WESTBAY — As the sounds of shotgun blasts echoed through the air, Lewis Waycuilis walked off the handgun range after shooting at targets.
He was the first person to use the Bay County gun range Friday morning, and he said it did not disappoint.
“I enjoyed it,” he said. “It is a very nice facility. I’m looking forward to coming back.”
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Waycuilis likes that the range is within 15 miles of his home, which will allow him to find a place where he can legally sight-in his rifle close to home. He said he also looks forward to the sporting events that will be offered, as well.
“They are going to have archery and skeet and trap, so there are more things to do,” he said.
The firing ranges portion of the first phase of the project at 11411 Landfill Road opened Friday morning. It featured a 50-foot outdoor pistol firing range, as well as 50-foot and 100-foot outdoor rifle ranges
Berm separates the ranges and is at the back of them to prevent bullets from going astray.
The fee for use of the shooting range is $10 per day.
A combination classroom, restroom and maintenance building also are part of Phase I, and that should be finished in a couple of months, said Will Burnett, hunter-safety regional coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The county pitched in $200,000 from recreation impact fees to build the project but has now turned the reins over to the FWC to staff and operate it. In addition, the National Rifle Association contributed $25,000 to the FWC for planning and design of the shooting range. FWC also is investing $200,000 for equipment needed for the supporting clays, trap and skeet fields.
FWC operates similar facilities throughout the state, but this is the only one of its type in the Panhandle, Burnett said.
“We’re definitely excited and thrilled to be able to open it to the public,” Burnett said.
The FWC is planning to bring shooting events to the range. The sporting clays range will be opening at the range in July 2015, he said.
“It was in our second phase of the plan,” he said. “This was first phase here, as well as the [combination] building. But with that (sporting clays facility) we’re waiting until the next fiscal year so we’ll be able to afford the throwers that go on the range.”
Hunter safety classes, which are required for many people, will be held at the site year-round, he said.
“This will be a tourist attraction, as well, and we’re looking forward to providing a safe place for folks to come out and shoot recreationally and to become involved in the shooting sports,” Burnett said.
When the building opens, FWC will open the classroom and sell shotgun shells and rent shotguns.
Bay County Commissioner Mike Thomas was at the range Friday morning.
“It is going to be a great thing for locals to be able to shoot and should be popular with as many ex-military as we’ve got, and hunters,” he said.
He agreed with Burnett that the range will bring in tourists.
“We’re going to get a lot of people when we finish with sporting clays (facility) and some of the other things we’ll be offering,” he said.
Plans call for a 16-station skeet course that simulates the flight patterns of different birds, Thomas said.
“It is going to be fun,” he said. “It’s a good recreational activity the family can do.”
Bob Douglas, a retired major with the FWC, also was trying out the range Friday.
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“This is probably one of the best things that has happened in Bay County in a long time,” he said. “It’s going to be great for sportsmen, but it’s actually going to be good for everyone in the county. It will take people out of [shooting in] neighborhoods and backyards and bring them in a controlled environment that is going to be safe, where if they need some guidance they can get some. And you can’t beat the facility; it’s great.”
Douglassaid it recently has become more difficult for people to find a range.
“Some of the other private ranges have closed,” he said. “There are some clubs around. They are very expensive and they are restricted to a limited number of members.”