[The Rabbi]

We are planning a family vacation this year for late June. My ideal vacation centers of ready access to a range (of course), especially skeet or trap, which I have never shot but looks like tons of fun. It should be ideally not too far from Middle TN, perhaps in the mountains in TN, VA, or NC. It should include our own cooking facilities. It should have other activities for my two kids, 10 and 12.
Any suggestions?

[Moondoggie]

Branson, Missouri.

There is a really nice trap/skeet range there...you could probably arrange for a class/coached session.

Lodging accomodations are plentiful, and there are lots of attractions & other stuff to do.

Knoxville to Branson = 625 miles...a 1 day drive.

[MudPuppy]

We spent last year's vacation at Branson--while i didn't shoot, it was still a fantastic vacation. Throw in some gun-fun and it would have been perfect.

[Jim PHL]

Rabbi, you mentioned skeet or trap. Last year I shot "sporting clays" for the first time. I know it's different than skeet - I don't know what "trap" is - it was the first time I shot a long gun of any type since I was a teen. I can't imagine a more fun "gun day" unless there is something similar with handguns.

[Justin]

Not located anywhere near where you're looking, but the NRA Whittington Center (http://www.nrawc.org/) has on-site facilities to stay at- cabins and primitive facilities, as well as practically any configuration of shooting range you could possibly want, including a bunch of clay pigeon setups. Very cool place, located near Raton, New Mexico. Prices are quite reasonable.

For a truly awesome experience, check out Elk Mountain Resort (http://www.elkmountainresort.com/). They're set up for all sorts of clay bird stuff, but what absolutely cannot be missed is their Valhalla Shooting Club (http://www.elkmountainresort.com/activities/valhalla.cfm). Located about half an hour outside of Montrose, Colorado.

[BigSlick]

++++++++1 NRA Whittington Center

I went out there year before last for 5 days.

Every imagineable kind of range.

Zero BS, lots of fun, no odd looks if you want to go from shooting full auto. just check in first, (a coworker of mine took his Ma Duece) to the 1000 yd range, move over to shooting skeet, then on to the pistol range. We spent almost an entire afternoon shooting rimfire on the short rifle range - good cheap fun all around.

They have one of the few silhouette ranges I am aware of. A couple of guys were there when we arrived shooting Dan Wessons. I learned from one of them the finer points of Creedmore style shooting.

All of the other shooters we encountered were great. One of the few places I know of where everyone there is into guns like most of us. The two guys we met on the sil range had never fired full auto, so my buddy let them run a few downrange with the Ma Duece. I got to shoot a flintlock (reproduction), a Tippman and heavily customized sporting clays over and under. Smooth as silk. If I ever get one of those to go dove hunting with I might actually limit out.

The general tone was hey look, that guy's shooting a _____, let's go check it out. I shot a BR gun with an electronic trigger set at 1/4 oz. Spooky accurate.

This is the best shooting vacation I can imagine, an no worry about looking over your shoulder when you leave the range.

BigSlick