Palmetto Bluff previews new shooting course
Gun enthusiasts at Palmetto Bluff soon won't have to travel outside the gates of the upscale development in Bluffton to get their shooting in.
About 150 property owners, many of them seasoned shooters, descended upon the Feather Fall shooting course Sunday to preview the new gun club opening this spring. The 13-station sporting clay-type course is expected to open by March 1, said Crescent Communities marketing manager Courtney Hampson.
A sporting clay course was chosen because it mimics the type of field hunting done at Palmetto Bluff for two centuries, incorporating nature as an element, director of development David Sewell said. Sewell, an avid shooter, said he joined Palmetto Bluff 12 years ago with the understanding that he could build a shooting course on the property.
"I think it is a cool opportunity," resident John Binder said. "It looks beautiful. To have something in your backyard like this is pretty unique."
The course weaves through 40 acres of woodland off Laurel Oak Way. The heavily wooded area was picked for its natural sound buffers and hardscape, Sewell said.
"Hopefully people won't notice it's here," he said. "We were very selective with what trees were taken down. We wanted to be subordinate to the landscape. We have a lot of different shooting opportunities in a really pretty area."
The course includes a wobble deck, where targets are launched at different trajectories, and a five stand, where up to five shooters can take aim at multiple targets. Six customized carts will help shooters travel to each station, Sewell said.
The course will also have seven new Beretta shotguns available for use when it opens. The course shotguns will use non-toxic ammunition, and the clay pigeons will be biodegradable, Sewell said. The target launchers and the punch-card system used to operate each shooting station are solar-powered, limiting the number of electric cables needed, he said.
Experts from area shooting ranges were on hand Sunday to help property owners use the new shotguns, but many brought their own guns. Several residents said they were excited to have a course on the grounds, since the closest clubs open for membership are outside Savannah.
Residents Nancy Thomas and Cynthia Willett travel to the Forest City Gun Club outside Savannah, where they shoot regularly with a group of women called the "Lowcountry Annie Oakleys." About 15 of the group's 50 members live in Palmetto Bluff, and about half of them shoot regularly, Willett said.
"It's a great club," Thomas said. "We go anywhere we can to shoot, but mainly Forest City. We're happy we have a place close to home now."
The gun club will be open to property owners, but Palmetto Bluff is still working out how to make it available to inn guests and visitors to the plantation. Hampson said shooting lessons from an expert will likely be offered to guests.
The company also is discussing a limited number of general memberships for non-residents, she said.
Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
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This story was originally published January 11, 2015 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Palmetto Bluff previews new shooting course."