Shooting in western washington

[tom98390]

Hey everyone!
I need some advice from a someone in my area on a few things.

-I was wondering if there were any ranges in my area that have a range of 500yards? Where I have been going we only have a 200yard range. That works for me now due to the fact that then guns I have right now wouldnt shoot well at much further of a distance. But withing the next 6-12 months I want to build a gun that would have a chance at the 500 yard range.

- Is there any varmint shoot around here. So far I have had no luck in find one. I recently picked up a 17hmr and even though shooting dime sized groups at 100 yards is great I would love to try my hand at varmit shooting. There may be some places around my area that have varmint shooting but lied due to my age (20) many people do think that a 20 year old is mature enough too handle a gun.

Anyhelp on this would be great!

 

[davlandrum]

Ft. Lewis

I do not have any contact info at hand, but Fort Lewis has an awesome rod and gun club (best I saw in 20+ years of wearing BDUs) and I would bet they have ranges that are open to civilians. I am sure the rod and gun club could help you get the info, or maybe even check the Ft. Lewis website.

 

[tINY]

Aren't there National Forrests in W.WA that get logged? seems to me that a few days sniffing arround should find you a big gravel pit or recent clear-cut.

Take a CB and be aware of logging operations - those trucks can't stop very fast.



-tINY

 

[davlandrum]

Range vs woods

Tiny, not a bad suggestion, but if I had my choice for really trying to dial-in at 500 yards, a nice bench with a cover and a flat range is probably what I would look for, and I know they have that at Fort Lewis and probably one at Yakima Training Center (east WA). I know in western OR, all those clear-cuts seem to be straight up and down. Being basically a lazy guy, I sure aint dropping 500 yards into a hole to retrieve a shot up target, so I know better than putting it there to start with.

 

[TJ Freak]

Range

I live in Spokane. I go out to the public lands around here. One beautiful thing about WA is there is alot of public land here. I'm originally from TX and those of you who live there know that it is almost all private land. I degress, I take a 100 ft tape, a pallet (shingle pallets are easy to come by check any construction site), a card table, a camping chair, and some wal-mart special targets. My wife made me some sand bags out of old blue jeans. I find some public land close by (not hard to do), set up and have a nice casual, take my time day of shooting. Look around a bit, I bet you'll find some nice places within an hour of you. Good luck.

 

[davlandrum]

Agree - on the east side

TJ - Agree if you are east of the Cascades, OR or WA either one there is plenty of public land that is easy to set up and shoot. West side public land, at least a lot of it, usually ain't that easy due to acute vertical angles. Of course, I don't know that I have ever attempted to shoot 500 yds, so I will shut-up and listen.

 

[tINY]

In NW OR, I know of at least one gravel pit that has 300yard opportunities.

There was anouther place we used to shoot about 600yards across a clear-cut only slightly downhill (50 foot drop, maybe). You had to keep an eye out, because the dead-end logging road that we set up on went right down range and dog-legged at the end (where you came in). While this made a great place to post targets, you had to make sure nobody was comming before you took the shot (or rely on one of the other guys there to keep watch).

BTW - if you have a truck, portable shooting benches aren't much of a problem and work pretty well. I prefer a mat myself.....




-tINY

 

[Scorch]

I'm not sure where in W WA you are, but judging from the zip you are somewhere in the Tacoma area. Besides the Ft Lewis range mentioned (and several others on Ft Lewis), there is the Tacoma Sportsmans Club (200 yd range), Eatonville Rifle & Pistol (500 yd range, and Paul Bunyan (600 yd range).

Paul Bunyan is very rifle-oriented (with 200, 300 and 600 yd firing lines), Tacoma Sportsmans Club is very shotgun oriented (with trap and skeet ranges and archery, pistol and rifle ranges), and Eatonville is very rifle oriented (with 200, 300 and 500 yd range). Paul Bunyan has weekly shoots, Tacoma Sportmans Club and Eatonville have monthly shoots.

All are listed in the phone book. Tacoma Sportmans Club is on Canyon Road south of 152nd, Paul Bunyan is on S Meridian on South Hill just past 176th, Eatonville Rifle & Pistol is outside of Eatonville.

There is also a range in Centralia, one in Bremerton, one in Auburn, and many others scattered around. If you are interested, we can get together over a cup of coffee or take a trip out there. I live in Puyallup.

OK, I just checked and you live in Sumner or Bonney Lake. You are closest to Paul Bunyan, out by th eSouth Hill Fred Meyer. Drive out there and talk to a few of the folks.

 

[tom98390]

Im in sumner as of right now. Scorch do you know of any varmit hunting around this area? Ive been too the sportsman club many times but if they dont make plans on making the rifle rang larger I dont think ill be going anymore. We I go there on a weekend I have waited for over an hour just to get a spot. Thanks everyone for there help!

 

[WingstotailsTaxiderm]

shoot me a pm and a call. I have a spot I go to that we marked off for 500 + for shooting in w wash. jim W

 

[Scorch]

Tom-
I know what you mean about Tacoma Sportmans Club. I think you'll like Paul Bunyan better. Go out this weekend and see.

For varmints I go to eastern WA, Idaho, E Oregon or Nevada. Lots of ground squirrels and some coyotes in eastern WA, same in Idaho and Oregon. Nevada has rockchucks and ground squirrels and jackrabbits.

 

[tom98390]

One thing that I have wondered is, when going varmint shooting how do you know where you can and cant shoot. I know its a dumb question but I wouldnt want to get in trouble.

 

[Scorch]

Read the regs.

 

[Magog]

I go to the Kenmore outdoor range in Bothell. Very nice, like it there a lot. Way better then Sams.

I want to shoot in the woods, because all the ranges have a no rap fire BS code.

I buy 500 rounds at a time and I like to unlaod.

So my plan is to call the cops and ask them the best place for me to go and shoot.

 

[Raines]

TJ, There is a good range just south of you in Mica. Its run by a grumpy old guy, who only charges 5 bucks. The great thing about that range is he has targets out to 800 yards and a four wheeler that he will run targets out for ya. Once you get to know him, he is a pretty cool guy. I live in northern Idaho now and have access to a great public range 1 mile from home and a lot of "rebel Ranges"...If ya ever wanna get together and do some shootin, lemme know!

 

[Jake Balam]

I live up in northwest washington (Mount Vernon, Burlington area)

We have the plantation, which has a 300 yard rifle range.

We usually just go shooting at one of the many gravel pits. Noone bothers you, and its free!

We usually just shoot pistol and shotgun, but Im sure you could easily shoot 200 plus yards there.

 

[savage1r]

TJ and Raines, I'm a spokanite as well and that mica place is awesome, I've managed to tap that 1000 yard gong out there a few times and that got me hooked. Should definitely organize a range trip sometime. And the thing I think is hilarious is that every time you try to describe that range to someone, everyone always says "Oh yeah, the one with the crazy old guy!" lol.

 

[jhgreasemonkey]

Just an fyi last time I checked Paul Bunyon was a members only range except for the yearly hunter sight in. So don't plan on just showing up and shooting until you go through all the hoops. Tacoma sportsmans club is okay but is usualy over crowded and like you said the rifle range only goes to 200 yards. I have been exploring the local state forests and there are a couple of good places to go like Capitol forest rock candy mountain where you can get off some safe long range shooting. Elbe hills state forest between Elbe and Ashford has a couple of decent shooting spots but you have to really look to find any safe long range spots because it's kind of hilly there and there are a lot of logging roads.