Rifle ranges can instill shots of confidence

Experience is always the best teacher. Unfortunately, learning by experience sometimes can be a painful process. The pain isn't always physical; sometimes it's mental or emotional.

Such is the case with the lesson I learned during the last hunt I shared with my middle daughter, soon to be a high school senior.

We could see the buck feeding on the slope no more than 100 yards across the draw from our hiding place under a fat, round pinion pine. To that point, our hour-long stalk had been successful.

At my direction, Sherese assumed a prone shooting position and slid the .243 forward on the daypack.

I was confident Sherese would make the shot, but she never took it. Not because she didn't want to, but because she couldn't find the deer in the rifle scope.

As her frustration grew, so did mine. Nothing I did at that point seemed to help, and she eventually gave up.

As we watched the little buck disappear over the ridge, I realized Sherese's inability to find the buck in the scope was largely my fault. Because shooting had come so relatively easily to me, I assumed it would to Sherese as well.

Although Sherese had spent time on the range, and was proficient with the rifle she carried, I didn't make her practice from the prone position. It was a hard lesson learned for both of us.

Most of us would agree that quality range time is the key component to making a clean kill shot in the field. It also is an ethical requirement of the hunt.

But simply shooting a bunch of holes in a paper target while leaning over a shooting bench or other dead rest isn't enough.

Part of our training regimen should include shooting many rounds from each of the four shooting positions -- standing, kneeling, sitting and prone. This is especially true when working with the next generation of hunters.

If you or someone you know has a big-game tag for the upcoming hunting season, now is the time to start practicing.

If you are working with a new hunter who never has fired a high-powered rifle, do this person a favor: Don't start him or her with the largest-caliber rifle in your gun safe. Start with a small caliber and work up to a gun that he or she is comfortable with, even if you have to borrow a gun or two. No one can accurately shoot a rifle he or she can't stand to shoot.

While an impromptu shooting range can be set up safely and legally in places outside the Las Vegas Valley, using a formal shooting facility is much easier and safer.

The Boulder City Rifle Range -- operated by the Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club -- is about 30 minutes from downtown Las Vegas, and using the courtesy range doesn't require membership.

The courtesy range is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays that are holidays. The courtesy range is closed during high-power rifle matches.

Shooters are limited to two-hour sessions. However, if no one else is waiting for range space, you will be allowed to continue. Otherwise you will have to step back in line and wait for another opening.

You will need to bring paper targets, and shooting of glass is not allowed. The cost is $5 for nonmembers.

If you would like to use other areas of the facility, you might want to consider club membership. The initial cost to join the Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club is $100, and that includes the annual dues of $50 and a one-time initiation fee of $50. Thereafter the cost is $50 a year.

The Army Corps of Engineers built the range in 1938, and it is home to one of the few remaining 1,000-yard ranges in the United States. Club members also have access to a shotgun area, 200-, 300- and 600-yard high-power rifle ranges and a silhouette range.

For more information about the Boulder City Rifle Range, access www.brpc1.org on the Internet.

Doug Nielsen is an award-winning freelance writer and a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. He can be reached at doug@takinitoutside.com.