Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays

This was by far one of the nicest sporting clays course that is open to the public that I have been to, BUT one thing did grind my gears… You have to pay 8 bucks to use a push cart for your ammo and guns. When I ask the range officer he said it was for the maintenance of the push carts, but come on I didn’t realize that wd40 was so expensive. They try to make up for it by having rest stops along the way with free coffee and water, but I would rather have a free push cart.

Holy cow, was this fun! I’ve ‘plinked’ (if that’s the appropriate term with shotguns) at Scout camp and with friends out in open fields, but was intrigued by the introductory session offered by LVSC. On the day my friend and I visited, we spent about an hour and a half with Bernie — our instructor. He took us through 50 rounds, each, and several stations, imparting his knowledge on us newbies. So, it wasn’t just rapid fire, blowing through a couple of boxes of ammo, and move on to the next group of newbies.
I was impressed with Bernie’s ability to continue to teach the concepts in various ways, trying to find what would click. He distilled it all nicely to about five key points, but not overwhelming us with everything at once. Lots of patient, good humored, repetition — which was very helpful. As for the tools, we were given a 12-​gauge, over-​under Beretta. Solid feel. Seemed to absorb recoil well — no sore shoulder. Clean.
Great facilities. Everything seemed to be in good shape, and working smoothly … except maybe my aim. ;-) I lost count of the number of stations — somewhere in the mid-​teens, I’m guessing. Clays over water, through pillars, overhead, etc. Lots of variety. Lots of fun. We had a cart, but the distance between stations is certainly walkable. We were there midday on a Saturday, and it was busy. You might be waiting to slot in at a station.

I visited for the first time recently and had a really good time. They staff was friendly enough, the guy that familiarized us with the course was engaging and funny. I imagine it a place where the instruction, if you wanted it, would be pretty good. A knowledgeable, yet friendly and fun instructor makes a lot of difference with dangerous hobbies. Puts newer shooters at ease.
There was a short wait for the intermediate and advanced courses so I tried the beginners and it was still fun. Challenging enough for someone with experience to miss a few! I was told the difference between beginners and intermediate is minor.
It seems you can pretty much go at your own pace (of course be courteous to others as you might on the golf course). I was a lone shooter that day and the guys in front of me said to play on through!
Not one ‘no bird’ the whole course, throwers were quick and consistent. A few interesting stations with nice views. Some stations shoot over a quarry and another involves clays shooting towards you from the windows of an old quarry building. Station 7 was interesting and was the only station I hit all birds.
If you’re buying shells from them, they’re actually well priced unlike some of the other trap/​skeet places in NJ where I live.
Only downer, if I’m nitpicking, is the level of worker traffic. Those Kubota tractors they drive are darn loud. I know they’re just taking care of the course so I don’t mean this as a complaint per se. It’s a review so i’m looking for both positive and negative aspects. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
All of that said, I’m going again this weekend. Overall a great time.

As someone who hasnt really shot guns I was initially intimated by the prospect of coming here. After our beginners tutorial I felt much more comfortable. The staff was really accommodating, funny and informative. I would encourage any beginner to come here. I will say though that it was a little disconcerting how little we were supervised when he initially set out but it turns out that there was frequently (if not always) a staff member nearby.
The range was amazing. There were so many types of shooting situations to choose from and the course was large enough that you didn’t feel rushed at any station. The grounds were well maintained, beautiful, and easy to navigate (even a huge lake that served as a back drop to some of the stations).
If you are with a group of friends and looking for a fun place to spend the afternoon this is for you, I will definitely be back!

Love this place. We’ve been here plenty of times now and try to get here early. It’s a place for people who want freedom shooting and not be tied to having a trapper but also for those people who at least know the etiquette’s and safety of shooting. The people are great there and their pro shop has some great stuff. Lots of fun and strange enough, their shells are cheaper than buying them at Cabelas.

Great place to go for an all day outing. Have been here a few times and it never dissapoints. Warning though, since this place is pretty popular on holidays, etc., you may either want to make a reservation or go early because the last time I was here, we didn’t make one and ended up having to wait for over an hour and a half to go. Other than that, the scenery is beautiful at this redone abandoned quarry and the prices aren’t bad at all. Take a golf cart or a push cart (it’s a lovely walk, too) and you’ll have a ton of fun going from station to station shooting clay pigeons.

This place was fabulous! We arrived at 2:30…LATE! argh! these guys were phenomenal! They got us all together, loaded up with ammo and two instructors. Off we went around the quarry. They lent us one over/​under and let us use our two semi-​autos. I can’t express the amount of fun we had. Our instructor was Len (or was it Clem)…doesn’t matter, both get rave reviews.
The course is around a quarry with clays thrown by automatic machines, several at each station. There must be 15 or more stations set up. We went through about ten stations in two hours. We all ended up pretty good shots! hitting more than missing.
The price was $ 70 per person, but included ammo, loaners, golf carts, and two instructors.
The only down side, not even a half a star, was at the very end of our tour we got hollered at for having a closed chamber on a semi-​auto. The gun was not used in out venture at all. Never even got loaded. Our instructor never said anything. There was a snap-​cap protecting the firing pin, which I guess he thought looked like a round in the chamber. We open it up, he owed us an apology. Never got it.
Ah well, the rest of the day made this point moot.

First experience shooting sporting clays and thought it was a beautiful course. I’d love to find something this nice here in the Austin area.

Amazing place to start shooting your rifle at clay plates!!! It was my first time and I had such a memorable time! I had tons of fun being around nature and the challenge to shatter the clay plates! The people that work there are super friendly and they are very helpful whether they’re in fields or at the desk! I’m definitely coming here again!

I’ve been here with the boyfriend twice. I am far from an expert when it comes to ranges and this is only the second range I have been to. But I do really like this place. The employees are friendly and more than happy to answer questions or stop by if you are on the course and look to be having trouble (which is every 5 minutes for me). The membership is worth it if you think you will visit more than once or twice in a year, especially if you are or were in the military. They also really care about safety. They don’t let you walk into the clubhouse with the gun. They are quick about signing you up and getting you processed while still making sure to explain all the safety stuff. They hold onto your license while you rent the gun. You meet a gun expert outside after the initial paperwork (which is painless) and then the gun expert shows you how to use the gun and equipment and answers any questions. They also offer lessons which I recommend if you never shot a riffle before and aren’t with someone who is proficient at it. Shooting a riffle is much more challenging than it looks.
I think I give up on shooting a riffle but still really enjoy coming here since the grounds are nice and I get to drive the golf cart and press the button that releases the clays for my bf to shoot. Some of the stations are next to the lake and you are literally shooting clays above the lake which is really cool if only I could get one. And there are two courses– an easy course and a more challenging course. You will find shooters of all different skill level. They also have plenty of employees patrolling the area in golf carts to ensure the safety of the customers and answer any questions. I was really struggling when a nice employee stopped by to offer some advice.
Don’t forget to wear your sunglasses or safety glasses even if you aren’t shooting. Apparently, I am a slow learner and got scolded twice for putting my sunglasses on top of my head– damn they are quick and sneaky in those golf carts. And don’t swim in the lakes especially not wearing anything orange because you will likely get shot.

All skeet skeet mother f***er!
Just shot a 56 at LVSC, which, since they don’t provide that info, I’ll call par; all I know is it sounds better than saying I shot 56% (we got 100 shots each), since my scholastic career has taught me that is a failure. All the same, it’s a pretty cool setup here as it’s sort of like a round of golf, only with shotguns instead of clubs.
A group of 7 lads and myself showed up this past Saturday to kick start my friend’s Bachelor party weekend, and though none of us are even remotely experienced with firearms, we still had a smashing time. They start you out with a questionnaire wherein you assure them you aren’t on drugs, are not on the run from the law, and are allowed to actually use guns and what not, then an employee came out and gave us a quick run down on the shotguns we’d be using.
As I mentioned, we are amateurs of the most amateur variety, so we had to rent guns in order to shoot. Past experience has conditioned me to expect the shittiest equipment possible for rent, but LVSC clearly isn’t aware of that practice because they gave us $ 3,000 Beretta 20-​gauge shotguns, complete with fancy engravings down their length.
We walked the course with two hand carts (think jogging stroller with shotgun compartments, how those things should come anyway…) instead of two four seat motorized rides, because some of the stations were about 20 feet apart from each other, and driving that seemed truly lazy (obviously my vote to cruise was overruled). Also, walking saved us money; each golf cart would be $ 20, but the hand cart was included in the rate, or at most $ 8 each. Eye protection is mandatory on the course, but they don’t care what kind you wear as long as it’s on, and they give you earplugs for free.
The course is circular, following a paved path through an old quarry, but with two target options at each spot (blue or orange). Shooting stations are simple huts that you plug a hand held controller/​pigeon counter into and shoot sets of 6 or 8 clay pigeons; at times one after the other, other times two at once. The backdrops for the ‘holes’ vary from open air to thick brush, to crumbling concrete structures, and my personal favorite, to shots over the flooded quarry (missing there wasn’t as disheartening because you still hit the water), and at every station you are allowed a test shot from each launcher so you can tell where you need to aim (there are also picture diagrams of the flight path).
Overall the experience cost $ 41 for the course and pigeons, with extra disc going at $.39 a pop, and the gun rental was $ 12 which was split between us (played two foursomes with one shotgun each). I don’t know the price of the ammunition, but I imagine it was near $ 20. It took about 3 hours for the 8 of us to finish, and we were definitely beaten up enough from the kick by that point that we were ready to be done, so 100 shots is just about perfect.
I had a great time and would love to come here again, but distance and such means I will be lucky if I ever get back. Still, I think it was a very worthwhile experience

Worth a trip from anywhere. Easy enough, even for beginners. Excellent gun rentals, overlooks beautiful quarry and a well-​run facility. Wonderful place.