By Jim Thomas

An improved outdoor range is what area residents who have used the range for many years will notice when they sight in their rifles for the third combined big game hunt which starts at sunrise Saturday, Oct. 30.

The sight-in is scheduled this Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 27-29, at the Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club outdoor range, located a few miles east of Cortez just across from Montezuma County Fairgrounds Speedway.

The cost is $4 per rifle.

This effort is to help area hunters be confident in their rifles and to be more responsible in the hunting fields, according to a club spokesperson. The third combined rifle big game hunt begins at sunrise Saturday, Oct. 30.

The Four Corners Rifle Range is a private facility and is closed to the public at all other times. Anyone wishing to be a member of the club can phone 565-8960 or 565-4383.

Improvements were made this past summer, according to club spokesperson Ken Banks, who owns and operates Shooter’s World in Cortez. The club now has a first-class facility, thanks to these most recent improvements which were made last summer.

"Tons and tons of dirt was moved, thanks to Gary Merrifield who is maintenance supervisor for Nielson’s Inc. Nielson’s donated a grader and a front-end loader so we could put in an access road (running along the east side of the range to access the longer shot firing lines and for special cowboy action shooting contests. Rick Keck, a former Nielson’s employee who is a qualified big machinery operator, did the grading. The dirt was then used for the long berm and beefed up the other berms," Banks explained.

Today, it is a first-class facility but it was rather rustic and simple only a few years ago. Shooters can fire at targets ranging from 25 yards to 300 yards.

"When I came here 10 years ago, we had only four wooden benches. Then me and another guy built three more. But these would not do when we started bench-rest competitions. We sold the wooden benches and put in 10 regulation-height concrete benches," Banks said.

Another improvement was a new outdoor pistol range.

"This year alone we put in a new pistol range (located adjacent to the rifle range). We went in and leveled off the area and built a berm at the end line. Now you can shoot a handgun at the same time someone is shooting a rifle because we added this large dirt berm (running parallel between the two ranges)," he commented.

"There was an enormous amount of energy done in order to accomplish this work," Banks commented. "It took a lot of donated time by club members. We especially want to thank Nielson’s," Banks said.

Mark Hillman, a club member, made the concrete pad. The pipes for the uprights for the cover was purchased from Belt Salvage. Then we put this roof up so we have a covered shooting area. The shooting targets are at 7 yards, 25 yards, and 50 yards.

The outdoor rifle range is used year-round. But the club also operates an indoor pistol range as well. Several different organizations not only lease time at the outdoor range but also at the indoor range, located just off Lebannon Road, in Cortez.

The club sponsors hunter safety classes, handgun safety classes, plus a junior shooters program. The police department and sheriff’s department lease the pistol range occasionally. The National Guard also leases time for qualifications. The outdoor pistol range will be shut down during the winter months. Otherwise, it is for use for members only.

"That building really has quite a schedule, especially during the winter months. The local archery club uses the range one night a week, junior shooters have it two nights per week, pistol shooters one night, and women shooters only one night. That place is used from five to six nights a week but less often during the summer," Banks noted.

The annual dues for the Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club is $25 per person. However, a person must also belong to the National Rifle Association ($25 per year dues) as well because the local club is NRA affiliated.