i will be flying into Phoenix and renting a car to drive out to sedona for a couple of days, then to Scottsdale for a conference.  its my wife's conference so ill have nothing to do for a couple of days.

can i shoot in the dessert? what are the rules?
any must sees? or anything to avoid?

thanks for the help.

Yes you can shoot in the desert. I would go to Scottsdale gun club

Sedona... Have breakfast at the airport while watching the planes.  Then go do a Pink Jeep tour and/or go hiking on some of the trails.

Check out slide rock in Sedona. Not sure if you can now with the weather.

There's a village up there called Tlaquepaque

Check that out.

If you go shooting in the desert make sure you are atleast 1 mile from ANY structures occupied/homes etc

Thought it was a 1/4 mile

Shooting in the desert is not what it used to be, many places are now off limits.
Scottsdale Gun Club has an indoor range, pricey but nice, crowded on weekends.
I would stay away from Sedona on weekends too, traffic can get really bad. Be prepared for moonbat conversations.
Lots of gun places, right next door to SGC is another nice place, they renamed it and I can't recall the new name.
Bear Arms is nice too.
If the wife is looking for things to do with you there is the butterfly exhibit right off the 101.
Old Town Scottsdale is nice but limited parking.

im pretty sure its a mile. but i could be wrong. been a while since i shot in the desert.

but yes it is a lot tougher to find a decent spot. most spots are off limits because other dumbshits ruined it bringing all their crap and leaving their trash. or pissed off the local pd/people etc.

most people these days find a spot just keep their mouth shut lol.

also besides the butterfly exibit theres the new aquarium next to it and a little 10min drive for that is also the botanical gardens which is also scottdale/phoenix. nice for the woman.

Talking Stick Casino is pretty nice and fancy if you want to gamble a bit or have a few pops. We also have 2 zoos in town (PHX Zoo and Wildlife world Zoo)

No one will relinquish their secret desert shooting spot. You can try around Bloody Basin/Horsethief basin off the 17 around the Prescott turnoff. Have a good backstop because there's tons of off roaders riding around there. Table Mesa road north of town is another place, that I've never been to. I heard it sounds like World War 3 around there, but might be better if you go during the week.

Jerome is neat, an old mining town. There's a State park that used to be the mansion where the mine barons lived. Entry is very modest ~$8. Not nearly as many hippies as Sedona, but still a fair share.

Old town Prescott/whiskey row is cool. J and G sales is a nationally recognized arms/ammo mail order company that has a showroom there, a lot of surplus imports.

Snowbowl in Flagstaff has a ton of snow if you ski.

Grand Canyon is like a 3-4 hr drive.

Vegas is 4 hours, Laughlin is 3.

Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson is a 2.5 hr drive. Probably one of my favorite things in the state. They also have the Titan missile museum around there, and Tucson has the best Mexican food in the state.

Ben Avery is one of the country's premier public ranges in size and facilities north of Phx. Also has trap/skeet/sporting clays. The clays courses are a hoot and you can rent a shotgun (Beretta autoloader)

Definitely check out the Palatki Indian ruins while in Sedona. Also there are helicopter tours of the Grand Canyon that fly out of Sedona airport. If you've never seen it, I would check it out.