Redmond Rod & Gun Club members are hard at work preparing for new shooting ranges at a site the nonprofit recently purchased off of U.S. Highway 97.

For several decades, the club has leased 66 acres from Deschutes County for shooting ranges. The club had been searching for a new home in recent years after the county notified the club of its intention to rezone the land for industrial use. With more than 460 members and counting, the new 225-acre club property provides plenty of room to expand and offers a variety of ranges for archery, rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines.

“Our goal is to have a destination shooting sports complex,” said club President Bill Layton.

Known as Halligan Ranch, the property was previously the location of the Central Oregon Sporting Clays and Hunting Preserve. The organization that ran the preserve bred pheasants that could be hunted on the property, which is about 7 miles south of Redmond.

Improving the property

The club has been holding work parties to transform parts of the property into future shooting ranges. Juniper trees have to be cleared first.

The club will then grade and level the terrain. Fill dirt and other material being brought to the new property will be used to create berms to stop bullets.

“Everything we’re doing at this point is with volunteers,” said Layton.

He added that the nonprofit doesn’t have enough funding to hire contractors for the job. The design plans, however, were created by an engineering firm, he said.

About two dozen volunteers spent Thursday clearing juniper trees with chainsaws where the rifle and pistol ranges will be located. Trees were also removed at the site of a new road to bypass houses and barns. The trees being cut down are being split into firewood for warming stoves at the different ranges.

The property remains a working ranch with llamas and horses. The business owner is leasing land from the club for ranch operations.

The club received permit approval from a county hearings officer in September that allows for the shooting ranges, but harsh winter weather set in as the club was planning to start work on the property.

Deschutes County commissioners extended the lease with the county at the old 66-acre site from June 30, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2016, so the club could have more time to move.

What’s in store?

The club plans to create a range up to 600 yards for rifles and up to seven pistol ranges for various skill levels, including one for new firearm owners.

“We hope to have a pistol range committed solely to law enforcement,” Layton said.

Shotgun use will be available at stations at the northwest corner of the property for sporting clays, skeets and traps. The clay targets are launched into the air from machines and are meant for bird-hunting practice.

There will also be a cowboy action range with Western town facades and targets. The club is creating an archery range that will feature 3-D foam targets in the shapes of deer and other wildlife. Archers move through the course shooting arrows at the targets as they spot them in brush or among trees.

Layton said use of the shooting ranges could begin in late September.

“It’s been a long process,” he said.

In 2014, members began planning to purchase the Halligan Ranch property. The county informed the club in 2008 it would eventually terminate the lease on the former site near the Redmond Airport. The club has received several extensions from the county as it has attempted to relocate.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, tshorack@bendbulletin.com