It didn’t take long after moving into the house I live in to build a shooting range out in the pasture. There are several gullies up on the north side of our open land, and I used one as a backstop and the top of another as my shooting station. It is exactly 100 yards, and that hill I shoot into makes a darn fine backstop.
I even fortified it with some 6-by-6 timbers the old owner had left lying around. I laid those posts up the slope of the backstop hill, giving me some level spots to put targets on and even a tiered structure I could put cans and other items on for plinking.
But the cows and horses have caused some havoc down there. They walk along the ridge above my timbers, and rocks and dirt fall down and settle into the terraces of the stair-step backstop. That not only screws up the level spots to put targets, it also creates a safety issue. Bullets hitting rocks tend to ricochet, and I don’t like hearing the whine of a deflected round.
So I scouted out a new spot to rebuild my range. It’ll take some work, but there’s an even better place to move those timbers to. I’ll still have a great backstop, and I can layer the timbers one on top of another and have a vertical backstop, instead of the stairstep one I’ve been using. I have enough timbers to put a few down level in front of the backstop, so that I can still have a good place to anchor my target stands.
And better yet, I can get back to at least 300 yards to practice over there. I doubt I’ll ever take a shot at a wild creature from that far, but if I practice from 300 yards, I should be more accurate from 100 or 200 yards when I need to be.
I’m just not looking forward to the work involved. Those timbers are super heavy, and I’ll need to do some digging, too. And I don’t have a tractor yet.
If anyone wants to come help, I’ll let you shoot at my range. Just be sure to bring plenty of ammo.
