Riley Dempsey
- by senior correspondent Jennifer Martens

If 12-year-old Riley Dempsey can maintain his momentum in his shooting pursuits, he’ll have a promising future in the sport. The SSAA member has been shooting targets for less than a year and has already claimed the 2007 Queensland State Championship title in the Under 15 category and a SSAA Field Rifle silver badge.

The year eight student’s introduction to the sport was typical to that of many sporting shooters, with the family farm serving as the starting point. Trips to check the boundary fences with his dad Stuart often led to feral fox, pig and cat hunts. Those hunting trips proved to be just the tip of the iceberg, as he is now a keen and accomplished Field Rifle and Benchrest competitor. Riley’s ambitions include shooting a Field Rifle score of more than 380, which would see him earn a SSAA gold badge. Ambitious and as driven as he is, he admits that competing successfully at the national level is a bit out of his reach at the moment. But that is a long-range goal he has in his sights.

Riley is a member of the SSAA Dalby Club and he practices once or twice a week at the SSAA Oakey Club, which is a 45-minute drive from his home. He is able to gain additional practice time at his grandparents’ farm where he dabbles in Rifle Silhouette.

For Field Rifle shooting, Riley uses a Sako P94S .22 and a Sako 75 .22-250. When extreme precision is the name of the game, as in Benchrest, he uses his Anchutz Match 54 with a 6-24x40 Sightron Scope.

“A lot of my gear comes from Col Shields at The Barn at Oakey,” says Riley. “Col has been really helpful since I started in competition shooting.” He is known around the ranges as someone who really encourages the young ones in the sport.

Fellow Dalby Club members Jan and Dan Linsley and Oakey Club member Tom McGovern have also been very instrumental in Riley’s shooting. As Riley has found, most sporting shooters are only too happy to share their experiences and knowledge with newcomers. It is that generosity and sense of family that makes the sport so appealing to young people like Riley.

When his dad sits down to reload ammunition, Riley is never far away, as he is keen to quench his thirst for shooting knowledge. There isn’t much about the sport that doesn’t appeal to him. “I like everything about it,” says Riley. “Riflescopes, ammo, working out which ammunition suits the rifles, the competition, watching top-class shooters and analysing how they get their top scores.”

Stuart says Riley’s love of the sport and confidence in his ability are the two biggest factors in his recent success. “He likes individual sports…in the end there is no-one else to blame when things go wrong.” As a youngster and beginning shooter, things will inevitably go wrong. However, dad Stuart says that is when Riley shines. “He has the ability to forget about a bad shot and move on.” A ‘short memory’ is a skill that he has in common with many of the world’s top athletes.

Riley, who does not have a coach, enjoys listening to others and watching them compete. When he gets advice from another shooter, he puts it into practice to see what does and does not work for him or, as his friend Col Shields says, he “sorts the grain from the straw”. Stuart says that Riley doesn’t get too nervous because he is fairly confident in what he can do and he really thrives on strong competition.

As Riley continues his rise in the sport, he’ll be challenged by many good shooters, but, like all athletes, his greatest challenges will come from within.