Unlike the loose gun law state of Aizona, where it’s super easy to get out n shoot ‘em up, Illinois has some really POOR recreational shooting opportunities. There is one exception: Buffalo Range Shooting Park in Ottawa, IL.
For $25 per person, whether or not you have a FOID card, you can bring virtually anything you have to this park and shoot all day. There are several ranges – Rifle Target (50, 75 & 100 yards), Pistol Range, Clay Range, and a really cool Plinking Pit. The plinking pit is the favorite of most, I think – it certainly had the most shooters.
The scope on my .22 was WAY out, as evidenced by the 20 or so hits out of about 100 on the 100 yard range. Me ad Bruce shot only one 30 minute session there before heading over to the clay range to try out my new 12 gage! There are 3 manual clay launchers – 2 worked okay. After destroying half my case of clays, we decided to head over to plinking pit. I was able to accurately enough dial in my scope and then shoot off hundreds of .22 rounds. It was really fun to shoot a golf ball around down in the pit.
The range is a bit of drive and a bit pricey, but it’s pretty worth it. The people there are super nice, it’s kept clean and they are insistent on safety, which is comforting.
My next shooting outing should be in IL and might actually be hunting. We’ll see.
