It’s official folks, WOWS has purchased the land that the range is on. The road to get here began nearly a year ago when we began negotiations with Marty Mudd (Brian Martig) to purchase the range. Last winter a brave few board members walked the perimeter of the range to determine how much we would potentially need to purchase. We wanted to purchase enough of the property so that line of sight from the range could not enter the adjacent property in order to eliminate concerns for bullets leaving our property.

The next step included a formal survey of the range and the rest of Marty’s property. The cost of the survey was split with Marty. The survey determined that the range portion of the property is just over 20 acres and includes the field that we use for parking and camping, the existing range, and approximately up to the top of the ridgeline on all three sides inside the main range. It does not include the Long Range. The boundaries were staked at the time of the survey.

Following the survey, negotiations began on the purchase price and payment schedule. Now that WOWS owns the range, we will also begin paying property tax on the land. The terms of our lease had us only paying the increase on the property tax; we will now be responsible for entire property tax assessed on our property.

The back 35 acres that lie on the east side of the range has been sold to a third party. The only effect the sale has upon the main range is that there is an easement for access to that property. This means that the buyers will be sharing our driveway up to the curve where the coyotes are; their driveway will continue up over the hill along the existing power line. The sale however, will have an impact on our Long Range. The 200-yard targets and those beyond lie on the property that has been sold. Negotiations with the new owners regarding the Long Range are still pending at this time.

Several members have asked about making donations to go specifically towards the purchase of the range. The club welcomes all donations to help pay down the debt on the property. One of the suggestions we received regarding donations is to offer an incentive to those who donate to give them something in return for their generosity.  This was discussed during the March board meeting and the decision has been made to offer the following perks for donations.  For each $100 donated to the club, the donor will be given a card/certificate for one free monthly shoot, up to 4 shoots ($400).  At $500 and above, the donor will receive 12 free monthly shoots.  Card(s)/Certificate(s) will need to be presented at registration for the monthly match.  Cards/certificates are non-transferable and are note able to be applied to major shoots like Fire in the Hills, Smoke in the Hills, or Guns in the Hills.  Please reach out to a board member if you are interested in making a donation.