Grouse Ridge gears up for busy shooting season

MAT-SU — Longer days, warmer temperatures and an itch to get outdoors is drawing plenty of shooters to Grouse Ridge shooting range for recreational and competitive shooting.

With the fishing season still ramping up, there are plenty of opportunities for shooters to dust off the rust of winter, said Grouse Ridge Manager Glenn Hodge.

“We’re very busy right now,” Hodge said. “This time of the year, I usually have a lot of set up to do up top. This is our last week of spring league, so we’re still dealing with that. Then the tournaments, and people want to practice and get involved in different events.”

Along with ramping up the range’s maintenance and beginning of the season improvements, the folks at Grouse Ridge are also in full tournament mode. The range hosted about 150 shooters for a United Way fundraiser last weekend, and it is gearing up for the popular Brianna Gregory Memorial Supershoot on Saturday. The event, which kicks off at 10 a.m., is a benefit for cystic fibrosis research and Children’s Hospital at Providence.

Because the tournament caters to shooters of all ages and skill levels, the challenge is creating a collection of shooting courses that can be entertaining and challenging, without being too difficult for most, Hodge said.

But that doesn’t mean serious shooters can’t test their skills. During a tour of the Grouse Ridge grounds on Thursday, Hodge points out about a dozen already well-used ranges. One he expects to be very popular on Saturday is a FITASC course on the upper ridge of the range’s property behind the clubhouse.

FITASC is sort-of an obstacle course for shooting clay targets, Hodge said. Shooters are faced with different patterns of clays from the course, which he says is the most popular style of shooting at Grouse Ridge.

“For this shoot (on Saturday), I’m trying to make it easy,” he said. “But there will be some tough ones. Usually, FITASC is a little more challenging. This one’s a little soft (a course called West Field). You have three locations and you shoot a different menu from each location.”

But another FITASC course promises “to separate the boys from the girls,” Hodge said. “This is going to be a hard one, I think. It’s going to be tough.”

Another station he likes is a random tandem course, where teams of two shooters compete.

“Two people stand side-by-side and they won’t know which four will come out,” Hodge said. “So, they have to make up their minds ahead of time about who’s going to take what side as a team shoot.”

Cruising around Grouse Ridge, it’s easy to see why it’s a popular recreation destination. The courses are well maintained and offer a variety of challenges. And if there’s any doubt about the sport’s popularity in the Valley, consider Grouse Ridge will go through three, 40-foot truckloads of clay targets this year.

“We’re already ahead of that pace this year,” Hodge said. “And we’ve got a lot of big shoots coming up.”

For those unfamiliar with the sport, shooting “is very sociable,” he said. “They come here and you know a lot of people. People go shooting, have something to eat at the clubhouse. It’s just basically fun, it’s family fun, it’s clean fun. A lot of people come with their kids, husbands and wives shoot together.”

Cost is comparable to hitting a bucket of golf balls at a driving range. A round of 25 skeets costs $7 for members — Grouse Ridge has about 400 members.

But don’t assume the shooting range is a guys-only thing. Asked who are better shooters, men or women, Hodge paused.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “You’re trying to get me in trouble. I’ll say there are some women who are way better than some men. A lot of them could whip my butt, let’s put it that way.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.