Local 4-H Shooters continue to win big.

Pictured are, from left, Intermediate shooter Vandan Pezzullo, Junior, shooter Jonas Eloranta,and Senior shooter, Club President, Alexander Erickson.  

SAGOLA - Four members of the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club youth program (Big Shooters) recently competed at the 2023 Shawano Summer Shoot on July 8 and 9. This was their first time attending this annual shoot and many of the events were new to the Big Shooters members. All of the archery events were held on July 8 and all of the rifle/pistol/shotgun events were held on July 9. 
On July 8, Jonas Eloranta was the only member to participate in any of the archery events. Representing Florence County 4-H, Jonas took 4th place in 3D Animal Archery. Jonas also took home first place in the Air Rifle junior event. In the Wildlife junior event Jonas earned top honors. This is the highest anyone of the Big Shooters club has ever ranked in this event. In the Animal team (youth-adult) event Jonas also took home first place with his father Tyler Eloranta joining him for that event. 
On July 9, in the “powder burning” events the other three members of the Big Shooters club joined in the fun. Gavin Ollila earned second place in the Air Rifle junior event. Gavin also competed in the Air Rifle Plinker event and earned top honors in that event. 
Intermediate shooter Vandan Pezzullo, representing Florence county 4-H, competed in four events. Vandan earned second place in both the .22 Sporter Rifle and .22 Pistol events. It was Vandan’s first time ever competing in any pistol event. Vandan did earn first place in .22 Rifle Silhouettes and .22 Rifle Unlimited. Vandan’s intermediate Silhouette scores from this event and the Brown County Shootout in June earned him top honors in the state of Wisconsin for 2023 in Rifle Silhouettes. 
The Big Shooters only Senior competitive shooter was, Club President, Alexander Erickson. Alexander entered into this competition representing Florence County 4-H. Alexander entered into four different shooting events. In .22 Sporter Rifle Alexander earned a third place medal. In his first time competing in a 4-H Pistol event Alexander brought home a second place medal. Alexander earned first place medals in .22 Rifle Unlimited and .22 Rifle Silhouettes. His scores from this event and previous scores at the Brown County Shootout in June earned him the state of Wisconsin championship for the 2023 Rifle Silhouette event. His latest silhouette score also set the record going back as far as 2018 for silhouette scores in Wisconsin 4-H. 
The Sagola Township Sportsmens Club Big Shooters Club meets the first Sunday of every month at the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club at 1 p.m. Participants start out as a gun safety program at first. Participants quickly move to the range and enjoy .22 lr rifle, .22 lr pistol, air rifle, BB gun, archery, shotgun and wildlife events. Members regularly compete in 4-H, CMP (Civilain Marksmanship Program), American Legion and other NRA (National Rifle Association) events. For more information about the Big Shooters Club please call Tony at 906-396-1119.