Red Hawk Trap Club

Goal: $10,000.00

Specific Need

The Red Hawk Trap Club has been able to build it's own shooting range thanks to the donations to the Hiawatha Community Foundation. Keeping this range maintained and adding future improvements are the most current needs. We would like to add fencing to the range as well as lighting. Other improvements could be landscaping and parking improvements.

Our students need ammunition, targets, shooting supplies, League registration fees, and State Tournament expences.

Mission

The Red Hawk Trap Club belongs to the Kansas High School Clay Target League. This is the mission statement used by the League: The Kansas High School Clay Target League is a division of the USA Clay Target League – a non-profit corporation. The League is the independent provider of clay target shooting sports as an extracurricular co-ed and adaptive activity for high schools and students in grades 6 through 12. The League’s priority are safety, fun, and marksmanship – in that order.

Profile

The Hiawatha Red Hawk Trap Club was started the spring of 2018. It is for all 8th through 12th grade school students. The Club belongs to the Kansas State High School Clay Target League. Our trap club offers to students a sport that accommodates all skill levels and capabilities. Many students can get discouraged because they don’t have the skills for main stream sports. We are open for any student, girls or boys, and can even accommodate several disabilities. Everyone gets to participate and even have a chance to letter. With shooting sports becoming more popular, a group of interested Brown County Quail Forever Chapter committee members felt there was a need for a trap team in the high school. The idea was presented to the USD 415 school board and was approved to use the school name and follow the school’s sports guidelines for grades and attendance.

With startup money from the Chapter and local donations the Red Hawk Trap Club was formed. The first season started with 19 high school students. We still needed funds to buy ammo, vests, and targets. Many fundraiser events were held. A shotgun raffle. Busing tables at the Pizza Hut. And several others as well as donations from several businesses. Enough funds were raised to be able to buy ammo for the students to use when shooting for scores to be turned in to the Kansas State League. We were able to pay for all the targets that were needed for practice as well as League. Also the State League’s $35 fee was paid from money we collected. An enclosed trailer was purchased to help transport ammo and targets.

The Club used the old Hiawatha Airport for early season practices but had to travel to Falls City to shoot for their scores. This was done at the Southeast Nebraska Gun Club. Later in the season, around State Tournament, an Atlas clay target thrower was purchased to help the students practice.

Our coaching staff is made up of 6 very dedicated individuals with a lot of shooting experience. Several of the coaches have attended League training. NRA shooting certification. Wildlife and Parks training. We come from a lot of backgrounds and bring shooting skills and safe gun handling experience to the students.

In the fall of 2023 we proposed to the City of Hiawatha the plans to build a trap range located at the old rodeo grounds on city property adjacent to the city airport. This was unanamously approved and work began the spring of 2024. A wet spring delayed construction but summer sunshine and dedicated workers made the range take shape. Dirt work involved constructing a waterway to devert rainwater and also to raise the shooting lanes. Two trap houses were constructed. Two sixteen yard shooting lanes were added. A storage building was able to be placed next to a exsisting concrete pad. A new Atlas trap thrower was purchased for the second house as well as remote thrower controls.

The range was opened November 17th, 2024 with several city and school officals attending. Several students and locals were able to shoot that day. Our goal for a trap range was meet and the Red Hawk Trap Range was open.

Currently the Red Hawk Trap Club is open to students 8th thru 12th grade with 29 students participating. Future plans include opening the range for special events that we can host or even open to the public with the Trap Club's assistance.

A huge Thank You goes to the Hiawatha Community Foundation for continued funds and to the donors that believe in our help to the students.