| The cowboy action shooters reenact scenes from the Old West. |
The new shooting park in Green River opened with a big bang on Oct. 10 and 11. The new shooting park will accommodate the needs of visitors and caters to all types of shooting interests. The park includes a 600 yard high power rifle range, a 100, 200, 300 and 600 yard bench rest, silhouette range, a 12 bay cowboy action range, five station trap and skeet range, pistol range and a small bore rifle range.
The range became a reality through a joint effort involving Green River City, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah State Highway Patrol, United States Federal Aid Program, Utah National Guard and thousands of hours by local volunteers and contractors.
The main focus of the park will be to educate young shooters and conduct hunter safety programs to promote the safe and ethical use of firearms. The park also hopes to spark a love of the shooting sports in the young and a lifelong interest to boot.
The park is located on the east end of Green River and will be administered by the Green River Shooting Parks Inc., and will be open to the public for organized practice and competition. For general information concerning the park you can contact Green River City. Ben Coomer is involved with the rifle and silhouette shooting, Walter Maldonado is connected to the trap and skeet shooting and Robert “Doc” Nelson is the expert in the cowboy action shooting.
| This cowboy takes his shot from high atop a moving horse. |
At the grand opening festivities cowboy shooters gathered from far and near to try their hand at the 12 shooting stations. They took their chances robbing banks, rescuing lost souls and shooting things up at the local saloon all in good fun. The cowboy action shooters hit some and miss some with a variety of rifles and pistols reminiscent of those used by the bad guys and of course, the good guys in days gone by.
These Western shooters replicate the days of the Old West in both their firearms and their dress as they compete for plunder and prizes and bragging rights at the next shoot.
The shooters were also treated to a dutch oven lunch prepared by local Green River scouts.