Boise Gun Club

The First Idaho State Shoot was held at the old fairgrounds in Boise in 1904, and the 1998 Idaho State Shoot was held at Boise in the club’s centennial year.

Shotgun shooting and bird hunting were important activities in the Boise area for many years before the formation of organized shooting clubs. There were turkey shoots, live pigeon shoots and other activities put on by individuals or different clubs and groups.

By 1892 the Boise Gun Club began to organize and by 1893 was offering clay pigeon events. By 1898 the club became ‘official,’ and it was incorporated by the state of Idaho in 1917.

The club’s shooting site was Hulls Gulch, and by 1912 it had more than 100 members. Several location changes took place in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s while the club continued to host many state shoots and other activities.

In 1942 the club moved a building onto property just off Federal Way. While at this location, may milestone events took place — including installment of the first electric traps in 1954, a major clubhouse and grounds expansion and remodeling in 1963 and, in 1967, the last ATA state shoot to held on four traps.

By the late 1960′s it was decided to look for a new location so the club could expand. Land was purchased at the present location, south of the state prison on Kuna-Mora Road. The first registered shoot there was in September 1972….

Over the years the club has also sponsored and conducted shooting activities and exhibitions which have drawn large crowds from the community. Two of the most famous examples were exhibitions by Ad Topperwein and Plinky Topperwein in the 1920s and Herb Parsons (of ‘Showman Shooter’ fame) in the 1950′s.”