NOSA 2018 Activities or Events (New Ontario Shooters Association)

Here find details of the 2018 shooting activities and related events at NOSA, the family-friendly Thunder Bay rifle and pistol shooting club. Events or subjects are in approximate date order (usually based on the earliest date if an activity is spread out).

Photos here are by Banacek unless otherwise attributed. This page is also intended to show some of our members' 2018 photos in club and related activities in and about Thunder Bay, Ontario -- or wherever our members travel for competitions or sport. (See near bottom of this page.)

At the end of each calendar year, a particular year's activities and photos will still be available on its own NOSA page. For other years, see the top of the current Recent Activities webpage using the link at left.

Click on any individual images here to see a larger view.

NOSA Indoor Shooting at Arnone Range -- 20 Sep 2017 through 27 Apr 2018

The fall to spring indoor shooting schedule began at Arnone Range:
--- on Wednesday, 20 Sep 2017 for Junior Shooters;
--- on Friday, 22 Sep 2017 for Adult Shooters.

NOSA Gun Show in Thunder Bay -- Saturday and Sunday, 10 & 11 March 2018

This annual two-day NOSA Spring Gun Show featured the opportunity for the public to buy, sell, or trade: Guns, Knives, Ammunition, Collectors' Cartridges, Reloading Supplies, Optics, and Accessories. A Legion food concession was also on site.

Location: The Slovak Legion, 801 Atlantic Ave., Thunder Bay, Ontario P7C 2S7 Canada.

Show Hours for the Public:
Saturday 10 March -- 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday 11 March -- 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Admission for the Public was $5.00 each day, and free for those under 12 when accompanied by an adult. And this year we had a new record of 1354 paid admissions.

NOSA had an information display about our Club, and our activities promoting the shooting sports including our Junior Shooters Program. This show provides much of the annual funding for the Club to support the Juniors' Program.

The NOSA Adult Members and Junior Shooters very much appreciate the support of the vendors and exhibitors, whose participation was much more beneficial than just attending for sales purposes -- they enjoyed talking with and educating the public in their areas of expertise, and networking with both new and old friends. And we always appreciate the participation of the C.F.O. representative, Deb Bissonette, who puts a helpful and friendly face on this important agency.

Trevor B. did much of the organizational work and, with the assistance of Glenn H., kept everything on track during the show. Many other volunteers were vital to the success of this show including John A., Merv A., Dana C., Kristina P., Ron G., John Gi., Jodi H., George H., Victoria H. (who also organized the Junior Shooters' contingent, that provided great service to the public and to the vendors), Neil J., Verner K., Dave and Jo-Anne and Kayla L., Bob M., Chris R., Samantha R., John S., Gord S., and Li Y. [If I've left anyone out, please drop me an email.] Banacek took the accompanying photos.

Friday evening and Trevor B. is ready for us	Last bit of prep before vendors come	George H. checks Jeff B.'s book collection
Terry D. preps while Vinnie is planning	Friday evening and the tables go to sleep	Saturday and John S. chats with Joe C.
as Jim M. is finalizing his display	as Rick G. finishes last touches	Stan and Wayne are always here with us
Sarah and Jodi staffing the Fish&Game table	Gus is in from SS-Marie with nice stuff	Albert H. taking directions(?) from John A.
Deb Bissonette represents the CFO proudly	Susan and Wes love being at our shows	Wayne S. helps Joe C. with his tons of goodies
Spencer always has great books and neat stuff	Siri joins James at the Combat Club display	Terry sets prices very carefully
Len S. gives some useful pointers	Warren W. is a fount of knowledge	Yes, Jo-Anne, that pesky camera is back
The Aviation Centre has lots of goodies	Joe C. is usually smiling	It has been very busy all Saturday
These ladies have talent at their crafts	TBBC regulars are hanging around	Victoria H. and her Junior Shooter helpers
Sunday at the door: John, Glenn, Kristina, & Merv	Vern K. has made some neat camp/tent stoves	Tim Ross makes fabulous custom knives
Brian and John have some neat stuff	Gary runs Great Northern Gun Works	End of Show packing up begins
and work is synchronized in harmony	and our main 2018 Show is over now

NOSA Annual General Meeting -- Sunday, 18 March 2018

Location. NOSA's Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Slovak Legion, 801 Atlantic Ave., Thunder Bay. Refreshments were available.

This AGM's agenda included presentation of the annual budget and discussion of club business.

Most items discussed were routine follow-ons to normal annual club activities. There were however two notable discussions and conclusions about our regular shooting programs:

Junior Shooters Program will have a two phase enrollment starting in the fall of 2018. Those signing up by the cutoff date [yet to be announced] for September 2018 will have dues of $60 and participate until the end of April/May 2019. Those who are too late for that earlier phase may sign up for $30 for the portion from January to April/May 2019. In this way each group will experience full initial coaching attention for the beginning of their phase, as well as ongoing coaching commensurate with their needs and progress. More details will be announced well in advance of September.

Nolalu Range condition was discussed and several members elaborated on the maintenance issues affecting particularly Range 2 (100, 200, and 300 metres). Should the range fail the upcoming 2018 CFO inspection, or fail to meet NOSA's needs, alternate solutions will be examined.

NOSA Juniors Easter Shoot -- Wednesday, 28 March 2018

The Easter Shoot for Juniors took place on 28 March and Easter chocolates were awarded to all Junior participants.

Scores are a combined tally of Scored targets, Bingo Targets, and a Mystery target.

There was also an experiment with reactive targets which seemed to be a hit as well, however not included in the score.

NOSA Adult End of Season Indoor Shoot -- Friday, 20 April 2018

This annual shoot was the last adult indoor competition before summer, but informal shooting for adults continued up to 11 May inclusive.

Shoot Results, with first through third place:

CF Handgun Bullseye: George H., Tom S., Dave L.
RF Handgun Bullseye: Kendra P., Dave L., Tom S.
RF Handgun Bingo: Doug P., Dave L., Tom S.
RF Rifle Bullseye: Dave L., Doug P., Dana C.
RF Rifle Bingo: Dana C., Kendra P., Trevor B.

NOSA Juniors End of Season Indoor Shoot -- Wednesday, 25 April 2018

This fun evening for Juniors was the last formal event before summer break, but Junior shooting was also extended to include Wednesday, 02 May. Report and photos here by Victoria H.

Shoot Results, with first through third place:
Target Junior: Aiden 88, Rhys 80, Landon 67
Target Senior: Bryce 81, David 80, Heath 79
Bingo Junior: Bella 41, Landon 30, Ristin 29
Bingo Senior: Byron 46, Kolten 40, Reeghan/Bryce 35

NOSA Inaugural Nolalu Shoot -- Saturday, 26 May 2018

This shoot formally celebrated the beginning of another season shooting outdoors at Nolalu and started at 10:00 a.m. Despite a forecast of possible showers, the weather at Nolalu was warm and mostly sunny.

Shooting events were free to participate and included rimfire (RF) and centerfire (CF) handguns and rifles. There were prizes for first through third place in each event.

Our thanks to Trapper-John A. for organizing this event, and Warren W. for assisting him, and to all the good folks that participated.

Shooting Matches

Adults 25M CF handgun bullseye: Dana C., George H., Dave L.
Adults 25M .22RF handgun bullseye: George H., Dave L., Dana C.
Adults 25M .22RF handgun bingo: George H., Dana C., Barry W.
Adults 25M .22RF rifle bullseye: George H., Dana C., Chris R.

Adults 100M .22RF rifle 5-shot group: Dave L. 1 1/8", George H. 2 3/8", Don K. 2 3/4"
Adults 100M CF rifle 3-shot group: Dave L. 1 1/4", Chris R. 2 3/4", Don K. 2 7/8"

Some Range Days at Nolalu in 2018

A change in scheduling has affected some of the small group of NOSA members known as the Irregulars, and on 22 June they started shooting at Nolalu on Friday evenings instead of Thursdays. We have some photos of Jeff B. on the first evening providing a black powder smokescreen to ward off bugs. And yes he shot a very nice group.

Jeff B. inserts powder charge and ball

and takes aim with this flintlock

and produce a huge cloud of smoke

Kakabeka Falls Gun Show -- Saturday, 25 August 2018

This annual one day event was held by NOSA at the Kakabeka Falls Legion on Highway 11/17. A kitchen with delicious meals was run by Legion staff. Show Hours for the Public were 09:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

NOSA Volunteers set up the hall on Friday afternoon preparatory to the arrival of exhibitors, helped them set up, and performed general duties during the show on Saturday before helping pack up at end of day.

NOSA Volunteers participated under the capable leadership of Trevor B. and Glenn H. and included Merv A., Janice and Steve B., Dana C., Barry E., George and Victoria H., Bob and Cassidy J., Vern K., Dave and Kayla L., Bob M., and Warren W. (If there are other persons not mentioned here, please advise -- I had a table and could not observe all volunteer activities.)

NOSA had an information display at the show about the NOSA Club, and our activities promoting the shooting sports including our Junior Shooters Program, and Juniors helped Victoria and Dana staff this table.

The weather cooperated and we had very good attendance. And yes, we all had a great time, just like always. Following are some pix by Banacek.

Friday starts show prep for tomorrow	Bob and Don during more planning	Volunteers and vendors with purpose
Still lots more tables to fill	Warren & Barry chat with Trapper-John	Tim R. forges some wicked beauties
Saturday and it's now opening	Gary's table attracts early attention	Dave L. checks in with the NOSA table
Our lovely staff: Victoria, Cassidy and Kayla	Displays and food both get attention	Wes imparts knowledge and humour
Jamie explains her taxidermy examples	Gord and Fred in matching red garb	Everyone is packing up at show's end
Susan demo's how strong our wives are!

Moose (or Deer) Sight-In Session at TB Fish & Game -- Sunday, 16 Sep 2018

This annual service for the public was jointly hosted in 2018 by NOSA and TB Fish & Game on Sunday 16 September at the F & G Range from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

As can be seen from the photos, many of the usual volunteers from NOSA and F & G helped hunters with their scope and iron sight adjustments to get squarely on target. Most hunters started at 25 yards for an initial rough sight adjustment, that was then fine tuned on the 100 yard range.

Weather was a bit strange this morning with heavy fog persisting throughout the day; the strange part was a fairly strong breeze that normally should dissipate a fog but in this case made it heavier until about noon when it stabilized. Nevertheless targets even at 100 yards were visible well enough to achieve a good zeroing of sights.

Our thanks to the volunteers from both clubs that provided this important service to area hunters to improve their skills and contribute to a more humane and successful hunt.

Dave, Vern, Trevor & Dana final prep	Trevor spots hits for a hunter	while Dana helps another at 25 yards
and then spots his target hits	Doug provides adjustment & advice	A short break to discuss procedures
Dale directs 100 yard positions	Dana notices the camera and laughs	while Ian gets serious with .45-70
A young lady enjoyed her shooting too	Dave practicing a retirement pose ???

NOSA Indoor Shooting at Arnone Range -- 19 Sep 2018 through 26 Apr 2019

The fall to spring indoor shooting schedule began at Arnone Range:
--- on Wednesday, 19 Sep 2018 for Junior Shooters;
--- on Friday, 21 Sep 2018 for Adult Shooters.

NOSA Club Appreciation Shoot and BBQ at Nolalu Range -- Sunday, 30 Sep 2018

This shoot for all NOSA club members, including Junior Shooters and young family members, began at 10:00 a.m with shooting events organized and scored by Trapper-John A., and there was a delicious BBQ at lunch time prepared by our master cook, Bob M. Food and beverages were provided free by NOSA.

This annual event was in appreciation of the volunteerism and support shown by all members, whether at special events or just in the day to day help provided to others.

Shooting events were free to participate, and included rimfire (RF) and centerfire (CF) handguns and rifles. [Black Powder firearms are allowed in the outdoor centerfire events, but none turned up this year.]

Fall weather for this event can be unpredictable, but this year it was quite sunny and pleasant. Some photos by Banacek follow the match results.

Shooting Matches with 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Winners

25M Centerfire handgun bullseye: Dana C., George H., Dave L.
25M .22RF handgun bullseye: Wray C., Dana C., George H.
25M .22RF handgun bingo: Dave L., Dana C., Wray C.
25M .22RF rifle 5 bulls: Jordan R., Trevor B., Dana C.
100M .22RF rifle 5-shot group: George H. 1 7/8", Dave L. 2 1/8", Samantha R. 2 1/2"
100M Centerfire rifle 3-shot group: Dave L. 3/4", George H. 1 3/16", Trevor B. 1 1/2"

Trevor finds Rugers do shoot better	George has been practicing for days	and is now joined by Dave
Mike and Trevor discussing hardware	Trapper-John carefully scoring	Samantha and Wray shooting
Dana chats with Bob at BBQ	Jordan shows intense concentration	George now shoots Ruger Blackhawk
Victoria looks concerned; Dave smiles	Food brings NOSA Execs together	Samantha with Nylon 66 and Chris assists
Dana shoots a vintage Medallist	Ooooh! 2 BSA .22 Martinis!	Bill K. is firing a BSA Martini

Junior Shooters Halloween Shoot -- Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Our Halloween fun shoot was on November 7th to allow the juniors to trick or treat at home on October 31st.

Costumes were allowed and encouraged so long as they did not interfere with the safe use of firearms. Yes a good time was had by all.

Fun Shoot:
Seniors: Jordan 61, Kolten 57, Mliss 52.
Juniors: Callia 71, Rhys 61, Ristin 54.

Scored Target:
Seniors: Ryan 74, 2nd had a shoot out between Jordan and Heath. Both initially shot 72. Jordan took 2nd and Heath took 3rd.
Juniors: Callia 81, Ben 78, 3rd had a shoot out between Rhys and Courage. Rhys took 3rd with 71 and Courage took 4th with 68.

Adult Fall Shoot at Arnone Range on Friday, 9 November 2018

There were three handgun shoots with targets provided for free: one for centerfire bullseye, one for rimfire bullseye, and one for rimfire bingo.

In order to encourage participation, there were more fine prizes than just first through third place.

Shooting Matches with 1st through 6th Place Winners

25M Centerfire handgun bullseye: Tom S., Bob J., Dana C., Don K., Dave L., Wray C.
25M .22RF handgun bullseye: Dana C., Tom S., Bill K., Bob J., George H., Don K.
25M .22RF handgun bingo: Chris R., Bill K., Ron W., Wray C., Dana C., Bob J.

Juniors Learn About Trapping -- Wednesday, 28 November 2018

On this evening Katie Ball of Silver Cedar Studios spoke to our Juniors about trapping. She brought along some beautiful examples of furs from various species that were handled and admired by our members. Victoria H. took these photos.

NOSA Adult Christmas Indoor Shoot -- Friday, 14 Dec 2018

This annual December holiday season shoot run by Trapper-John A. included events for CF handguns, .22 RF handguns, and .22 RF rifles. One specified target (free) was provided for each competition category entered.

The main category prizes included hams and turkeys. Mystery Prizes were gift packs of sausages. Shooters at all skill levels had a chance to win, and today it turned out that everyone who shot did win a prize.

Shoot Results, with first through third place and mystery:

CF Handgun Bullseye: Dave O., Dana C., Wray C., Bob M.
RF Handgun Bullseye: Dave L., Dana C., Ron W., Mike H.
RF Handgun Bingo: Trevor B., Dave O., Warren W., Arja P.
RF Rifle Bullseye: Victoria H., George H., Mark W., Brad G.
RF Rifle Bingo: Dave O., Phil W., Wray C., Samantha R.
Appreciation Prizes: Mark W., Trevor B., Jordan R.

NOSA Juniors Christmas Shoot -- Wednesday, 19 Dec 2018

This annual December holiday season shoot at Arnone Range focused on the skills the juniors have learned over the fall term.

Shooting results in order of first through third place follow:
Junior: Callia, Risitin, Rhys.
Senior: Heath, Jordan, Kolton.

NOSA Members' Adventures and Hunts -- 2018

Our members are encouraged to submit their 2018 pix, including memorable wildlife photographs. Thank you all.

Bob M. started crossbow hunting this year and used a ground blind to take a Whitetail Deer.

Dave O. took a magnificent Whitetail Buck this fall in a heavy brush area where 45 yards would be about the longest possible shot. His full story is in the Member Ramblings section (link at left side of this page).

Samantha D-R filmed this Whitetail Buck	as well as this very fine Doe
Bob M.'s blind is located near a point	and a Whitetail got too close to his crossbow
Dave O. took a magnificent Whitetail Buck	in November 2018 in fairly heavy brush

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New Ontario Shooters Association (NOSA)2018 Activities or Events and Pictures