WAYNEDALE WOODS AND WATERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS

We just received some great news. The old shooting range at Huntington Reservoir is being torn down and a new one will soon take its place. This should be a great improvement in the way the range is handled if it’s anything like the one at the Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Management area near Mongo, Indiana.

I advise everyone who owns a firearm to get out there and practice. Knowing how to properly use a firearm is the first step in being able to protect yourself.

This outdoorsman hopes that in improving and expanding the range at Huntington, they will do away with the concrete sewer tubes that we used to have to shoot through and make the range with a more open and natural setting. You don’t shoot through a tube when you go hunting; why shoot through one on the range?

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NEW SHOOTING FACILITY TO BE BUILT NEAR HUNTINGTON

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources broke ground recently on a new $1.4 million shooting sports facility at J. Edward Roush Lake near Huntington, Indiana. Paid for mostly with federal funds provided by shooting sports enthusiasts, the new range will be one of the best and safest facilities of its kind, according to DNR Director John Goss. “Safe places to shoot are in high demand,” Goss said. “More than one million Hoosiers are shooting sports enthusiasts, and they need facilities like this to support hunter education programs and to have appropriate locations to practice and improve their skills.”

The facility is expected to open in October of 2004. The new facility replaces an aging shooting range that has been used by 15,000 shooters each year. Goss said he expects the new facility to draw many more customers. The shooting range will have 33 rifle/pistol-shooting stations from 25 to 100 yards, and four shotgun stations. Overhead concrete baffles will prevent shots from accidentally leaving the range.

“Funding for the new shooting facility follows the model that the DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have used for years. People who use a facility pay for most of the cost of that facility,” Goss said. The federal excise taxes people pay when they purchase firearms, ammunition and hunting equipment are passed onto the state by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cover three-quarters of the cost of building the new shooting facility, Goss said.

A similar range was built near LaPorte, Indiana in 2002 at DNR’s Kingsbury Fish and Wildlife Area. Construction of a larger shooting facility is planned for Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area near Columbus, Indiana in 2005.

“Our goal is to spread these facilities around the state to promote firearm safety, hunter education and to introduce people to shooting sports,” Goss said. When completed, the Roush Lake facility will be staffed with a range officer.

Goss asked visitors who attended the groundbreaking ceremony to pause for a moment to remember the late former Congressman J. Edward Roush, for whom the Huntington County Lake and recreation area are named. “Congressman Roush was at the forefront of important environmental legislation. He was a sponsor of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and he led the effort to build the three flood control reservoirs in northern Indiana,” Goss said. For more information, contact Roush Lake at (260) 468-2165.

NEW MONTHLY OUTDOOR MAGAZINE IN INDIANA

I’ve discovered a new magazine on the market (actually it’s in its third year of publication). It’s called Indiana Outdoor News and it’s put out each month by fellow Hoosier Outdoor Writer, Mark Crowley.

Anyone wanting a sample copy, please contact Mark at mcrowley@wvc.net, write to him at P.O. Box 135, Vincennes, IN 47591, or give him a call at 1-(866)-436-3667. Tell him you read about his magazine in The Waynedale News.

The Indiana Outdoor News index for the month of March lists articles/columns on Humor, Fishing, Trapping, Turkey Hunting, Off-Road, Non-Game Wildlife, Backyard Habitat, Camping, and Cooking. Advertising is accepted on either an open or contract rate.

The price of a ‘mailed-to-your-door’ subscription is just $20.00 per year. Newsstand copies are $2.00.

Mark is looking for interested persons to become Indiana Outdoor News retailers. Give Mark a call to learn more about his retail commission offer; it pays up to 50 percent of the issue cover price for every copy sold.