Still Time For Oregon Hunters To Sight In At Local Shooting Clubs’ Range Days

With the clock ticking down to the start of Oregon deer season on October’s first weekend, there’s still time to sight in your rifle at more than a half dozen ranges across the state holding sessions for the hunting public.

Sighting in is a preseason ritual to adjust a scope that might have gotten nudged out of alignment last season, to try out new ammunition and dial in a good grouping, or just to get back in the swing of things. The goal is to be able to make a “clean and ethical shot” on a deer or other big game animals, as ODFW put it in a notice announcing the range days.

With all of those ends in mind, late yesterday morning I found myself at the Douglas Ridge Rifle Club outside Eagle Creek with my youngest son, and I literally spent the rest of the day raving about how fantastic the experience was to just about everybody who had an ear – and not just because it took me only five shots to dial my Remington 600 in.

You could say I’ve sighted in a time or two over the decades (I’ve still got a scope bite from one of my first outings, a hurried affair on the eve of the eve of deer season at a Seattle-area range), but this was by far the best session I’ve ever had, bar none.

I liked and appreciated how the entire operation was run, from the friendly guy manning the front gate, to the crew running the sign-in station and who took my money, to the all-business fellow who did a weapons check on my .308, to the safety equipment dispensers, to the guy letting folks in and out of the 100-yard shooting line, to the range safety officer, to the signs on posts making the rules clear, to the layout of the actual targets and range, to the guy on the spotting scope right behind me marking my hits on a cardboard square, to the helpful advisor at my side taking that information and suggesting adjustments, to the eagle-eyed gent who on my way out wondered if my rifle wasn’t one of the first production year’s run in 6mm.

It was a ridiculously, stupendously good deal for just five bucks – worth far more than that to me, actually, and a real quality public service put together by the organization.

With all the club members and volunteers on hand, it was probably meant to be able to safely deal with getting a high volume of Portland-area hunters on target, but despite lots of vehicles in the parking area that had me expecting a half-hour or longer wait to get a bench, the line wasn’t crowded at all for midday on a Sunday.

I was sighting in with a box of copper Hornady 165-grain CX Superformance bullets that I’d picked up the day before at Cabela’s after I couldn’t find any Barnes there or at Fisherman’s Marine near my house. I switched to nonlead bullets years ago now at the urging of my wife and with the veritable endorsements from Buzz Ramsey I’ve read over the years.

But I also brought some old lead bullets just in case my son Kiran wanted to send a few downrange. It turned out he didn’t, as he was a bit uncomfortable with all the folks standing around. My older son River had also wanted to go shooting yesterday but demurred when I explained where we’d be going and what we’d be doing. Constrained by other commitments in the day, my goal was maximum efficiency, but I think both boys were hoping for a more private session, like when I took Kiran out to the woods last winter and we put some holes in cardboard. Next time, fellas.

Settling in at the bench, my first shot was about 6 inches high and an inch to the left, but rather than immediately start tinkering with the scope I took another shot and this one was about 3 inches high and still an inch to the left. That told me and my advisor to adjust my scope eight clicks down and four to the right, each click representing a quarter of an inch at 100 yards.

The next shot was now on the vertical axis but about an inch or so low of dead center, so we brought the scope back up three clicks. The next shot was about an inch high, and a follow-up confirmation was right there too, so we called it a day.

I’ll admit, having not just one person but two people I didn’t know looking over my shoulder and judging my shooting should have been VERY off putting to me too, but yesterday I found it extremely helpful. I’ve been to ranges by myself when it’s felt like my scope adjustment strategy was more akin to Wheel of Fortune, but this time I went home with a strong sense of confidence of where my bullet will hit after minimal changes. No, I won’t be bringing along Hornady’s ballistic chart to take any 600-yard shots, my comfort zone is 100 yards or less, but whether I do buy that controlled tag for the fire-scarred Eastern Oregon unit I was drawn for or stick to the west side, I’m now one step closer to being ready for season.

You can be too. Hunter sight-in days continue at Douglas Ridge Rifle Club the next two weekends.

Other clubs offering time on the line one or both weekends later this month include the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club south of Albany, Four Corners Gun Club just east of Salem, East End Rod and Gun Club outside Milton Freewater, Molalla Rifle Club southeast of Colton and the Canby Rod and Gun Club at the edge of Canby. The Clatskanie Rifle and Pistol Club is open September 22-29.

Hours and fees may vary, so see this ODFW page for more info.