When was the last time you went to a match where everyone was grinning ear to ear, cheering for one another and high fives were being given everywhere? Well, if it has been a while, you need to come to the “Shoot For A Cure” in Nampa, Idaho. Travis and Tina Fisher of Sheep Dog Ammo, started this match five years ago as a way to help raise money for St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute/Breast Cancer Center, while at the same time encouraging women to participate in the shooting sports. I can’t tell you how happy I am to say that it has been extremely successful on both accounts!
Travis’ daughter Kimberly, was diagnosed with cancer when she was only a junior in high school. She is doing well now, but it made a great impact on the family. Travis and Tina realized how important early detection is. Already being competitive pistol shooters, they thought this would be a great way to raise some money, and that is how the “Shoot For A Cure” began.
To help draw more ladies into the sport, members of the local shooting community offered free classes for all women who signed up to shoot the match. At these classes the new shooters were taught about safe gun handling and basic USPSA rules. If they didn’t own a gun; No problem. They had .22’s to loan and ammo was provided.
The Fifth Annual Shoot For A Cure, was held on May 19th at the newly upgraded Nampa Rod & Gun Club Range. With a grant provided to them by the NRA Foundation last year, the Nampa club was able to add an additional 4 pistol pits. This made it possible to handle the large number of shooters, and the close proximity to Boise made it very convenient.
This year’s SFAC had 237 shooters of which 120 were women. For many it was the first time they had shot a firearm let alone competed in a match. Safety being the issue of the day, two very well qualified range officers were assigned to each stage and the new shooters were spread evenly among the 12 squads. It was a four stage match, so using all the 12 bays, the identical match was set up three times. With one of the objectives being to introduce the different shooting disciplines there were IDPA, USPSA, and a Steel Challenge stage and then a field course called “Save The Baby”. This gave the shooters a great opportunity to try some more challenging techniques such as shooting around barricades, through ports and having some movement. I have never seen a match run so smoothly.
Most of the squads were done just in time to have the provided lunch, and do a little more shooting before the drawings began. The Idaho Automatic Weapon Collector’s Association brought a Heckler & Kock (HK) MP5 9mm submachine gun and two Cobray M11/9mm subguns. Fifty ladies and fifty-two men were given 10 round magazines to shoot at a 6 plate rack. That means they went through over 1,000 rounds of Ammo! Remember me telling you about the ear to ear grin? Machine guns will do that to you. A big thanks to IAWCA!
Now what woman would think that going to a shooting range would also be a great opportunity to do some shopping? Local business of all kinds jumped in to support anyway they could, from services to product donations and even monetary donations to go toward paying for the food for lunch. A bunch of Tina’s friends get together before the match and sort the donations and get them ready for the bucket drawings. Tickets can then be purchased at the match (the shopping part). I can say without a doubt that this match has the most diverse prize table you will ever see. Guns, spa treatments, jewelry, Original SWAT boots, wine, certificates for restaurants, rose bushes, and on and on. There was literally something for everyone. If your name was drawn and you didn’t need a Cabela’s cast iron camp stove you could do a little bartering afterward and perhaps swap it for a MICHE’ handbag.
A total of 6 guns were donated for the bucket drawing. This was my favorite part because while supporting the cause (spending Mike’s money on tickets), I won the coveted Miche’ handbag and last year I won a digital pink Walther P22. Oh happy day!
Over the last five years Travis and Tina Fisher have made the Shoot For A Cure, the one shooting event that no one wants to miss. It has introduced many women to the practical pistol shooting sport and has been able to contribute to St. Luke’s, MSTI/Breast Cancer Care, checks totaling over $36,500.00. This year was the best yet, raising $11, 596.00! All of the funds raised go to help women who are uninsured or underinsured pay for mammograms.
This is my favorite match of the year and also my favorite cause to support. I am a breast cancer survivor and all of my treatment was provided by St. Luke’s and MSTI, including a stem cell transplant. I would like to encourage you to get your local gun club involved in something similar. You never know who’s life you may be saving!
Special Thanks go to: Travis & Tina Fisher – Sheep Dog Ammo, Nampa Rod & Gun Club, Alpha Omega, IAWCA, Tactical Solutions, Charter Arms, Smith & Wesson, MGM Targets, LaRue Tactical, Zebra 12, RK Gunsmithing, Cabela’s and all the other great sponsors local and national to numerous to mention in this limited space.
Have fun and shoot safe!
Rhonda Gibson
Please contact Scott Garrigus scottgarry@aol.com if you would like to help out.