Central Oregon Sporting Clays & Hunting Preserve

This is a fun three hour activity. We heard about the business from the hotel at Eagle Crest. Biking seemed too hot, spa too boring, don’t like to golf so… Shooting! The business if very well run. Our instructor was friendly and knowledgable. We had a ton of fun and will definitely go back!

Sporting clays are so effing fun, and occasionally incredibly effing frustrating. The way it works is that you bring a shotgun and a buddy or two, or four, (you can bring your own shells or buy them there), pay to have COSC load «birds» (i.e. clay pigeon credits) onto a card, and then head out to the course (you can walk or take a golf cart). The course, which meanders through a beautiful landscape of sparse juniper forest, has a dozen different stations, and each station is set up with a different combination of two shots — meaning the clay pigeons are flying out from somewhere, and you have to shoot them. You slot your card into the reader at the station, and your buddy hits the button when you say «pull!» The variety of shots, and combinations of shots, they have set up is incredible, and include everything from standard trap-​like setups (I’m pretty good at these) to shots that roll along the ground (called «rabbits,» I’m pretty shaky on these), to shots that come at you like a strafing jet (I’m OK), to shots that just appear silently through the trees, only to be glimpsed for a moment before they curve out of sight (dear lord do I suck at these). You can do the official course setup to receive an official score (certain combinations of shots at each station), or just shoot whichever ones you want as many times as you want. Lessons/​advice is available, the staff are great at coaching you on your shooting, and there’s even a youth league located here for aspiring young hunters/​shooters. A nifty feature is that each station is solar powered, and they’re inactive until you slot your card into the machine, so they’re not burning a bunch of unnecessary kilowatts when the stations are sitting idle. What an amazing way to spend an afternoon. Definitely go if you’re in the neighborhood (and remember, gun safety is ALWAYS the absolute, number-​one priority). They also provide guided bird hunts (pheasants for sure, maybe chuckers as well — not sure on that), but I haven’t experienced that aspect of the business yet.

Had a great experience shooting clays and going on a guided pheasant hunt. It was my first time hunting, yet I never felt self-​conscious or unsafe while in their hands. Every missed shot was followed by advice and encouragement. The dogs were expertly trained, goofy, and friendly. The birds we shot were cleaned promptly and bagged for us on site. Everyone who works there is very friendly and professional. Overall, great experience and would recommend it to all interested at any skill level.

Written from the perspective of someone who isn’t used to handling guns regularly: Went here as part of a party of 7 to shoot clay pigeons.
It was pretty cool! Once there, they do a quick appraisal of your familiarity with guns, have you sign a waiver in case you’ve got the Dick Cheney gene, and then take you out via golf cart to what equates roughly to a golf course. There were something like 13 stations with pigeon-​throwers set up to fire at fixed trajectories, and at your discretion, via remote control.
The staff are great, and the guides are helpful, and may stick around for the first hole or two (if it’s obvious that you don’t know what the hell you’re doing) and check in on you later on down the line, which is courteous. At the outset, you’re given whatever gear you may need, such as safety glasses, earplugs, shell pouches, etc. Just put your (purchased) ammo and rented gun (s) on the golf cart and proceed at your own pace, ticking the scorecard as you go.
Once you’re past the phase of snapping dozens of photos of each other holding a gun because everything else about your lives completely emasculates you, it’s really pretty fun to test your skill and watch a clay pigeon get completely obliterated by a well (or luckily) aimed shot. Just be advised, if you don’t shoot regularly, beware of anything you may need to do later that requires the full use of whichever shoulder you place the stock against. You will likely be pretty sore.