Laird O’Neill photo; The new Cold Mountain Range will allow Haywood County handloaders to test their loads.
County’s new range: Cold Mountain Rifle Range
by LAIRD O’NEILL
Special to The Mountaineer
Haywood County is getting a new rifle range. What started four years ago as a dream of local hunting rights crusader and disabled sportsman’s advocate, Wayne Smith, was made a reality March 2, when the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission allocated money for it’s construction.
Troy Carroll, President of the WNC Sportsman’s Club, said of Mr. Smith, “Our club was focused on the Lake Logan and Cold Mountain Game Lands issues. When those were resolved we turned our attention to getting a rifle range. Mr. Smith had already been on the job. The Cold Mountain Range is happening at lot sooner than any of us thought possible.”
Mr. Smith sent this letter in to the Mountaineer this week.
Dear Laird,
Just thought I would let you know I was in Raleigh March the second when the commission passed the funding for the Cold Mountain Shooting range. The amount they agreed on was sixty thousand, this will give them money to contract it if they wish or they might elect to do it themselves with or take offers from different clubs and other resources that are willing to do some on hands work. This will also give them money for shooting benches, target holders and some type of pathway for disabled shooters from the shooting pad to the target holders. From heavy support from the Pisgah High School youth shooting club the Cold Mountain Shooting range will accommodate a small trap for shooting clay's, a lot of schools are getting into this sport. We have a collage group offering to do some of the work on the wheel chair accessibility part as an educational and community project. The Walkfar Coonhunters had their monthly meeting March 7th and met with Paul Bradley head Ranger over Appalachian Forest Service district to discuss shooting range in his district. The large number that showed up just goes to show that there is a great desire for shooting ranges in every district. I would love to see every person that owns a firearm or loves to shoot get organized and form themselves a gun club. It is like one speaker said, you need to keep the youth interested and keep working for shooting ranges and not to do so sometime in the future your rights will be taken away.
Wayne Smith
One issue that was resolved was the use of shotguns at the range. Most ranges do not allow clay targets to be shot at with shotguns.
The concern is that lead shot will fall in the woods outside the catchment area and be ingested by birds and small game causing lead poisoning. The installation of a trap device will keep the flight of the clay target on a path that will allow the shot to fall in the area designed to contain it. Local school clubs compete shooting clay targets and this addition to the range will give them a place to practice without damage to the environment.
“The Commission is very pleased that we’re able to allocate $60,000 for this very popular project,” said Richard “Dick” Hamilton, executive director of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “It will be a benefit to all the residents of Haywood County,” he said. “This is your sportman’s license revenue at work.”
The new range will be located about five miles from Bethel off Hwy 215 in the Queens Creek area of the Cold Mountain Game Lands.