The number of empty seats in classrooms and lecture halls across campus last Friday — the day before deer season opened — may be indicative of the UND student body’s affinity for the outdoors.

UND now has its own club for hunters looking to sharpen their skills or anyone that is interested in shooting sports in general.

The new Trap and Skeet Club is officially meeting twice a month at East Grand Forks Rod & Gun Club after Jan. 1 and provides an opportunity for people with a competitive nature.

“We had 23 people show up to the first meeting,” club president Scott Dziak said. “But we are always looking for new members.

“Almost all of the members are interested in competitive shooting, so I think it would be fun to keep everyone’s running score throughout the season. We are also trying to get into some regional and national type of events.”

Though the club is open to anyone, it is required that each member has some sort of firearm safety training.

“All members need to have either a firearm safety card, a Concealed Carry Permit or some other proof of previous firearms training,” Dziak said. “We’re trying to get the chief of police to come and do a presentation on gun safety too, for people that don’t have much prior training.”

The cost to join the club is $75 and goes directly toward a membership at the East Grand Forks Rod & Gun Club.

“Since we get can get $1,000 from the Student Government, we plan on splitting it evenly among the paying members,” Dziak said. “So the membership will end up only being around $40 per year.”

Student Government no longer gives funds up front, so the refund will be distributed sometime after the original payment is made.

“Right now, we’re focusing on collecting membership dues,” Dziak said. “We’re trying to catch everyone that has interest in the club before Jan. 1, otherwise you will have to pay the full price without the Student Government assistance.”

On top of the membership cost, students will have to supply their own shotgun and pay for clay pigeons and ammunition.

“We are going to end up doing community fundraisers as the club grows,” said Dziak. “We’d like to help cover some of the bullet costs.”

Facility

The East Grand Forks Rod & Gun Club is located about 12 miles out of town, and has more to offer than just trap shooting.

Students also will have access to 25 to 300 yard rifle ranges. Along with the firearm ranges, the gun club also has a kitchen facility and archery range.

“We plan on doing more (shooting sports), but right now it’s just trap and skeet shooting,” said Dziak.

Though the gun club has been around for years, this is the first real opportunity for students to participate in a club meant solely for shooting sports.

“I was on a trap team back in high school,” freshman TJ Stark said. “I’m really glad to see the University of North Dakota offer something like this.”

Brendan McCabe is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].