The shoot was hosted in the Einar Nielsen Field House on Tuesday to get some fun in for students before they leave for Thanksgiving break.
“With Thanksgiving coming up it’s a nice way for people to take a break from school to just go out for a little target shoot and since it’s Thanksgiving, put a turkey on it, since we can’t go out and shoot actual turkeys for Thanksgiving,” said Boz Echivarre, supervisor for intramural sports with Campus Recreation and a senior in exercise and sports science.
The Turkey Shoot is an annual event. However, this is the first year that it has been hosted in the Field House. It is usually held in the Union Ballroom.
“We weren’t able to host the shoot in the union this year because of transfer student orientation,” said Kim Warner, marketing assistant for Campus Recreation and a senior in parks, recreation and tourism.
One of the challenges with organizing this year’s event was marketing to students, which was especially challenging due to the location change.
“A lot of the issues we face [deal with] getting the word out to students. A lot of the time they don’t really realize that it’s campus rec that is putting these events on. A lot of our participants in past years came beERIN1cause they were just walking by us in the Union and got interested so we had to do more marketing. We put posters up everywhere on campus for this event. We’re really hoping people will see us when they’re done working out and check us out,” Warner said.
The turkey shoot draws a crowd each year. Last year, around 100 people showed up and Echivarre expected just as many this year.
“Normally we get a decent amount of people. Last year we got around 100. But this is the first year in the Field House, we are usually in the Union. So hopefully we’ll get about the same amount,” Echivarre said.
The event gave students a chance to use BB pistols. For some this was nothing new, but for others, it was a first-time experience.
“I’m from Brazil, so this is new to me, I’ve never fired any type of gun before. It’s a lot of fun though. I found out about the event from the posters around campus,” said Luisa Rosa, an undeclared freshman.
Echivarre said that the shoot gives students an easy opportunity to practice their sharp shooting.
“It’s a nice way for students to come out if they don’t want to go to a range before they go home for Thanksgiving,” Echivarre said.