Inuvik (Oct 01/04) - Hunting seals and shooting at small icebergs from the shoreline is the secret to the shooting success of Holman Rangers Jamie Kimiksana, Alan Pogotak and Peter Okheena, who won the overall team title in the NWT First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group's rifle competition in Inuvik last weekend.

"With their small heads sticking out of the water, it's a hard target to hit. So is trying to knock off the peaks of small icebergs," said Kimiksana.

"As kids, we hunted with 22 calibre (rifles) starting out," added Okheena. "It's in us. We're always shooting."

The rifle competition was a chance to get-together for Rangers from around the region and pit their marksmanship skills against one-another.

The trio from Holman collected a fare share of the hardware. Pogotak was first in the 100m prone, Kimiksana earned top spot for 100m standing and Okheena garnered a first place for 200m kneeling.

"The Delta region has produced some outstanding shots," remarked Cpt. Conrad Schubert from Yellowknife. "It would be nice to make this an annual event."

Prior to the announcement of overall team results, Aklavik Ranger Master Cpl. Larry Koe was taking a break at the gun rack.

"This is the first time they've done this in the NWT and it was good to meet everybody," he said. "If we didn't do well, at least we had fun."

As it turned out, the Aklavik team fared well enough to earn third place just seven points behind Tuktoyaktuk and 15 points short of Holman's mark.

In individual marksmanship, Inuvik's Douglas Joe, who recently led several SAMS students on a successful caribou hunt, finished in top spot.

"We had a similar event in Iqaluit last month," said Maj. Stuart Gibson, Commanding Officer of the FCRPG in Yellowknife. "But, this is the furthest North we've held a rifle competition."

Gibson wanted to give a special thanks to Denis Savoie, president of the Top of the World Gun Club, who donated the use of the club's range for the weekend event.