Adam Bowden
- by senior correspondent Jennifer Martens

Most people would consider SSAA member Adam Bowden a bit of a risk taker. After all, his hobbies of rock climbing, white-water rafting, snowboarding, surfing and trail bike riding are not your average weekend pursuits and they all carry a certain level of danger. Shane Bowden, Adam’s father, says, “Adam likes to live his life to the fullest and likes to try as many different sports and activities as he can. He loves a challenge and the feeling of his heart racing.”

Adam’s decision to take up sport shooting as a 12-year-old was also a bit risky, but not because the sport is dangerous - after all, shooting is one of the safest sports in the world. The ‘risk’ for Adam was trying something that was different from his peers.

Six years later, the 18-year-old’s ‘risk’ has paid off. Since joining the SSAA Pontville Range in 2002, the enthusiastic competitor has done pretty well for himself. At the Australian National Field Rifle and 3-Positional Championships held at Scottsdale, Tasmania, during Easter 2006, Adam won B Grade for Rimfire 3-Positional and came third in C Grade for Centrefire Field Rifle. At the 2006 Australia Day Rifle Metallic Silhouette competitions in Canberra, Adam won several prizes. He has participated in all of the Tasmanian Rimfire Metallic Silhouette Championships for the past three years and won the A Grade competition in 2007. For the past four years, he has competed in the Tasmanian Rimfire Field Rifle and 3-Positional Championships. In 2006, he was the State 2-Gun Champion and he won the 2007 Junior Rimfire Silhouette Postal Shoot.

Adam has his father to thank for introducing him to target shooting. Shane is a Junior Development Coordinator at the SSAA Pontville Range in Tasmania. As both of Adam’s grandfathers and a few of his uncles are also keen sporting shooters, there is always plenty of talk at family gatherings about the latest firearms, accurate loads, firearms legislation and, no doubt, a fair bit of bragging.

Adam is a left-handed shooter and competes in a number of different disciplines. He shoots Rimfire Field Rifle and 3-Positional, Centrefire Field Rifle and 3-Positional, Centrefire, Rimfire and Air Rifle Metallic Silhouette, Rimfire and Centrefire Handgun Modified ISSF Classic and Action matches.

For his 18th birthday, Adam received a much-prized Leupold-scoped Remington 700 VSF .223. However, the title of ‘top gun’ goes to his Bushnell-scoped Anschutz Model 1415/1416 rimfire in left-hand bolt-action, which he received when he was 13. Adam says, “My Anschutz was my first rifle. I have grown up with this rifle and have developed all my skills using it. It shoots very well and has helped me produce some great scores.”

Having finished Year 12, Adam is able to devote more time to his shooting, spending about seven hours a week at the range. His training centres on being able to shoot to the best of his ability, as he doesn’t feel he has reached his full potential yet. He is always improving though, thanks to people like his father and Denis Bergman, another resident coach at Pontville.

Adam also attributes some of his progress in the sport to his strength work at the gym and to his study of sports science. He has been able to apply much of what he has learned to his shooting as well as to his other physically demanding hobbies.

All of his training will no doubt come in handy when he applies for a position with the Tasmanian Police Force later this year. Until then, he will continue in his role as a concreter with the Hobart City Council.

During his time as a member of the shooting community, Adam has found the people to be very different to participants of other sporting groups, saying, “Sporting shooters are down-to-earth and laidback; unlike other sports where competitors won’t even talk to each other, shooters are always keen to get to know you and to help.”

With those kinds of role models, Adam’s success and enjoyment in the sport are sure to continue.