History of the Bend Trap Club
The Bend Trap Club was originally created as an auxiliary organization of the Bend Rod and Gun Club in the early 1900s. The Bend Rod and Gun Club was formed by a group of hunters, fishermen, and shooters and was actively involved in helping state and local officials manage game, create preserves, stock rivers, and recommend hunting and fishing regulations.
The earliest documented activities of the Bend Gun Club were newspaper articles from January 1913 mentioning that the club had supported the 1912 State Trap Shoot. J.N. Hunter was president of the 40-member club at that time. Trap shooting during the 1920s and 1930s was held at a field a few miles southeast of Bend in the Pilot Butte vicinity.
Around 1923, the Bend Trap Club split from the Bend Rod and Gun Club, which later became the Deschutes Rod and Gun Club. This organization would eventually evolve into the Deschutes County Sportsman’s Club. The Bend Trap Club continued shooting at its field, holding practice shoots and many merchandise events, known today as “Turkey Shoots.” A youth shooting program was started in 1936 to assist young shooters by mentoring them with experienced members and providing free ammunition.
Relocation to a new shooting site—also known as the American Legion Aviation Field in Carroll Acres—began in 1935 with the purchase of a one-quarter interest in a 40-acre property south of Bend for $10. The property is now known as the Brosterhous site. The remaining portion of the site was obtained in September 1937 for $20. A skeet field and equipment were built in February 1935 and remained in use along with trap fields through 1937, when a project to overhaul the site added more trap fields and reconfigured the grounds layout.
Intensive work on the existing three-trap site aimed to host the PITA Oregon State Trap Shoot scheduled for June 9–12, 1938. By the time of the shoot, the eight-trap Brosterhous facility was proclaimed to be one of the best shooting locations in the West. The shoot featured 244 registered shooters vying for $5,563 in cash and trophy prizes. Oregon Secretary of State Earl Snell turned in a perfect score of 25 on the first day. Field lighting was installed in July 1950.
The club maintained an active shooting presence at the Brosterhous site until May 2006, when the property was turned over for development into residential homes. The club then relocated to the present-day Millican site, a 280-acre facility located about 28 miles east of Bend.
The new facility initially featured a trap layout with 10 regulation fields, with the first registered shoot held in July 2008. The ATA Oregon State Shoots for both 2009 and 2010 were held at Bend during the month of July. A combination Skeet/Trap field overlay was completed in February 2009, followed by the addition of a 5-Stand/Skeet field by July 2010.
Today, the Bend Trap Club’s Millican facility has expanded to include 11 regulation trap fields, with Trap 3 designated as a practice field. The club also features two skeet fields—one overlaid with a trap field and another integrated with the 5-Stand layout—along with a full 5-Stand sporting clays field. The property provides a spacious high-desert shooting environment with ample room for tournaments, camping, parking, and large-scale events.
The Millican site has hosted numerous registered shoots, youth competitions, leagues, and state-level events. The facility continues to evolve with improvements to target systems, voice-release equipment, parking, and amenities, allowing the Bend Trap Club to support everything from weekly public shooting to large championship tournaments while maintaining its long tradition of promoting shotgun sports in Central Oregon.
The club is supported by an all-volunteer Board of Directors consisting of 13 directors, four of whom serve as club officers. Board members are elected at the annual general membership meeting held each March. Directors serve three-year terms, providing continuity and leadership while maintaining the club’s long-standing tradition as a member-driven organization.