NYS 4-H

SHOOTING SPORTS

What Is Shooting Sports in 4-H?

4-H Shooting Sports is a comprehensive non-formal education, recreation, and competitive program focused on Positive Youth Development. 4-H Shooting Sports program utilizes the safe and responsible use of firearms to address youth social issues related to STEM, healthy living, and civic engagement.

In doing so, the 4-H shooting sports program provides opportunities for youth to gain valuable skills, practice leadership, and build relationships with non-parent adults. These three critical factors are the building blocks that enable youth to achieve mastery, feel a sense of belonging, explore independence, and act generously. When youth are engaged as resources worthy and capable of development, rather than objects to be fixed, they become competent, confident, connected, caring, character-driven, and contributing members of society.

2026 NYS 4-H Shooting Sports Workshops

21-22

Feb

Saratoga CCE @ 4-H Training Center

11-12

Apr

Chautauqua CCE @ Jamestown Rifle & Pistol Club

16-17

May

Jefferson CCE @ 4-H Camp Wabasso

6-7

June

Delaware CCE @ 4-H Camp Shankitunk

13-14

June

Ontario CCE @ 4-H Camp Bristol Hills

24-25

June

Suffolk CCE @ Peconic Dunes

25-26

Sept

Niagara CCE

Start the season with new skills, strong leadership development, and practical hands-on learning at the NYS 4-H Shooting Sports Spring Workshops. The Workshops offer volunteers the opportunity to become certified 4-H Shooting Sports Level 1 Instructors and help introduce youth to one of the safest and most rewarding lifelong outdoor activities.

Workshops may feature the following disciplines (offered with a minimum of five participants each): Archery, Rifle, Pistol, Coordinator, Shotgun, Muzzleloader, and Hunting & Wildlife. Participants may certify in one discipline per workshop. All equipment is provided. For housing details, please reach out to the individual training contact.

Each workshop is built around positive youth development, focusing on safety, confidence, personal growth, and the fun of mastering new skills. Instructors play a vital role in helping youth build responsibility, connect with the outdoors, and discover a lifelong hobby.

All registrations must be completed by a Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) staff member through the (Cornell Business system), who will verify that each registrant is a vetted 4-H volunteer, educator, staff member, or a youth member age 14+.

If you have questions about 4-H Shooting Sports, training opportunities, local clubs, or volunteer requirements, please contact your County 4-H Educator or Extension Office. For state-level inquiries, reach out to Jim Tavares, State 4-H Shooting Sports Assistant Coordinator, at jat29@cornell.edu or (518) 921-8928 (c).

State & County Contacts

Sponsor

Objectives

To encourage participation in natural resources and natural resource science programs.
To enhance the development of self-concept, character, and personal growth.
To teach safe and responsible use of firearms and archery equipment.
To promote the highest standards of safety, sportsmanship, and ethical behavior.
To expose participants to a broad array of vocational and life-long vocational activities related to shooting sports.
To strengthen families through participation in life-long recreational opportunities.
To complement and enhance the impact of existing safety, shooting, and hunter education programs using experiential educational methods and progressive development of life skills and abilities.

National & New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Program Core Concepts

Safety
Ethical Development
Personal Responsibility
Family Involvement
Lifetime Recreational Skills
Life Skills Development

Curriculum

New York State 4-H Shooting Sports takes our responsibilities to youth, their families and the communities in which we all live very seriously. We are committed to offering the safest and best programming possible. All curriculum disciplines for archery and firearms are taught and supervised by New York State 4-H Certified Shooting Sports Instructors or Nationally Certified 4-H Shooting Sports Instructors. All 4-H Shooting Sports Instructors must also adhere to the National 4-H Shooting Sports Code of Ethics.

4-H Shooting Sports is based on the National 4-H Shooting Sports mandated curriculum and training regimen and offered in the following disciplines:

Air Pistol/Pistol
Archery
Hunting/Outdoor Skills
Muzzleloader
Rifle
Shotgun

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) components are incorporated into all 4-H Shooting Sports curriculum discipline

Natural Resources Projects

The New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Program is a broad-based, multi-faceted program that encompasses and brings together many aspects of 4-H Youth Natural Resources programming. Involvement in 4-H Shooting Sports fosters responsibility and helps youth acquire and enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities not just in Shooting Sports disciplines but in other project areas as well. Our Program can include many more opportunities for youth to be outdoors and engage in their environment:

Agriculture/Range Science • Bird Watching • Canoeing • Citizen Science • Citizenship • Civic Ecology • Clay Targets • Conservation • First Aid • Forestry • Habitat Enhancement • Home Firearm Safety • Living History • Outdoor Cooking • Map & Compass • STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) • Survival Skills • White Water Rafting • Wild Edibles • Wild Game Cooking • Wildlife

About

For Instructors

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO INSTRUCTORS AND APPLICANTS!

ALL current New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Instructors are REQUIRED to update their Instructor Training to the NEW National 4-H Shooting Sports and New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Guidelines.

Instructors Have Two (2) Options:

Attend one (1) of the 14-hour programs to be offered this year in person (you may participate in a new discipline at that time); or
Participate in a shorter in-person or web-based online retraining that is currently offered as needed (expected to be about 2-3 hours of online training). New manuals for the first two programs you primarily teach-in will be provided at either the in-person training or mailed to your county office.

All Instructors who have NOT taught in the last two (2) years OR who are NOT currently an approved members of their County 4-H Program have been REMOVED from the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Instructor list and their information has been placed in the inactive file.

Inactive Instructors seeking to regain active status MUST re-establish themselves as enrolled qualified 4-H Program Volunteer and complete the full New York State Training in order to become an active New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Instructor.

PLEASE NOTE: Your County Cooperative Extension 4-H Educator MUST sign off on your Instructor Applicant Registration Form in order for you to qualify for admission into the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Instructor Training program. Your County 4-H Educator’s signature verifies that you, as an applicant, have undergone: 1) a criminal background check; 2) a reference check; 3) an interview; and 4) a County orientation. A County's failure to comply with any part of the Volunteer Involvement Policy and Procedure (VIPP) practices of Cornell Cooperative Extension will result in the automatic disqualification and rejection of an applicant from the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Program. Registration Forms without the appropriate County 4-H Educator’s verifying signature will not be accepted by New York State 4-H Shooting Sports.

For Instructors