Prior to participating in range activities, each Scout attended a training course that covered both safety and basic marksmanship principles.

On 1-3 February 2008 the Gatlinburg Convention Center in Gatlinburg, TN was converted into a rifle range for the Boy Scout Explorer and Venture Crews Winterfest 2008. Winterfest is an exciting weekend focusing on competitive events for all Boy Scout Explorer Posts and Venture Crews, and this year the event drew over 2,600 participants. Of those, over 300 took part in an air rifle tournament that was set-up at the request of the Northeast Georgia Boy Scout Council and USA Shooting Manager of Youth and Coach Programs, Bob Foth.

Boy Scout and NRA Certified Coaches staged the event, led by major support from USA Shooting and the Civilian Marksmanship Program. A six-point air rifle range was set-up for the tournament and Daisy 853 air rifles were provided for participants. Since many Scouts in attendance had little marksmanship training, the event was designed with beginning shooters in mind. The course of fire was a 10-shot benchrest match on AR-10 air rifle targets, and awards were given for the top three scores from the weekend.

Other Winterfest 2008 competitive events included: Lip Sync, Volleyball, Fire Fighting, Climbing Wall, Law Enforcement, Mock Trial, Engineering Design, First Aid, Advanced Medical, Climbing Tower, Water Basketball, Engineering Design, Equipment Inspections, Boulder Wall, Flying Squirrel and High Climb. In addition, there was an award assembly on Saturday night and there were two dances for the scouts over the weekend.

There were also plenty of non-competitive activities available to the Posts and Crews, including snow skiing, shopping, museums, movies and many local restaurants. Winterfest was certainly the highlight of the year for most Posts and Crews, and the Air Rifle Range and Tournament was one of the highlights of the weekend.

To find out more on Boy Scout Explorer and Venturing programs go to http://www.scouting.org/.

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