By EMELY ARROYO
Shooting birds and bunnies may cause activist hype, but at the dorms, it is one way for students to relieve their inclinations to shoot things.
Water balloon launchers fired off at the “Bunny/Bird Shoot” at Deseret Towers Monday evening. Residents at the dorms were invited to participate in the event put on by Q-Hall head resident Joyce Garren.
Garren conceived the idea this summer as she watched students play with water balloons and water balloon launchers.
“I thought the students needed an activity to get it (playing with water balloons) out of their systems,” Garren said.
“This event should relieve primal desire to shoot water balloons,” said resident assistant Roy Turner, a sophomore from Stewardtown, Pa.
Garren, along with help from resident assistants, coordinated the event. They set up stuffed animals on top of trash cans about 60 feet away from the four points of execution. Students used the water balloons and launchers to aim and shoot at the birds and bunnies. The students kept whichever stuffed animals they successfully shot.
With practice and increasingly great skill, one student managed to shoot four bunnies.
“(This event) has helped me out in two ways. This is good target practice … and it helps me out with dates because most girls like receiving stuffed animals,” said Ernesto Nunez, a freshman from Lake Jackson, Texas majoring in physical therapy.
Other students, not quite as successful, still had a good time.
“We were brought here by our family home evening dad who didn’t tell us what we were doing. He just promised it would be fun. So far, it’s been a blast,” said Krista Miller from Mesa, Arizona, a freshman majoring in interpreting.
Turner and Nunez shared insightful advice to the novice water balloon shooter.
“Don’t run out while people are shooting,” Turner said.
“Just keep hitting. Pull the launcher back really hard and let it go,” Nunez said.
Over 50 stuffed animals were used to make this event a success. Garren said next time, they may use something else as targets.
