Post your favorite places to shoot and info about rules, facilities, fees, and events that might not be on their respective websites.

VT Fish & Wildlife Official Range List

Hammond Cove Shooting Range-Hartland, VT

Barre Fish & Game Club-Barre, VT

North Country Sportsman's Club-Williston, VT

Lamoille County Fish & Game-Morrisville, VT

Precision Valley Fish & Game-Perkinsville, VT

http://pvfga.com/

My local club.  Nice outdoor range for rifle shooting.  Beware of fudds though.. You WILL get yelled at for shooting too fast if the wrong people are around.  (especially if shotgun matches are going on)

Same with the Barre range.  I think the rule is 3 shots per 5 seconds.

The only official rule is no full auto or "simulated full auto fire" whatever that means.  There are just some grumpy old dudes within the club's board of directors that hate when young people actually have fun at the range.  I have been yelled at for shooting my 10/22 too fast.  Then 10 minutes later they fire up the trap range with their shotguns and shoot just as fast and it's fine.  

A lot of it is controlled fire. They don't want you climbing the berm. 10/22 isn't going to climb but a AR could. A trap gun isn't going to put rounds into the neighbors. I hate fudds as well I used to shoot in St Albans but they would get pissed when the target boards would get shot up but also wouldn't let you shoot over the top of them a slight bit so you wouldn't tear them up. That range was flat so anything over the range would go till it fell out of the sky. I don't shoot there any more. They started covering all the benches. Though cool for the rain it is loud as shit. Really nice range but definitely some interesting characters up there.



 

In my case it has nothing to do with control.  We quite literally have a mountain for a backstop.  It's about noise.  The excuse I have been given is the neighbors complain about rapid fire.  Which is ridiculous on so many levels.

Yeah especially when you have 5 trap guns going off with in quick succession. That sounds like a situation I wouldn't put myself in very often. We need to get suppressors legal again in this state.
 

Quick reviews of the two ranges I've shot at

Chittenend County Fish and Game Club - Jonesville VT

Membership was $40/family last year, this year is $50/year.  The range is well set up with berms/target boards for ranges going from about 10 yards out to I think 150.  All benches are covered and I believe they just built an enclosed shotgun house.  The people I've met there have been generally friendly, ranging from young to old.  There's usually a good mix of pistol, tactical carbine, and long rifle shooters.  There are some dbags/range nazi's at times.  I had one negative experience in which "RANGE COLD" was sent all the way down the line, acknowledged by one member of the last bench(a group of 4 standing around chatting).  Orange cones were put out by everyone except for them and everyone was under the impression they were on the same page.  After we all got back(approx 6 groups of shooters) a member of the last table came over swearing at everyone about range cold.  It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, his group confirmed the cold but he was unaware.  

This is actually the real issue with the range entirely...pistol shooters are on the same 50-75 yard wide line as rifle shooters.  It makes it hard to change targets as the two ends of the range are on completely different timelines of fire.  I do not enjoy this range very much, although by and large you will meet friendly shooters.  When it isn't full it's a nice place to shoot.  There is one shooter who I've seen drive off others with his "IM IN CHARGE HERE" personality, he means well, and in some ways helps with the range cold/hot situation, but is overbearing and comes off rude frequently.

The other issue with this range is that it closes on odd days as part of an agreement with their neighbors.  You have to stay aware of the status of the range at all times, the closed days are listed on their web sites calendar.  

Laberges Shooting Range - Charlotte VT

Laberges is the most laid back operation in my area.  It is a family farm with a gravel quarry that doubles as a firing range.  You stop at the owners farmhouse and ask permission to use his land.  He is extremely friendly and has never turned me or my friends away(we come at reasonable times).  There are ranges designated for different types of arms.  Pistol, Pistol/carbine, Shotgun, Rifle, ect.  There is a little sense of disorder to the range since each group of shooters has to police themselves, but in many ways this makes the experience better.  My friends and I can go to the range, find a spot not being used.  Set up our targets and shoot as we see fit.  Want to blow up some 2 liters then setup paper while everyone else reloads?  Go ahead.  As long as you are shooting with people you trust with safety this place is ideal.  The rifle range is set up with berms at varying ranges, and benches to shoot from.  Bench space is limited though, and the range can get crowded(it's very popular).  The owner asks for donations on your way off range which I like very much.  There are times I can only afford $2, there are times when I can afford $20.  It's nice to be able to give what you can.  The friendly nature of the owner also enhances the experience.

I don't see any mention of Chester Rod & Gun.  Not the most amazing facility, but I have a ski house in Londonderry and have been going there on winter weekends when the skiing isn't great for a few years.  It's right on Rt 11 & everyone I've met there has been pretty cool.  You can join at the club, or at Chester Hardware in town.

Any thoughts of Waterbury/Stowe fish and game?
http://www.wsfgc.com/

And whats the deal with shooting on state land? Can I just go into the woods find a good backstop and have a fun day?

The WSFG club is tiny. They have a skeet area with a tower and a small covered range with two or three benches.

I keep a membership because it's five minutes from the house and I can run down there on week days when it's empty.

Certainly nothing fancy but it is a place to shoot.

Black River Rod and Gun. Love the place. I became a member back in March while I was in town for alpine nationals. Can't beat $20 for a year. Indoor and outdoor ranges, the outdoor is covered too. I've shot there 8 times now and I've only seen 3 other people.

I had a really bad experience there about a week and a half ago when I went with my girlfriend and her father. We were shooting in pit #2 about 15 yards from the target and I was teaching my girl how to use her new handgun. The only other ppl there were a young couple and they seemed fine with taking turns on shooting.

Anyways, right after shooting her mag and before we could turn around, the guy starts dumping the mag in his glock while standing 10 FEET behind us! After I got my girlfriend to safety, I approached him and very politely asked that he refrain from shooting until we are behind the plane of his muzzle. To my surprise, he became VERY irate and began dropping f-bombs like it was his job and became very aggressive. Even after I stopped speaking to him, he continued to try to provoke me. Not wanting to share a range with a person who clearly has anger issues, I gathered our stuff and got my girl and her dad out of there as quickly as I could.

That was the first and LAST time that I will ever go to that range.

Any one have any experience at Hale Mountain Rod and Gun Club in Shaftsbury?

Got my membership a few weeks ago. It's the first range I've been a part of so nothing to compare it to but seems very nice. I have Monday's off so I usually get the whole place to myself.

I know membership was just about at capacity when I got in.

how do you get membership at Hale Mountain ? thanks

Hale Mountain Fish & Game Club

I got a family membership at Hale Mountain in Shaftsbury a while back. The kids and I are out there as often as we can manage. There are probably some grumpy folks out there, but the ones we've met have been uniformly friendly and helpful. The facilities include a trap field, 25-yard pistol pit, and 550-yard rifle range, along with a clubhouse building. Membership and contact information is available on the website.

This was taken from way up on the mountain, looking down at the rifle firing line. There are about a dozen covered firing positions, mix of benches and prone positions. Target stands from 25 to 550 yards, with steel plates from about 200 to 500. No personal full auto or simulators, exploding targets (Tannerite) or .50 BMG or derivative rounds.

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This is the pistol pit. .22LR rifles are also permitted here. Anything heavier goes to the rifle range.

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I'll add a few more photos next time I think about it. These were just a couple I took during a work day this weekend.

WSFG is so-so. I really like the range and have participated in a number clean ups, but between it and the Chittenden County fish and game I've largely been put off shooting all together due to the annoyances in trying to shoot. WSFG is effectively booked all spring/summer Fridays and weekends for events, and the events are rarely documented in their calender, so unless I could get out there on a weekday I never shoot there (despite being 2 minutes from there). After half a dozen times of coordinating shoots with friends, or packing up all my gear on a rare day I can get off, and showing up to find an undocumented event closing the range, I don't ever consider shooting there on a weekend.

CCFG is a nice range, but the hours aren't that great (close at 4 or 6), and the range layout is a pain. With all shooting done from one building you will shoot for 10-15 minutes and then spend 30 minutes pacing, waiting for other folks to finish shooting so you can go check/reset targets (you can shoot spinner targets but the lower half of the berm is rocks so be careful). The acoustics are not that great with the one long building, so if I want to shoot my AR at 100yrds I get annoyed looks from everyone on the shorter range 22/pistol ranges. The range also does not allow for members to bring non-members, so I cannot take any new shooters or friends shooting. CCFG is also closed the first weekend of the month, which always seemed to be the only time I could get to shoot.

I usually maintain a membership to one or both ranges to support them, but I managed to shoot a whopping <50 rounds last year and maybe twice that year before to verify zero and check functionality due to scheduling/availability issues.

Been a couple years since the last post, so thought I'd check in and see if there's any new ranges I don't know about in the Bennington area? I've been looking for a place to start running more drills/faster paced practice with semi autos. I love Hale Mt. but the rifle range is only good for bench stuff.

Probably just going to buy a decent chunk of land someday and make my own setup but that's not happening anytime soon.

Bumping for any new range info. I am planning on checking Parros new indoor range out in Waterbury soon. Has anybody been to Caledonia Forest and Stream Club ? It's local to me and am curious if it is open during the winter months.