Stay in Touch with MDC news, newsletters, events, and manage your subscription
Xplor reconnects kids to nature and helps them find adventure in their own backyard. Free to residents of Missouri.
A monthly publication about conservation in Missouri. Started in 1938, the printed magazine is free to residents of Missouri.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation’s Andy Dalton Shooting Range and Outdoor Education Center complex in Greene County has reopened a portion of its rifle/pistol area to the public.
The rifle/pistol part of the range was closed the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 29 after a member of the range’s staff observed a potential safety hazard. The situation has been remedied to the extent that a portion of the rifle/pistol area can be reopened. Dalton Range Manager Mike Brooks said whenever a concern about shooting range safety is brought to his attention, utilizing caution is the best way to serve the public.
“Even though the days prior to the November firearms deer season are some of the busiest days of the year at the Dalton Range, part of providing good public service is making sure those customers have a safe place to shoot,” Brooks said. “If that means we have to shut down part of the range for a period of time to investigate a potential hazard, then that’s what we’ll do, regardless of what time of the year it is.”
The Dalton Range will be open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday (Nov. 4-6) and then will be closed Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 7-8) so further work on the Dalton Range can be conducted. After this, the range will be open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. for the period of Nov. 9-12.
MDC’s Andy Dalton Range also features shotgun and archery areas. The shotgun area includes a shotgun patterning area and trap, skeet, and five-stand sporting clays fields. Dalton Range’s archery opportunities consist of a 3-D shooting and a static range. Programs will also continue to be held in the Dalton Range’s classroom facility. The Dalton Range is located near Ash Grove at 4897 N. Greene County Farm Road 61. MDC staff wishes to assure the public that the remainder of the (rifle/pistol) portion of the range will reopen, but at present there is no timeline.
MDC operates a number of unstaffed shooting ranges across the state. MDC unstaffed ranges in southwest Missouri that have firearms opportunities (some ranges are archery-only) can be found at Flag Spring Conservation Area (Barry County), Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area (Christian County), Lead Mine Conservation Area (Dallas County), and Fort Crowder Conservation Area (Newton County).
Information about MDC’s staffed and unstaffed shooting ranges in the state can be found at:
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/find/places/mdc-ranges
