hendershot
Well-Known Fanatic
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2018
- Messages
- 64
I apologize for a long thread with lots of pics, but it's often how it happens to go when I start one.
Seeing another current thread here about indoor/outdoor ranges made me want to share what I've been working on for the last few years. It has been a pretty slow process for me. Factoring in young kids, work, and weather that often does not cooperate, my time to spend on it each weekend is not as much as I'd like.
The back story.... I've had a small pistol range behind my home for a while now, and nobody lived on the land behind it. That is, not until 2017, when someone did buy that land and built a house. I didn't know what I was going to do. My passion and hobby took a serious blow. I had looked at other land in my vicinity previously and knew that prices were insane for the area required to make a range.
One day while looking, I happened upon non-prime land for most buyers. It was about 30 acres and bordered by a river on 2 sides, with no homes close by. Tons of wildlife, secluded, and a close drive from home. I wasn't sure on buying it until the wife said go. She knows how much I truly enjoy shooting and the outdoors in general, so I tossed an offer out and bought it.
I took my gps and compass, and marked out a few different options for the range location and direction. I figured out which one was best, and began making trails and cutting down trees at the end of 2017. I did work for a while with my chainsaw and skid loader, but it was rough for the bobcat and slow going. While helping a coworker build part of his garage in Spring of 2018, I saw an old Link Belt excavotor in his yard. It was his dad's, who I also worked with, and he was done with it and looking to sell. It is old, slow, tired, and is basically a big POS, but it can dig holes and move trees. It could blow at any time, and I often have to give it rests after working for a bit, but it's getting the job done.
As of now, I have a pistol range that allows me to sweep a pretty wide angle, a small berm to allow shooting up to 200 yards, and a medium berm at the end to shoot up to 380 yards. I still have a lot of work to do. A guy could spend months just cleaning up and burning all the downed trees and undergrowth. I'd like to add another pistol range just opposite of the current one for full movement, and build up a large flat area at the rear for the longer range shooting. I foresee this as being a place to spend quality time with the kids as they get older, time with friends, and the much needed time to self. I absolutely love it out here and think it's going to be worth my time and effort.
Video of it in January, 2019
How it all began in late fall of 2017
After some chain sawin'
Time for real progess! Summer 2018
Angle looks good! Now to make it taller and wider
Making sure I'm lined up before adding the far berm
Handgun range end of 2018
Range a few weeks ago.
Seeing another current thread here about indoor/outdoor ranges made me want to share what I've been working on for the last few years. It has been a pretty slow process for me. Factoring in young kids, work, and weather that often does not cooperate, my time to spend on it each weekend is not as much as I'd like.
The back story.... I've had a small pistol range behind my home for a while now, and nobody lived on the land behind it. That is, not until 2017, when someone did buy that land and built a house. I didn't know what I was going to do. My passion and hobby took a serious blow. I had looked at other land in my vicinity previously and knew that prices were insane for the area required to make a range.
One day while looking, I happened upon non-prime land for most buyers. It was about 30 acres and bordered by a river on 2 sides, with no homes close by. Tons of wildlife, secluded, and a close drive from home. I wasn't sure on buying it until the wife said go. She knows how much I truly enjoy shooting and the outdoors in general, so I tossed an offer out and bought it.
I took my gps and compass, and marked out a few different options for the range location and direction. I figured out which one was best, and began making trails and cutting down trees at the end of 2017. I did work for a while with my chainsaw and skid loader, but it was rough for the bobcat and slow going. While helping a coworker build part of his garage in Spring of 2018, I saw an old Link Belt excavotor in his yard. It was his dad's, who I also worked with, and he was done with it and looking to sell. It is old, slow, tired, and is basically a big POS, but it can dig holes and move trees. It could blow at any time, and I often have to give it rests after working for a bit, but it's getting the job done.
As of now, I have a pistol range that allows me to sweep a pretty wide angle, a small berm to allow shooting up to 200 yards, and a medium berm at the end to shoot up to 380 yards. I still have a lot of work to do. A guy could spend months just cleaning up and burning all the downed trees and undergrowth. I'd like to add another pistol range just opposite of the current one for full movement, and build up a large flat area at the rear for the longer range shooting. I foresee this as being a place to spend quality time with the kids as they get older, time with friends, and the much needed time to self. I absolutely love it out here and think it's going to be worth my time and effort.
Video of it in January, 2019
How it all began in late fall of 2017
After some chain sawin'
Time for real progess! Summer 2018
Angle looks good! Now to make it taller and wider
Making sure I'm lined up before adding the far berm
Handgun range end of 2018
Range a few weeks ago.
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