BULL’S-EYE SHOOTING DOOMED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 966, 14 March 1911, Page 4

BULL’S-EYE SHOOTING DOOMED.

Before the commencement of shooting at the Trentham rifle meeting (says the New Zealand Times) the competitors were addressed by Colonel Collins, V.D., 1.0.5., chief executive officer of the Dominion Rifle Association. Colonel Collins remarked that when General Godley visited the range on Monday he had expressed himself as being well pleased with everything that was going on, and had said that the range was one of the best he had ever seen. “I hope that it will be the best equipped range, I feel sure of it,” said Colonel Collins, who added that the association had had a good deal of assistance from the Government, and the scheme he outlined in 1903, when he took charge, had been fulfilled. The association had been the sheetanchor of the volunteer force, and to-day it was its keystone. Had it not been for the New Zealand Rifle Association, volunteers would have suffered much more than they had done. He felt that the life of volunteering had depended a great deal on the New Zealand Rifle Association (hear, hear) and the association should set the Territorials a good example; he believed that they could do that. General Godley was a man of modern ideas with Hythe experience, and they must be prepared to meet him. He did not think for one moment that the Commandant was an extremist, but he did think that the General would assist them in every way. “But,” added the Colonel, ‘‘the bull’s-eye is, to a great extent doomed.” They would have to go in more for Service methods so that the forces might be said to be in a course of training. Rifle shooting was looked upon as a species of sport, and he felt quite sure that the men who came to Trentham did so, not only to shoot and make themselves perfect shots but for the sport itself, and to meet old friends, and to renew old friendships. General Godley bad been very pleased with the targets which were used at 500 and 600 yards and the targets in the Service matches, and thought this class of target should be continued. Colonel Collins was sure that the association would get great assistance from the Government. They could not, however, expect official encouragement unless they met the Defence authorities.

‘‘This year,” added Colonel Collins, “we will send a team Home to the Coronation Bisley. That team will leave some time at the end of next month or at the commencement of the following month. I also hope to see the Dominion represented at the rifle meeting in Australia. It we have got twelve men Home in England, and say six of them returned by way of Australia they could then combine with a team to fire for the Empire Cup in Sydney in October next. If the bull’s-eye is doomed and the association has to go,” he continued, “I feel certain that we will die hard, as I feel we should. (Applause.)