Sport
6 February, 2023
Call to arms for Dunolly Field and Game Club
The Dunolly Field and Game Club are calling on people of Dunolly, Maryborough and surrounding areas to join their club, saying their future hangs in the balance. The club, in particular, is calling for younger applicants for committee roles, saying...

The Dunolly Field and Game Club are calling on people of Dunolly, Maryborough and surrounding areas to join their club, saying their future hangs in the balance.
The club, in particular, is calling for younger applicants for committee roles, saying that an aging committee is not viable at a time where computers are steadily being used more often to record field and game results.
Dunolly Field and Game vice president Gordon Chalmers says that he would like to see more members attend their upcoming Annual General Meeting, which will be held this Sunday, February 12 at 2 pm.
“I’ve been a member since 2012. In that time, we have had a lot of names on the books that are members, but we never really see them. They don’t do anything, but if they are part of a club, they see it as a good excuse to have a firearms licence, and that helps them keep it,” he said.
“We have 30 people that we see and know. But of those, when we run monthly meetings, or bi-monthly meetings, we see around six to eight people, while at the AGM, we’ll see 15. Our executive, our president, treasurer, secretary and vice president has been shuffled between half a dozen people for the last 20 years.”
Chalmers said the use of computers and new technology has been the biggest issue for the Dunolly Field and Game organisation in recent years, and is now calling on people competent in the field to join the club.
“We need new faces, and people that are competent with modern technology. We have computer scoring which goes direct to head office, and can book in online and pay for entries ahead of time. Our club, however, doesn’t do a lot of that, as we haven’t got any technology-minded people that are available all the time,” he said.
“Nigel Elston has been our secretary, but he’s stepping down as he is turning 80. I’m vice-president, and about to turn 70. We’ve had Marg Davies as treasurer throughout the time I’ve been there, and has spent some time as secretary. She’s not quite as old as me, but her health is poor at the moment and she’s been struggling, so she’s stepping down too.”
The Dunolly Field and Game Club operates as a simulated field shoot club, where shooters look to hit clay targets that represent quarries that hunters normally pursue. According to Chalmers, Dunolly, like many other clubs, are looking to capitalise on the growth of that genre of shooting.
“Field and game operate as an overriding organisation that has member clubs in most states of Australia. Victoria has by far the most clubs. Each of these clubs do different activities. Some of them are interested in hunting and conservation so they can provide habitat for ducks, quails and deer to build up the game for hunting. Other clubs such as ours set up what’s called a simulated field shoot, where we shoot targets that are representative of game in the field. The ground is set differently every shoot, and we shoot rounds of 25, while we shoot three rounds on the day,” he said.
“Our ground is situated on Dunolly-Eddington Road, and we shoot once a month, apart from December and January as we shoot on the last Sunday of the month. When you join Field and Game Australia, you can shoot at any club, anywhere. You can present your membership card and nominate your grade and handicap. We’ve had visitors from places such as Bendigo, while a lot of people from Clunes and Ballarat like to come up and shoot here too.”
Chalmers had a simple message for people who were unsure about joining — the club’s survival hinges on their decision.
“If people don’t come and join us now, it won’t be there for them in the future, no matter whether they want to be a part of it. We’re now reaching a stage where we’re really on the brink. There are people spreading rumours that we’re closing up already, but really, we don’t know where we’re at until we’ve had this meeting, assess the interest that we have and whether we can get a committee that can be operational,” he said.
“We will be trying to carry on, and we have a few people that have put their hand up, saying they’ll join, but whether they will help out with running the place is another question. I can’t tell you what the outcome will be or our fate — all I can say is the more people that come along, the more chance we will have of surviving and having our facility in the Dunolly/Maryborough area continuing.
“It’s been going for a long time — it did have a period of recess when they had to relocate to a new ground, but that was a couple of years before I joined.”
The club’s annual general meeting will be held on Sunday at 530 Dunolly-Eddington Road, Dunolly, with interested people urged to contact Gordon Chalmers on 0428 890 908 or Nigel Elston on 0448 483 552.