TWRA Helps Make Holly Fork Shooting Complex A Reality

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has helped make Holly Fork Shooting Complex a reality in Henry County. The new facility is off to an impressive start with its hosting of the first annual Junior Olympic State Championships.

The State Junior Olympic Championships attracted the best young shooters from across the Volunteer State to compete in the complex’s inaugural event. The shooters competed in the International Trap and International Skeet divisions for five days recently.

The TWRA purchased 109 acres for the site that adjoins TWRA’s Holly Fork Wildlife Management Area. The combined area of nearly 250 acres is located just three miles east of Paris.

Henry County entered into a long-term lease agreement to put in a shooting range to benefit the Scholastic Clay Target athletes in Henry and the surrounding counties. Henry County turned the acreage over to the Henry County Youth Shooting Program to build and maintain the facility.
Construction began at the facility in February and word was received in May that the site would be the host of the first-ever Junior Olympic State Championship. Four full combo-stations were ready for the state Championship event.

“To begin with, you could not ask for anything better to kick off the new facility than the State Junior Olympics,” said Thomas “Bub” Edwards, from Paris who is also Chairman of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Commission. “ We have events already planned, such as a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society in August. We hopefully are going be open for public use after that point.”

The complex was constructed through grants and contributions to the Henry County Shooting Program. There were no state or county monies used on the project.

“We had great community involvement and a lot of people donated their time, resources, and machinery to make this come true,” said Edwards. “Every vendor we dealt with gave us some type of discount. Our biggest labor base was the Henry County Sheriff’s Department trustees which we greatly appreciated.”

In addition, work is underway on a pistol range and a 400-yard rifle range with a late-fall completion date. A stationary bow range and walk-thru course with 3-D targets are also in the works. In the spring of 2008, construction on a sporting clay range is scheduled to begin.

Future plans, in a couple of years, include building a clubhouse with a pro shop and grille. The clubhouse will have classrooms for hunter safety courses, boating safety, and other meetings. Possibilities for future skeet and trap stations also exist.

Edwards also noted events will continue to be added, highlighted with a hope that Olympic training for the southeast will be held at Holly Fork. Registered trap and skeet shooting competitions are also on the horizon.
“The biggest thing is the economic impact that (the range) will have on Henry County, with the lake and all that is going on, the only thing we lacked was a first class shooting facility,” said Edwards. “We sold several hundred hotel rooms alone for the opening events, not to mention the meals and gas that were purchased. When you have a junior championship, you have a lot of family members who will attend.”

The top 250 athletes from the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) State Championships all received invitations to compete in the Paris event, representing all portions of the state.