News
Sports
ENLARGE
Torie Ferguson, at just 23 years old, is the unquestioned queen of her Monday night shooting league.
But ask her about her exploits with a pistol and it becomes apparent that the unassuming sharpshooter would rather her stainless-steel Smith and Wesson revolver do the talking, than to have to put into words why shooting has become such a driving force in her life.
Ferguson, pictured top left, is one of a growing group of local women who, in the name of self defense, have learned how to safely use a firearm, but have gone one step further, migrating into the world of competitive target shooting.
She claims not to be a competitive person and while growing up, she was a self-described klutz. But ask other Monday-night league participants, and almost in unison they will tell you Ferguson is a young woman who has an ability with a pistol that few others can match.
“My parents wanted me to take a self-defense course, but I didn't want to, because I'm shy,” Ferguson said. “I didn't like the idea of doing the karate thing, so I talked them into letting me take a firearms course instead.”
That was more than five years ago, and her instructor for the Sierra College affiliated course was former Grass Valley police captain Jerod Johnson, now retired and owner of The Range.
Housed in a warehouse-style building, with a blue awning over the front door proclaiming the range in big white letters, the facility is located off Loma Rica Road, close to the airport. Johnson and a partner opened the range to the public 14 years ago, and have been doing business there ever since.
Besides being a place to shoot in safety, the range also offers gun enthusiasts the chance to purchase guns, ammunition, targets and other accessories. The Monday night contests are also a big draw. Think bowling league, with bullets instead of bowling balls, four-person teams, lots of camaraderie and no beer.
Under Johnson's supervision, Ferguson first learned about firearm safety and the tricks associated with shooting straight. She eventually took three of Johnson's courses, then jumped at the chance to work at the range when a job opening presented itself.
She currently is the office manager.
She remembers her first attempts at competition as being painful.
“When I started, I was probably the worst shooter here,” Ferguson said. “I got some pointers, started shooting more frequently and started moving up. Now I'm classified as a Grand Master.”
According to Johnson, one of the things that sets shooters like Ferguson apart is their ability to multi-task. There are five keys to being a successful competitor — fail in one and your score is sure to fall.
“The stance, grip on the gun, breath control, sight alignment and trigger pull are all important,” Johnson said. “Any of the those things is easy to do, but it's the combination of doing all five at the same time that will get you. Shooting is 80 percent mental and only 20 percent physical.”
According to Ferguson, when she first began competing on Monday nights, there was always a chance she might be the only woman.
Johnson says things have really begun to change in the last few years and he attributes much of it to issues of personal safety and the desire to be outside enjoying activities like hunting.
“We always had a fair number of females who came here in the beginning, but nothing like now,” Johnson said. “Early on, most of the female shooters were related to or affiliated with the male shooters who came, but in the last three years, women have been coming here on their own or with other female friends. Sometimes we have huge groups of women who will rent the range for an entire day.”
There was a sprinkling of women at the Monday league, including Kathy Leighton, a senior from Foresthill, there with her husband David.
“Shooting is fun,” Leighton said. “It's like golf, there's the challenge to improve and you don't have to hit a stupid little ball around.”
Britney Tiffany, manager for a local software company loves the thrill of winning.
“I'm competitive,” she said, laughing, “but it's all in good fun. I really like the shooting and meeting new people.”
Her friend, Hailey Graspointner, concurred.
“The league is fun,” Graspointner said. “The people who come here feel like family and the employees are great.”
If you think of target shooting as someone standing upright in front of a target trying to blow holes in a bull's-eye, think again.
Contestants are also required to shoot while kneeling, shoot using both left and right hands and shoot quickly under a time constraint. It requires much concentration and on
the night this interview was being conducted with Ferguson — with everyone at the range knowing that she was to be profiled in the newspaper — she shot a perfect score in the first round.
“Because of Torie, we stopped giving out weekly top male and female awards,” Johnson said. “She kept having the highest overall score, so we changed the award to just say top gun. It can be embarrassing to be the owner of the place and have her beat me.”
The Range is located at 13235 Grass Valley Ave., Grass Valley. For more information, call (530) 273-4440 or go online at www.the-range.biz/index.html.
But ask her about her exploits with a pistol and it becomes apparent that the unassuming sharpshooter would rather her stainless-steel Smith and Wesson revolver do the talking, than to have to put into words why shooting has become such a driving force in her life.
Ferguson, pictured top left, is one of a growing group of local women who, in the name of self defense, have learned how to safely use a firearm, but have gone one step further, migrating into the world of competitive target shooting.
She claims not to be a competitive person and while growing up, she was a self-described klutz. But ask other Monday-night league participants, and almost in unison they will tell you Ferguson is a young woman who has an ability with a pistol that few others can match.
“My parents wanted me to take a self-defense course, but I didn't want to, because I'm shy,” Ferguson said. “I didn't like the idea of doing the karate thing, so I talked them into letting me take a firearms course instead.”
That was more than five years ago, and her instructor for the Sierra College affiliated course was former Grass Valley police captain Jerod Johnson, now retired and owner of The Range.
Housed in a warehouse-style building, with a blue awning over the front door proclaiming the range in big white letters, the facility is located off Loma Rica Road, close to the airport. Johnson and a partner opened the range to the public 14 years ago, and have been doing business there ever since.
Besides being a place to shoot in safety, the range also offers gun enthusiasts the chance to purchase guns, ammunition, targets and other accessories. The Monday night contests are also a big draw. Think bowling league, with bullets instead of bowling balls, four-person teams, lots of camaraderie and no beer.
Under Johnson's supervision, Ferguson first learned about firearm safety and the tricks associated with shooting straight. She eventually took three of Johnson's courses, then jumped at the chance to work at the range when a job opening presented itself.
She currently is the office manager.
She remembers her first attempts at competition as being painful.
“When I started, I was probably the worst shooter here,” Ferguson said. “I got some pointers, started shooting more frequently and started moving up. Now I'm classified as a Grand Master.”
According to Johnson, one of the things that sets shooters like Ferguson apart is their ability to multi-task. There are five keys to being a successful competitor — fail in one and your score is sure to fall.
“The stance, grip on the gun, breath control, sight alignment and trigger pull are all important,” Johnson said. “Any of the those things is easy to do, but it's the combination of doing all five at the same time that will get you. Shooting is 80 percent mental and only 20 percent physical.”
According to Ferguson, when she first began competing on Monday nights, there was always a chance she might be the only woman.
Johnson says things have really begun to change in the last few years and he attributes much of it to issues of personal safety and the desire to be outside enjoying activities like hunting.
“We always had a fair number of females who came here in the beginning, but nothing like now,” Johnson said. “Early on, most of the female shooters were related to or affiliated with the male shooters who came, but in the last three years, women have been coming here on their own or with other female friends. Sometimes we have huge groups of women who will rent the range for an entire day.”
There was a sprinkling of women at the Monday league, including Kathy Leighton, a senior from Foresthill, there with her husband David.
“Shooting is fun,” Leighton said. “It's like golf, there's the challenge to improve and you don't have to hit a stupid little ball around.”
Britney Tiffany, manager for a local software company loves the thrill of winning.
“I'm competitive,” she said, laughing, “but it's all in good fun. I really like the shooting and meeting new people.”
Her friend, Hailey Graspointner, concurred.
“The league is fun,” Graspointner said. “The people who come here feel like family and the employees are great.”
If you think of target shooting as someone standing upright in front of a target trying to blow holes in a bull's-eye, think again.
Contestants are also required to shoot while kneeling, shoot using both left and right hands and shoot quickly under a time constraint. It requires much concentration and on
the night this interview was being conducted with Ferguson — with everyone at the range knowing that she was to be profiled in the newspaper — she shot a perfect score in the first round.
“Because of Torie, we stopped giving out weekly top male and female awards,” Johnson said. “She kept having the highest overall score, so we changed the award to just say top gun. It can be embarrassing to be the owner of the place and have her beat me.”
The Range is located at 13235 Grass Valley Ave., Grass Valley. For more information, call (530) 273-4440 or go online at www.the-range.biz/index.html.
