Tupper Lake Rod, Gun & Sports Club, Inc.

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The Tupper Lake Rod, Gun and Sports Club was started in the 1920's under the direction of Dr. Glenwood Dlesser. During this time local sportsmen gathered at local farms where competition shooting occurred namely Turkey Shoots and the like. It was decided at this time to purchase 30 acres on Simon Pond Road from Mr. Fred Leboeuf for the purpose of establishing a club for local sports enthusiasts. With monies raised by the Rod & Gun, the Town of Altamont purchased the land for the purpose of constructing a lodge. About a year later monies were again raised by the Rod & Gun and given to the Town of Altamont for the purchase of 3 acres of water front across the road from the lodge.

A view of the log cabin lodge dedicated
June 21, 1936.

During the 1930's the Work Progress Administration (WPA) and the Conservation Corps (CC) was established by the former NYS Governor and now President of the US Franklin Roosevelt. The WPA was set up to provide work and relief for the jobless. The WPA did work for municipalities and not for non-profit or private groups. So therefore this is why the property was bought by the Town of Altamont so as to take advantage, if you will, of building the lodge at no cost to the community through the WPA.

The Rod & Gun Club was chartered in 1937.

Here is a shot of the fire place inside the lodge.

In the years to follow the Shermon Jones Indoor Shooting Range was built and dedicated in 1962. In 1992 the garage was built and the pavilion was added on to the lodge.

In the mid to late 1980's interest started building (in the local area) in the sport of archery. Archers started gathering at a local farm to shoot together. In 1989 under the direction of Mr. Allen Thompson the Tupper Lake Archers became a chartered club. The archers set up a course on some land and began shooting on a regular basis.

A couple years later the members started shooting indoors at the local Catholic School gymnasium during the winter. The club started hosting 2-d shoots in the summer then eventually went to 3-d targets. As membership grew so did the interest in finding a permanent home. After meeting with the Rod & Gun officers an agreement was reached were the archery club would be moved to the Rod & Gun facility with the only stipulation being that all archery members must also be rod & gun members in order to be covered under the insurance.

It seemed each winter the club was always searching for as place to shoot indoors. At one of the meetings it was mentioned that the club needed to find a way to raise money. The 3-d shoots at the time were only showing a profit of about $200 for a days work. This is when the Mountain Challenge was born. It took a year and a half of work to put on the first Mountain Challenge. The first event saw almost 300 archers for the 2 day event. It has grown each year to a record high of 400 shooters.

Since the start of the Mountain Challenge the Tupper Lake Archers have been able to fulfill their dream of building an indoor range. In 1998 an eighty foot by forty foot building was erected through the help of many volunteers. Since then the membership has grown to almost 130 archery members.

The new indoor archery range.