If you are looking for new places to practice archery, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is aiming to have a range near you.
The agency has doubled the number of public archery ranges it has across the state this year and more are planned in the future.
The PGC has six archery ranges, is opening six new ones this year and five more are planned for next year.
The agency realizes how many people like to shoot archery gear and is trying to meet the needs of the public.
“That’s been the goal here for a little while. I’m an archery guy and always have been an archery guy,” said Todd Holmes, Shooting Sports Division chief for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Over the past year, bowhunters accounted for just over a third of the state’s total deer harvest with 154,850 deer. Of those bowhunters, 67% were using crossbows.
“We have several of the largest archery businesses in the world located in Pennsylvania with Lancaster Archery and Kinsey’s (Mount Joy), so there’s a huge following for archery here,” Holmes said.
Over the past five years, the PGC has been designing and planning new places for people to shoot their archery gear.
New public archery ranges
The following ranges are opening this year:
- State Game Lands 50 in Somerset opened in May.
- State Game Lands 180 in Greeley Pike County is now open.
- State Game Lands 109 south of Erie will be completed by the end of June.
- State Game Lands 216 in Lawrence County will be completed by the end of June.
- State Game Lands 248in Indiana County will be finished by the end of June.
- State Game Lands 77 near Treasure Lake in Clearfield County will be completed by the end of June.
For the facilities that are listed to be done by the end of June, Holmes said, that’s the construction deadline. They still may need inspections, permits and some of the targets may not be delivered yet.
“We’re going to open them as soon as they’re ready, but we need to make sure we have all of the final inspections and, obviously, targets help,” he said.
Existing public archery ranges
Ranges already are available at the following locations:
- State Game Lands 176 near State College in Scotia.
- Game Commission headquarters property in Progress.
- State Game Lands 230 north of Carlisle.
- State Game Lands 234 near Schwenksville.
- State Game Lands 205 in Lehigh County.
- State Game Lands 046 Middle Creek Wildlife Area in Schaefferstown.
“I’m really excited we have this many archery ranges and there’s going to be more to come,” Holmes said. “We would like to see three or so in each region before we are all said and done, and maybe some regions will have five or six depending on the demand.”
Holmes has five new ranges proposed over the next year but can’t release the locations until they are approved.
“As long as there is a demand, we’ll probably keep looking for areas to keep putting these ranges in, as long as they are getting used and people want them,” he said.
The ranges in southeastern Pennsylvania are being used heavily.
“People really enjoy them, they are getting used and they’re excited to see them being put up,” Holmes said. "No sooner than the ranges open, there are people on them almost daily."
Brian Collett, PGC environmental education specialist at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Lancaster, said they have had an archery range for more than two years and now have events to teach people the fundamentals of shooting a bow.
“We use National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) equipment and their teaching techniques and what we do are Pop Up Archery Events,” he said.
Eight are planned this year, including one that was held in April.
“We provide all the equipment, we have NASP certified instructors there and we take people, everything from people who never shot a bow all the way up to some relatively experienced archers,” Collett said. "We take them through the steps that they teach in NASP."
People can find out about the upcoming Pop Up Events online at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area webpage.
“We have our entire event brochure for the year,” he said, adding the events are also on the agency’s Middle Creek Facebook page.
New this year, in September, shortly before archery season opens, Collett said they are planning an event for crossbows.
“We provide all the equipment and it gives people an opportunity. Some people may be interested in trying deer hunting and they don’t know how to go about it,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity to try out some of the equipment."
The range is used throughout the week for people who just like to shoot and need a safe place to practice their skills.
“People use it year-around. There’s never a week that goes by that I don’t see a handful of individuals down there shooting,” he said. “It’s open to longbow shooters up to crossbow shooters. There are benches there for crossbows."
With ranges opening in new locations across the state, Collett said, “It’s a wonderful thing. The best part about archery is that there are a tremendous amount of people doing archery who aren’t even hunters. It makes a great family sport. It’s a great leisure time activity."
One of the new ranges that just opened is in Somerset County. Sgt. Brian Witherite, PGC field supervisor for Cambria and Somerset County, said archers have been using the range for about a month.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for the sportsmen and women to have a facility in the Somerset area, where even if they don’t hunt, if they just like to shoot bow or crossbow or get acclimated with a new piece of equipment, to have a facility right here for them is really advantageous,” Witherite said.
“It’s uniquely structured, there’s canopy cover, there are shooting stations that go out to 50 yards, there are blocks that can take broadheads, there’s blocks that can take field points. They can utilize crossbows, compound bows, recurves, and it’s in a nice parking area."
People can place their own paper targets on the blocks. The site is a former rifle range.
“It’s nice for them to utilize that space for this opportunity. A range that was once used for firearms and then was decommissioned as a range, because we improved that at another location, now becomes an archery range facility with the latest and greatest opportunities and amenities to allow a safe environment to shoot archery,” Witherite said.
He looks forward to the site being a training facility for schools and other groups which want to introduce people to archery or further develop their skills.
With the range located close to Kimberly Run, a stocked trout stream, he said it’s a great place for people to have an outdoor event that combines fishing, hiking and archery.
All of the state’s ranges are designed for archers to shoot 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 yards with field tips, and there are a few targets designed for hunting broadhead tips to help bow shooters fine-tune their hunting gear.
Unlike the agency’s firearms ranges where participants are required to have a range permit or hunting license, the archery ranges are open to everyone free of charge.
"They’re open for anyone. If you’re new to the sport and you don’t have a place to shoot and you want to go out and try shooting a bow for the first time, that 10-yard target, that’s what it’s designed for,” he said. The short distance is also helpful for those who have a new bow or sight to start out.
These public ranges are funded by the federal Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which is a tax generated on shooting equipment sales. The cost for the ranges averages between $150,000 and $225,000 depending on how much site preparation work needs to be done and the size of the range.
Holmes is excited about the work being done for the bowhunting community.
“We’ve always had a core following of archers and archery hunters, competitive archers, some of the best archers in the world, Levi Morgan, who is arguably the best archer in the world, lives in Pa. and we’re providing opportunities for future archers down the road and people that want to hone their skill,” Holmes said. “I take pride in knowing that we are helping grow the next generation of archers here in Pennsylvania with these ranges."
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him atbwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go OutdoorsPA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name.Follow him on Facebook@whipkeyoutdoors, and Instagram atwhipkeyoutdoors.
