“Keen” shooters gave it their best shot to establish a permanent local pistol range, and its pre-eminent member proceeded to the Silver Fern.
The Motueka Pistol Club has hit more than three decades of proficiency, with up to 40 members and 150 associate members locked and loaded with “amazing” results at South and North Island contests.
Notices in Motueka in 1990 called for locals with a good aim to attend a meeting, and it triggered 26 attendees, who ultimately formed the club, an incorporated society, and appointed an interim committee to call the shots.
A location was the next target for the nascent, and a forestry block in the Rocky River area of the Motueka River’s west bank was identified and sanctioned by the forest owners.
Working bees began in December 1990, and all necessary requirements were fulfilled for the inaugural shoot to fire up on 26 January 1991, with 29 paid members.
The club’s main aim has been practical pistol shooting with a dynamic interclub competition between the Nelson Pistol Club, the Cable Bay Pistol Club and the Marlborough Pistol Club, with some members shooting across the mainland for championships.
In January 1999, after a barrage of funds, the club invested $14,000 in a major range rebuild to maintain safety and expand its types of matches.
From this time, the forest block had various owners, with whom the club were on good terms, but everything changed in August 2007 when the forest was sold to a private individual.
While the club had a license to occupy the land with seven years remaining, the new owner found a loophole in this agreement, and the club was subsequently banished.
Serious issues arose from the upheaval, including that shooting at least 12 times in a calendar year was required to maintain a license to own and shoot a pistol.
The club however, expected its members to go against the grain by attending extra shoots to prove their focus in the sport.
So the hunt was afoot for the club’s new base, with members practising until then at other clubs in the district. A Dovedale forestry block owned by Tasman Pine Forests Ltd was granted for its 2.0, and in March 2009 the club let a tender to begin earthworks, which due to issues didn’t get underway until April 2011.
Three pistol ranges and a 400m rifle range were initiated before its inaugural shoot at its new location in July, and the outdoor hunting community rapidly enquired about the use of the 400m rifle range.
An associate membership for the club was forged after the forest company insisted that no one should use the range unless they were club members, which included their own staff, and the club has continuous enquiries for this membership to this day.
Visit: motuekapistolclub.com to get involved.
