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Still Shootin'
<b>In Support of Gun Ownership Rights:</b> At age 97, Roseburg's Bill Hallin aims to keep shooting sports alive and well
ENLARGESure shot
At the age of 97, Bill Hallin still keeps up on shooting with his two Thompson Center Encore 6 mm handguns. ‘I won’t quit doing anything until I have to,’ said Hallin. He only recently stopped hunting deer in 2002.
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Reloading shells
A converted closet in his bedroom serves as a reloading area for Hallin, as he uses a press to remove the primer and clean the neck of a 6 mm casing.
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Bill Hallin continues to be a straight shooter -- even at the age of 97.
When he can get a ride from his Roseburg apartment out to the Roseburg Rod and Gun Club in Winchester, he shoots his Thompson Center Encore 6 mm benchrest pistol.
At 100 yards, his three-shot grouping is usually one-quarter inch. When he shoots five times, he admits there might be one shot out to one-half inch.
"I still shoot well enough," Hallin said with a smile. "Other people think I'm a good shot."
Fred Dayton, a past president of the Rod and Gun Club who has given Hallin several rides to the range over the past several years, is impressed by Hallin's accuracy.
"He's phenomenally skilled," Dayton said. "It would amaze you how well he shoots that pistol."
Hallin is as sharp with his opinions as he is with his shooting. He's not in favor of any more gun control.
"I feel quite strongly about that," Hallin said.
Hallin has been an advocate of guns and shooting for many years. He joined the National Rifle Association in 1947 after a stint in the Army Air Corps and serving in the South Pacific during World War II. He joined the Roseburg Rod and Gun Club in 1957, the same year he moved to Roseburg from California.
He's attended and supported many annual Douglas County Friends of the National Rifle Association fund-raisers and banquets. The 2005 NRA event is scheduled for May 7 in Douglas Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
Hallin said he originally joined the NRA because the organization was selling surplus military guns following WWII and he wanted to purchase an Enfield rifle.
He's then maintained his membership through the years because "I'm not happy with any more compromises by gun owners because then that's just another reason for the anti's to go for more.
When he can get a ride from his Roseburg apartment out to the Roseburg Rod and Gun Club in Winchester, he shoots his Thompson Center Encore 6 mm benchrest pistol.
At 100 yards, his three-shot grouping is usually one-quarter inch. When he shoots five times, he admits there might be one shot out to one-half inch.
"I still shoot well enough," Hallin said with a smile. "Other people think I'm a good shot."
Fred Dayton, a past president of the Rod and Gun Club who has given Hallin several rides to the range over the past several years, is impressed by Hallin's accuracy.
"He's phenomenally skilled," Dayton said. "It would amaze you how well he shoots that pistol."
Hallin is as sharp with his opinions as he is with his shooting. He's not in favor of any more gun control.
"I feel quite strongly about that," Hallin said.
Hallin has been an advocate of guns and shooting for many years. He joined the National Rifle Association in 1947 after a stint in the Army Air Corps and serving in the South Pacific during World War II. He joined the Roseburg Rod and Gun Club in 1957, the same year he moved to Roseburg from California.
He's attended and supported many annual Douglas County Friends of the National Rifle Association fund-raisers and banquets. The 2005 NRA event is scheduled for May 7 in Douglas Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
Hallin said he originally joined the NRA because the organization was selling surplus military guns following WWII and he wanted to purchase an Enfield rifle.
He's then maintained his membership through the years because "I'm not happy with any more compromises by gun owners because then that's just another reason for the anti's to go for more.
"The most important reason I've stayed a member is the NRA's effort to counter gun control," he added. "I think the NRA is a good spokesman for shooters."
Out at the Rod and Gun Club, Hallin was president of the facility in the mid-1960s and then helped oversee and build the rifle range in the 1970s. He received a lifetime membership from the club during those same years.
"When we built the rifle range, Bill was on the grounds all the time, overseeing the plans and helping with the physical work," Dayton said. "Up until recently, he did a lot of maintenance work around the facility. He had a great interest in the club for a long, long time."
Hallin had a 39-year career with the U.S. Forest Service so was able to enjoy a life in the outdoors.
His specialty during hunting season was pursuing blacktail bucks, although he also did some mule deer hunting out of Bend and hunted elk for about five seasons.
"I've done quite a bit of hunting, and I managed to get a lot of deer, not because I was skilled or anything, but because I was persistent," he said. "I didn't hunt much for elk because I hunted by myself and they were usually too far down in holes (in the woods) which would have been hard for me to get out."
Hallin enjoyed every deer season opener in Oregon from 1957 to 2002, but then decided to retire since he wasn't able to venture far from a vehicle when out in the woods.
He pointed out that even though he looked forward to hunting every fall, he never missed going to Mass during the opening hunting weekend, attending either Saturday evening or early Sunday morning before returning to the woods.
He filled his deer tag "fairly regularly" until Florence, his wife of 52 years, died in 1983. She didn't hunt, but she was his hunting companion and an important extra set of eyes.
"On one of my early hunts in the 1930s, it was Florence who punched me and pointed," Hallin said. "I just up and shot. I have no idea where I aimed, but I hit the buck right in the neck. It was a symmetrical four-point buck."
The biggest blacktail buck he ever took was on a trip he and Florence made up the South Umpqua drainage above Tiller. He walked up a skid road to a ridge and saw nine does. After stopping to watch the deer, he figured with that many there wouldn't be a buck so he started on. About that time, up jumped a buck.
Hallin dropped it. It was a 5 x 6 blacktail.
Shooting has provided Hallin with a lifetime full of memories, both out in the field and on the range.
* You can reach Sports Editor Craig Reed at 957-4220 or via e-mail at creed@newsreview.info.
Out at the Rod and Gun Club, Hallin was president of the facility in the mid-1960s and then helped oversee and build the rifle range in the 1970s. He received a lifetime membership from the club during those same years.
"When we built the rifle range, Bill was on the grounds all the time, overseeing the plans and helping with the physical work," Dayton said. "Up until recently, he did a lot of maintenance work around the facility. He had a great interest in the club for a long, long time."
Hallin had a 39-year career with the U.S. Forest Service so was able to enjoy a life in the outdoors.
His specialty during hunting season was pursuing blacktail bucks, although he also did some mule deer hunting out of Bend and hunted elk for about five seasons.
"I've done quite a bit of hunting, and I managed to get a lot of deer, not because I was skilled or anything, but because I was persistent," he said. "I didn't hunt much for elk because I hunted by myself and they were usually too far down in holes (in the woods) which would have been hard for me to get out."
Hallin enjoyed every deer season opener in Oregon from 1957 to 2002, but then decided to retire since he wasn't able to venture far from a vehicle when out in the woods.
He pointed out that even though he looked forward to hunting every fall, he never missed going to Mass during the opening hunting weekend, attending either Saturday evening or early Sunday morning before returning to the woods.
He filled his deer tag "fairly regularly" until Florence, his wife of 52 years, died in 1983. She didn't hunt, but she was his hunting companion and an important extra set of eyes.
"On one of my early hunts in the 1930s, it was Florence who punched me and pointed," Hallin said. "I just up and shot. I have no idea where I aimed, but I hit the buck right in the neck. It was a symmetrical four-point buck."
The biggest blacktail buck he ever took was on a trip he and Florence made up the South Umpqua drainage above Tiller. He walked up a skid road to a ridge and saw nine does. After stopping to watch the deer, he figured with that many there wouldn't be a buck so he started on. About that time, up jumped a buck.
Hallin dropped it. It was a 5 x 6 blacktail.
Shooting has provided Hallin with a lifetime full of memories, both out in the field and on the range.
* You can reach Sports Editor Craig Reed at 957-4220 or via e-mail at creed@newsreview.info.
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