Growing up shooting tin cans, Robert Lebkuecher learned at a young age how to hit his mark with precision. Lebkuecher, of the VIllage of Monarch Grove, has been perfecting his craft and getting ready for today’s start of the 40-week competition season as commissioner of The Villages Air Gun Club.
“Going out to the deserts of Southern California shooting at hillsides and tin cans with my father is how I initially learned pistol and rifle safety,” he said.
“It wasn’t until I came to The Villages that I learned about air guns.”
An air gun uses compressed air or other pressurized gas to fire projectiles. The four types of air guns include spring-piston, Co2, single-pump pneumatic and pre-charged pneumatic. And whether using a pistol or rifle while shooting at any of the three air gun ranges across The Villages, residents are required to shoot a .177 caliber flat-nose pellet to not damage any equipment.
The 2026-27 shooting season officially begins today at Sugar Cane Air Gun Range, 2618 Fenney Way, Wildwood, for the more than 70 members of The Villages resident lifestyle club.
Competitive shoots take place weekly over 40 weeks between July and April from 9 to 10:50 a.m. Monday and Tuesday at The Soaring Eagle Air Gun Range, 4396 Morse Blvd, Wildwood; 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at The Sugar Cane Air Gun Range; and 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday and Friday at The Rio Grande Air Gun Range, 1216 Rio Grande Blvd, Lady Lake.
As commissioner of the club, Lebkuecher said he and the club’s vice commissioners ensure the group is ready for the competition season by purchasing targets and pellets in bulk.
Shooters compete across four disciplines: pistol off-hand, bench rest pistol, rifle off-hand and bench rest rifle.
Lebkuecher, who only shoots bench rest rifle, said his biggest competition is himself — a lesson he tries to impress upon other club members.
“Competition-wise, I shoot against myself. I’m up there with being very competitive, though, I don’t know that I’ll ever be one of our very best shooters,” Lebkuecher said. “I try to encourage people to shoot against themselves and try to better themselves against their own scores. It’s a lot more fun when you don’t try to beat the top people who get 200 most of the time. Though, there’s a number of us that, in a way, try to outdo each other.
“The slightest little move, when you’re talking a fraction of a degree, can go from a bull’s-eye to 9 or an 8,” he said. “The target I’m shooting at, the bull’s-eye is not much larger than the pellet. There’s a little dot in the middle and you have to touch that for it to score a 10. The black part of the target I’m aiming for is about the size of a quarter. I don’t see the individual lines; all I can see is the black dot through my sights, so I center that.”
At the end of the 40-week season, top shooters are honored with awards during a club banquet. To be eligible for awards, shooters have to have shot at least 20 times in each discipline they want to be eligible in. Based on scores, they are placed in six categories including high master, master, expert, sharp shooter, marksman and shootest.
Lebkuecher, who is also a member of the higher caliber competitive air gun shooting club, One Buck Gang, said even as a master, he has challenges he has to work through.
“I personally have tremors that I was born with, so I shake,” he said. “I’ve got to work on how to stabilize my body, but once in a while, it affects how I hit the target. The last two years I was in the top part of master. I’ve been in the high master category for a couple years and I expect to go back up to high master this year. I’m getting a little better at not making that ever so slight movement when I pull the trigger.”
Besides months of competition, members of The Villages Air Gun Club participate in community events including the Senior Games and Camp Villages. Club members are set to teach teens 13 to 16 years old how to use an air gun safely during the upcoming Camp Villages sessions, already full, on July 16 and July 30 at Soaring Eagle Air Gun Range.
Catharina Field, of the Village of Tamarind Grove, said she joined the Villages Air Gun Club two years ago with her husband Terence.
Catharina, who serves as vice commissioner north of the Rio Grande Recreation air gun range, said members work to spread encouragement, whether it’s to other members, new participants or those just starting out with Camp Villages.
“Everyone is really nice,” she said. “We are there to help each other out, not be judgmental.”
Whether it’s the seniors in The Villages or the youth participating in Camp Villages, Catharina said working for the club can help enforce safety rules about handling firearms and help teach life lessons.
“To me, I find it almost therapeutic. I’m able to zone out on the everyday stresses and get in the zone,” Catharina said. “It’s important to not worry about who you’re competing against and focus on yourself.”
For more information about The Villages Air Gun Club, visit airgunclub.org.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
