Field Target made its debut in Canada in 1994. After reading an article in an English magazine co-founders, Hans Bormann and Fred Truscott sent a letter requesting information on starting a Field Target club.

Until that point, they had been shooting pistols at a local gun facility but were finding little challenge in it. Wanting a change and armed with new information they put together their first match on the 9^th of October.

With no access to targets for the shoot, Hans, a machinist, made the first ones based on pictures that he had seen. He made improvements to the original design after purchasing a target at a shoot in Michigan USA.

To date Hans has made more than 150 targets. Selling some to other club members for at home practice, he has a t least 40 stored in his machine shop.

Initially advertising in newspapers and posting adds in gun shops proved unsuccessful, this new sport was relatively unknown in Canada. Soon word of mouth began to attract people. Most started out with spring guns, shooting targets from 10 to 50 yards out and earning one point for a knock-down. Eventually this changed to from 10-55 yards, with kill zone diameters ranging from ¼” to 1-1/2”.

In 1995 the group moved from its original venue at the Pioneer Sportsmans club in Kitchener, to the Elmira & District Rod and Gun, where it established its official name – the Waterloo Field Target Club. Shoots are held monthly starting in April, with the last match of the season being mid to late December.

Annually Canada hosts the Canadian invitational Field Target Match. Now commonly known as the Canadian Nationals, It is a 2 day event that has grown from its inception in 1995, an event that was attended strictly by Canadians, to it present day status. Each year a growing number of US shooters make the trip north to compete against the best that Canada has to offer. 

In August 2000 Fred Truscott decided to leave field target behind to pursue other interests. Hans continues to shoot regularly to this day.

One member who was new to the sport in 1995, George Harde competed in the Worlds in 1997. The event was held in Michigan at the Western Wayne County Conservation Association facility. Shooting with a TX200, George earned the distinction of being the first Canadian shooter to bring win at a US competition, beating the Americans to bring home an impressive trophy.

In 2005, Dennis Eden and Tim MacSweyn competed in the two-day Great Lakes 100, hosted by WWCCA. They placed second and sixth respectively.

Dennis and Tim have now formed a second FT Club using the Port Colborne Conservation club as its home base. The 2008 Canadian Nationals are to be hosted there.

The existence of 2 FT Clubs in Canada necessitated the formation of a governing body to oversee and regulate Field Target in Canada. CAFTA, The Canadian Airgun Field Target Association, is now officially recognized world wide, and as such could host future World championships.

Today many of the top shooters are shooting sophisticated pre-charged pneumatic air rifles, and even the fellows who stick to using spring guns are topping them off with high power scopes, with ranges such as 8-32x and 10-50x being popular.

Recognizing the fact that this display of equipment could be somewhat daunting to newcomers, a new series of divisions were established this year, including a hunter division. The hunter division has a subset of rules that allows guns with open sights and with lower power to compete. The scopes can be of no higher magnification than 15x and a face hit on the target garners a score of 1 point with a knockdown receiving 2 points. This division has brought in a whole new group of shooters, who are very pleased to be able to try Field Target without the expense that a top kit costs. They can gradually build their equipment and skills and progress to the more challenging divisions as time and budget allow.