Written test will be given at the Butler County Sportsmens Club on (TBD) at 2:30 PM. Test can be taken ahead of time if requested. Member Record books are to be turned in when taking the written test. Placing will be based on 80% Written Test, 20% Record book completion, Report & Leadership/Citizenship.
754 Hunting and Wildlife: To complete the hunting and wildlife project the member must complete the basic requirements of the Member Record book. This includes setting goals and reviewing them at completion and keeping a log of all hunting and wildlife activities participated in throughout the year. They must have participated in four weeks of related activities taught by a state certified Hunting and Wildlife instructor. County judging for hunting and wildlife will consist of the completed member record book including a report on a hunting or wildlife topic of choice, a related scrapbook or poster, and an interview to discuss your goals and objectives as stated in your Member Record Book. Interview will take place on TBD at the Butler County Sportsmen’s Club. Please contact your instructor for specific times. Member Record book and related material must be turned in at that time.
756 Living History: To complete the living history project, members must complete the minimum number of activities specified in the project book each year. Different activities can be completed each year as it is designed to be a multi-year project. A basic persona should be developed the first year. A scrap book of activities should also be kept and presented at judging. Persona specific attire is recommended and should be worn at Judging. Firearms, though they may be persona specific, are not allowed on the fairgrounds, therefore, cannot be taken to judging. County judging will be based on the goals set and achieved each year, the completion of the project book (signed by a certified living history instructor), poster and interview. Living History is judged at the fairgrounds during special interest judging on TBD at the Butler County Fairground. Specific times will be given out closer to judging.
Additional Notes:
1. 4-H Members must be registered for the specific discipline by April 1st in order to compete in county judging for that discipline.
2. Range rules will be posted at all 4-H Shooting Sports Activities including county matches and the rules must be adhered to by all members and guests.
3. Proper safety equipment and attire should be worn at all 4-H Shooting Sports Activities including county matches.
4. Safety is key at all 4-H Shooting Sports Activities. Any member acting in an unsafe manner at a county match will be asked to leave immediately. This member will not be allowed to shoot and will be disqualified.
5. The top junior and top senior in each discipline will be eligible to go to state. You can only compete in one discipline at state fair. Skeet is not a state project and is only awarded at county level. While we may add a beginner category in several disciplines, those in the beginning category are not eligible to go to state.
6. State competition is based on your Member Record Book, a poster or tri-fold, and an interview. It takes place in Columbus at the state fair.
7. Member Record Books can be used multiple years for county judging, but new goals should be created and reviewed; new learning plan should be created, new report should be written; and logs should be continued. These can be done on additional sheets of paper and stapled into your book or added into a binder.
8. If you are eligible to compete as a beginner but choose instead to compete as a junior, you must notify the officials when you register at the county matches.