For years, the Miami Junior Rifle Club — formed in 1959 — hosted provincials and attended provincials, westerns and nationals, winning many championships at various levels along the way. In 1982, the provincial body was looking to send shooters to nationals again, as it had in 1981 in Edmonton. Jason Vanstone, Kevin Brown, Fred Parkinson and Barry Bartley — the latter two being instructors in Miami — represented the club at the national competition in Granby, Ont.
“There was no qualifying event as they didn’t fill their allotment of shooters. Provincially, we shot at 25 yards indoors. For the nationals, it was 50 yards outdoors,” Jason explained. “Our old range was in the basement of the school, so we practised summers at Fred’s farm to get used to dealing with wind variables.”
“It was a very exciting trip, both from the standpoint of the match itself and the travel, as I had never been farther east than Kenora, lol. I went with Barry in his camper, Kevin rode out on his motorcycle and Fred came with his family. We all funded the trip ourselves.”
The team competed over five days in three categories: prone, kneeling and standing.
“Jason was our biggest winner,” Fred said. “He was the Canadian junior sporting rifle champion!”
The other three competed in adult classes.
“I found my groove and, as a junior, I was outshooting some who were on the Olympic team,” Jason said. He would go on to win the top overall title as well as all three individual categories. Jason returned home with 12 trophies.
His success caught the attention of provincial leaders, and he received sponsorship support, including an air rifle to help with higher-level training. It was less expensive to shoot and could be used at home in his basement.
“I trained hard over the next two years. I competed in the nationals again in Calgary and came in third. Then the same year, I competed in the air rifle nationals in Regina and again came in third.”
After nearly five years of intense rifle competition, Jason eventually burned out — but continues to hunt.
Kevin continued shooting around Manitoba, doing well at events, including a win at the provincial three-position sporting rifle competition. Today he focuses on shotgun and clay target shooting throughout the province at registered competitions. He is also an active member of the Pembina Triangle Trap Club south of Jordan.
Fred is no longer shooting but tried a bit of trap shooting in Mesa for fun.
