Public Shooting Ranges

NEWS:

• Ranges remain closed in counties that remain in the red-phase of the commonwealth's three-phase matrix, and where stay-at-home orders remain in place and large gatherings are prohibited.
• Ranges are reopening in counties that have been upgraded to yellow. Any rifle, shotgun, pistol or archery ranges on state game lands in yellow-phase counties will reopen with regular hours of operation. Click here for additional information.
• Game Commission Extends Life of 2019-20 Shooting-Range Permits

For your shooting enjoyment and to make you a better hunter, the Game Commission maintains public shooting ranges across the state. Those who shoot firearms at the Pennsylvania Game Commission's state game lands public shooting ranges must possess and carry with them either an annual $31.90 range use permit or a current general hunting or furtaker license.  Individuals without a range use permit or hunting or furtaker license may be fined. Each licensed hunter or range permit holder may have one guest.

Unless otherwise posted, these ranges are open year-round, from 8 a.m. until sunset, Monday through Saturday, and noon to sunset on Sundays. See the exception for Scotia Range below. Please contact the appropriate Region Office to check the daily status of ranges you wish to visit.

Before you visit, please review the Shooting Range Regulations and Prohibited Acts. Do not collect the brass of shooters while the range is active.

Shooters should show consideration for others waiting for an open bench. It is common, especially leading up to the bear and deer seasons, to find an adult teaching a youngster how to shoot, or to find someone having difficulty sighting-in a rifle. Please be patient in such circumstances, and if it seems appropriate, offer assistance. Anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by someone 18 or older.

The Game Commission has completed lead remediation and safety upgrade projects at all public shooting ranges. Routine maintenance, including rebuilding target-line stations, cutting grass and other clean-up activities, often required the closure of ranges for several hours every month. More than $200,000 is spent annually on shooting range maintenance. To help keep costs down, and allow these funds to be diverted to other projects and programs, users should:

1. Avoid shooting up the framework used to hold the backstop material and
2. Clean up spent cases, remove targets from backstops, keep shooting benches clean and dispose of all other litter.

Groups may reserve ranges on weekdays, excluding state holidays, from January 1 through October 1 by calling the Region Office at least 20 days in advance. The range is closed to other individuals when it is reserved.

Scotia Range

All ranges both inside and outside the security fence at Scotia Range are open Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m. – sunset local time year round, unless posted otherwise. The building and facilities will not be open unless the two metal gates leading to the building, inside of the security fence are open.

The road to access Scotia Range— Scotia Range Road—has two entrances and is not a through road. There is a gate on Scotia Range Road in front of the range complex and another inside the security fence that are open two weeks before and through hunting seasons (from the beginning of archery deer season to the end of the extended deer seasons in January plus Spring Gobbler season). Outside of hunting seasons, both gates are closed; use the information below to access the range of your choice. If you happen to enter Scotia Range Road from the side of the gate opposite your range of choice, you will have to walk approximately 100 yards from the gate to the range.

*NOTE, JUNE 2019: The northern half of Scotia Range Road from Scotia Road to the range complex will be closed for repairs in early June, 2019, for roughly two weeks. Contact the Northcentral Region Office at 570-398-4744 to confirm the road's status. Access to the range complex will still be open from the south via West Gatesburg Road.

Permit, pistol and two auxiliary ranges

Enter the north side of Scotia Range Road from Scotia Road. Between January after the flintlock deer season until around the middle of March (depending on weather conditions), Range Road will be closed (PDF) north of the shooting ranges to Heritage Trail Road. During that time users will need to enter the south side of Scotia Range Road from West Gatesburg Road. This is being done to minimize impacts to the road during freeze/thaw and to reduce vehicle accidents.

Rifle, archery and clay target range

Enter the south side of Scotia Range Road from West Gatesburg Road. The seasonal access gates (PDF) to prevent thru traffic on Scotia Range Road will be closed June 1^st.

There are three designated shotgun/claybird shooting areas:

1. Northcentral Region, SGL 176: The shotgun only area is part of the Scotia Range complex.
2. Northeast Region, SGL 300: The shotgun only area is adjacent to the existing public shooting range.
3. Southeast Region, SGL 205: The shotgun only area is next to the parking area, 200 yards south of the rifle range along Game Warden Rd. in Lowhill Township.

Northwest Region

Southwest Region

Northcentral Region

Southcentral Region

Northeast Region

Southeast Region