outdoor places to shoot?

[7808]

i know alot of people probably dont want to share there spots, but the range gets boring, its ok for hand guns but not much fun for rifles. none of my immediate family is really into guns or has land, so i dont really know of any places or if there is any where you can just go shoot outside. is there any some what close to the cities anyone would care to share ? i know of one place in milaca, i think they have some rule about not shooting during deer season there but otherwise its ok. ive been there a couple times sighting in deer rifles with a few friends. it is about an hour north of me though, is there places like this closer? have not been there in a while because i didnt want to talk my friends into driving an hour one way just to shoot and run out of ammo in 30 minutes lol

[Punisher102]

The Richfield American Legion has an outdoor place down in Webster (south of Lakeville) but you need to be a member.

[Dakotared]

Isanti County sportsman club is a out door range. $105 year with a key fob to get in when you want. It is just North West of Cambridge.

[Sigfan220]

If you are talking about state forest land that is the closest. It's worth joining a range. But the close ranges are expensive and the cheap ones are about 45-65 minutes from the cities.

[Need4Speed]

Chengwatana State Forest

I go there with my boys a couple times a year, shoot the hell out of all sorts of crap we drag along with us. They perfer this to an indoor range any day. Last fall we shot the hell out of a raggedy ann doll, then some other guys that were there stuffed it with tannerite and gave her a proper sending off. Redneck?? YOU BET!

[Makarov]

To find the main Chengwatana gravel pit / "shooting range" do the following:

Open Google Maps
Google "Hustletown Union Cemetery"
It is located on Forest Rd (also called County Rd 10 ) East of Pine City MN.
Follow Forest Rd East 2 miles where it makes a gentle curve to the North and becomes Evergreen Rd.
Off the center of that curve, take the gravel road about 200 ft South to the gravel road going due East.
There is a large wooden sign there for Chengwatana State Forest.

Continue East on that gravel road into the forest land.
You will drive past the silos of the farm on the corner and his fields.
The gate for the forest is about a mile in.
This gate is closed in the spring until the road conditions are good.

You will pass some small pull off / parking areas where people also do some shooting.
You will also pass a large pond on the North side of the road.
Don't wander off the road while gawking around. You will be stuck!

Continue East until you come to the only Y in the road.
Take a Right to the range.
(A left goes to a parking area for ATVs, snowmobiles, dirt bike trails)
The "range" shows up as a large white area East of the road, just after the road crosses Red Horse Creek and turns South.
(use Google maps, satellite view, 1000 ft scale)
The gravel road dead ends at a turn around / gate about 1/4 mile South of the range location.

This "range" is maybe 100 yds, depending where you set up to shoot from.
Someone recently (this summer) built two very nice wooden benches to shoot from.
Rock solid and extremely well built, anchored to 6X6 posts in the ground.

If you switch to satellite view, and zoom into the 50 foot scale, you can see a couple of logging trucks at this site on the current Google sat view image.
The logging is over and done.
A cable on posts has been strung up to separate the parking area from the sand/gravel pit.
There are also huge rocks placed to keep vehicles out of the pit.
There is a small berm / bank to the back (east) of the range.

Be aware: ATV's can and do go on the trails far to the East in the woods.
There is a small camping area about 100 yds South of the range.
The current sat view image shows a large white trailer there.

Have fun, but do so responsibly.
Please have the decency to clean up after yourself.
Don't blast glass and leave it!
Take your shot up cans and other garbage with you when you leave.
Leave it cleaner than when you arrived and we will all benefit
Just maybe this will be here for our grand kids to enjoy.

[LumberZach]

I really like Chengwatana as well, and it seems to be a popular place to shoot. It seems odd that it is about the only one of its kind in the cities area though. So far oakdale or ahlmans are decent places to shoot and have any real fun without testing loads or sighting in. I would go to Chengwatana more if it weren't such a long dang car drive to get up there.

[Imsohungry]

Amazing, detailed instructions Makarov!

Hopefully, I will have a weekend to head up there. It is almost a 2 hour drive to Chengwatana for me.

[gunsmith]

This is The google maps link....clicking it will presumably open a map zoomed into the 'range' area....let's try.

I'm assuming shooting is done toward the East and that the sharp line on the east side of the parking area (w/ the 2 logging trucks) is the demarcation between level ground and a shallower area....or would that be the berm?

http://goo.gl/maps/UJKPe

45.854999,-92.764995 these are the coordinates to a spot just SE of the 'parking area' would that be the 'gravel pit' ?

[BigDog58]

I belong to Rainbow Sportsmens Association that has it's ranges in Cokato (about 35 minutes West of me in Edina) and the dues are $45yr or 3yrs $125.

It has up to 300 yd rifle range, pistol, skeet, trap, .22 rifle/handgun ranges and Archery Range. It also has a club house and camping area.

I would be glad to take you out as a guest if you'd like to get together and shoot sometime

Just PM me

Jim

[Tomh]

Can anyone verify if the state forest in Pine City is open?

[Sigfan220]

Can anyone verify if the state forest in Pine City is open?

Probably not, they close the roads in the spring so they don't get tore up. Call the dnr or check the website for driving restrictions.

[Bearcatrp]

http://del-tone-luth.com/
Pistol, shotgun, rifle. 200 yard range too. Weekends get busy but weekdays are lite.

[Thunder71]

Outdoor? That's all we have down here are outdoor ranges.