For everyone from newbies to experienced hunters and hobbyists, Bull Run Shooting Center in Centreville offers shooting and archery programs that can improve shooting skills and boost confidence.
The center offers a $35 Learn to Shoot Safety Class for anyone 12 and older every Saturday and Sunday at various times throughout the day. The class offers first-time shooters a primer on loading and unloading a shotgun, etiquette and rules within the gun range, what kind of stance to take before shooting and how best to aim for the clay targets.
There also is a $55 Learn the Game class two Fridays out of every month, which supplements the material from the Learn to Shoot Safety Class with a field game of Wobble using the center’s wobble traps. The class maxes out at five students so the instructor can dedicate time to guiding each person.
Private shotgun shooting lessons with one of the center’s 11 instructors are also available upon request for those 12 and older. The lessons cost $75 per hour and include one-on-one mentoring and shooting practice that can boost whatever aspect of one’s skill set might be lagging.
Once the preliminary classes have been taken, visitors can try any of the many shotgun exercises available at the shooting range, including a 50-target sporting clay course that mimics the unpredictability of actual hunting, two skeet fields, two wobble trap fields and one trap field. The sporting clay course is more challenging due to its random nature, while the trap, wobble trap and skeet fields present new shooters with an algorithm they can easily follow, thereby typically hitting more targets. Fees for the shooting range can run from $6 to $135 depending on what games visitors play and how often.
Bull Run Shooting Center also offers guests a chance to unleash their inner Robin Hood and learn how to hit targets with a bow and arrow with optional instruction from experts in a 20-yard indoor target range. In this section of the shooting center, bows and arrows must be supplied by the shooter. There is a wide range of archery sets available online and in sporting goods stores depending on the level of experience and budget. An hour of archery practice at the Bull Run is roughly $5 if no professional instruction is requested.
