Gillespie County’s top marksmen will gather Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1-2, for the 120th annual Gillespie County Schuetzenfest, hosted this year by the Barons Creek Shooting Club at the Bear Creek Sporting Range.
The range is located at 2660 Center Point Road, off State 16 South.
Shooters can sign up until 5 p.m., today, Wednesday, July 29, at Stroeher and Olfers, Inc. Cost to sign up is $30.
When Fredericksburg was founded in the mid-1840s, inhabitants relied on sharpshooting skills to put food on their tables as well as to insure safety. And, while methods of providing sustenance and common welfare may have modernized over the years that followed, the commitment to expert marksmanship still lives on.
This 170-year-plus tradition is remembered with the scheduling of several events by six groups that make up the Gillespie County Schuetzenbund (Shooting Club). Those clubs are Bear Creek, Tivydale, Hubertus, Grapetown, Barons Creek and Scharfschuetzen. In addition to Bear Creek, the group’s shooting ranges are located at Grapetown and Tivydale.
The first event of the year was a benefit shoot held April 26 at Texas Hills. The second shoot of the year, Vorfest, was held July 19 at Bear Creek.
The Schuetzenfest is the second-oldest community event in the county (bested only by the Gillespie County Fair) and attracts marksmen from all over with their long-barreled rimfire and centerfire rifles.
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