Sighting in your rifle is something that you should do before leaving on your hunting trip. Trying to sight in your guns near the location of your hunt may jeopardize your hunting by spooking the game in the area. You also run the risk of aggravating other hunters within earshot because you may affect their hunting as well.
But sometimes rifle sights can be knocked out of adjustment while you travel to your hunt location. Now what do you do?
If you’re hunting with Rocky Mountain Ranches, LTD, and need to re-sight in your rifle, you have two nearby rifle ranges from which to choose.
Bears Ears Shooting Club
The Bears Ears Shooting Club is located just north of Craig. It is a range with good benches. An added bonus is that help is usually available.
You’ll find the rifle range on the south side of Cedar Mountain on Moffat County Road 7, about 7 miles north of Craig. If you need directions, ask anywhere in town or call 970-824-6755 for details. The range offers outdoor rifle (100-400 yards targets, rifle silhouette, pistol silhouette) and muzzleloading. Bears Ears Shooting Club is a great range to just practice with your rifle before your hunt, even if you don’t need to sight it in.
The location of Bears Ears Shooting Club, Cedar Mountain Range, is shown on the map above. Cedar Mountain is the mountain that you see from the west end of Craig when you look north. It has many radio signal towers on top of it.
If you take advantage of this facility, please respect the range and clean up after yourself before you leave.
“Hunter sight-in days” are the two days before each combined hunting season. Volunteer members are there to assist you and are equipped with spotting scopes and gunsmithing tools to make certain you leave with a rifle that shoots where the crosshairs cross. On hunter sight-in days, there is a charge of $5.00 per gun, and you can sight in as many rifles as you need to.
Hayden Shooting Range
If you’re hunting with Rocky Mountain Ranches, LTD, near Hayden, Colorado, the Hayden Shooting Range is located 3 miles south of the town of Hayden on County Road 37. For more information on this range, contact the Hayden Town Hall at 970-276-3741, or call Rainbow Sporting Goods at 970-276-3425.
The Hayden Shooting Range is operated by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The range features 100-, 200-, and 300-yard rifle and pistol ranges that are open to the public 7 days a week from dawn until dusk.
About the Author
S. L. Merriam is a freelance writer and outdoor enthusiast.
