With the close of WWII, the boys coming home to Osage, joined their fathers in a weekly get-together to play pinochle and talk about hunting and fishing. By the ‘60’s the club was more organized and had bought the old dump site for a dollar to be used as a shooting range. As of this writing (May ’12), there are only a few of the original members left and the club has taken on a wider role in the c
ommunity. Where it once was exclusively Osage residents, now it encompasses Park Rapids and many members who are here only part of the year. Every year we give away two scholarships for graduating seniors. In the past the applicants had to have been students at the Osage school. Starting this year, the applicants are limited to children, grand children or great grandchildren of active members. There is currently a trap group that meets on Tuesdays (at 5:00 PM) and Thursday (at 6:00 PM). Our two largest (and longest running) events are the Dorothy Noeske Memorial Crappie and Bluegill Fishing Derby. (Shortened to The Derby). It’s always the last Sunday in February. It’s been going on since 1969 and focuses on children. The second event is Rifle Sight-In. This is an Open-to-the-Public event where our members help making sure rifles are ready for deer rifle season. This year we are expanding to include a couple days for black powder . We have had the Urban Varmint Shoot for three years now. This is where we encourage youngsters to try their hand at shooting those horrible varmints like milk cartons, pop bottles and the like. Our Fall Turkey Shoot has been held in September since before 2002. This year we will be adding archery events to the trap and “running turkey” and “swinging egg” events. It is scheduled for September 15th 2012. There is always a huge raffle. Last year was our first float in the 4th of July parade. We intend to do it again this year.
