Evening shooting to be offered

PHOENIX - The Ben Avery Shooting Facility Main Range and the Ben Avery Clay Target Center will transition to new summer hours of operation for the public next week.

Beginning Tuesday, May 1, the hours of operation will be:

• Mondays: Closed

• Tuesdays: 5-9:30 p.m.

• Wednesdays: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. (closed 1-5 p.m.)

• Thursdays: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. (closed 1-5 p.m.)

• Fridays: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Saturdays: 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

• Sundays: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The new hours will allow us to better serve our customers this time of year, when days are longer and the weather hotter, says Dana Yost, assistant director of information and education for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The expanded hours and lighted range areas will let shooters take advantage of more comfortable evening temperatures.

The Ben Avery Clay Target Center will resume offering evening trap, skeet and sporting clays shooting on May 1. Evening shooting had been suspended last November when the Arizona Game and Fish Department began renovations on the westernmost trap and skeet fields. Those renovations, which included installation of a new electrical system and lights, have been completed on most of the fields.

Yost added that when daytime temperatures begin consistently exceeding 100 F, the Main Range and Clay Target Center will adjust Saturday hours to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. (closed 1-5 p.m.) and Sunday hours to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

We�ll post the changes well in advance at the range and on the Arizona Game and Fish Department Web site at azgfd.gov/basf and azgfd.gov/ctc, says Yost.

The department also is planning on lighting some of the archery ranges and will announce archery evening hours in the coming weeks.

Winter hours for the Main Range and Clay Target Center will resume sometime in late fall 2007. Those hours will be posted in advance at the range and on the Arizona Game and Fish Department Web site.

The Ben Avery Shooting Facility Main Range is located at 4044 W. Black Canyon Blvd. in Phoenix. The Ben Avery Clay Target Center is located at 37016 N. Archery Drive in Phoenix. To get to either, take I-17 to the Carefree Highway exit (exit 223). Go west on Carefree Highway about 1/4 mile for the Main Range entrance, or go west about 1/2 mile for the Clay Target Center entrance and follow the signs.

This page was last updated 06/16/2008