Sportsmans stores and outdoor ranges north of Atlanta, GA?

[SigSour]

Moving to the Duluth area from Colorado and wanted to ask about sportsmans stores in the area. In Colorado I've gotten used to frequenting stores like:

Gander Mountain
Sportsmans Warehouse
JAX
Bass Pro Shop

What type of options are available in the area (like the stores mentioned above)?

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As for the range, I'm pretty spoiled at my current range in CO I am a member of an outdoor range with private berms (I never see anyone else while I'm shooting). They have a 50 yard range (with about 20 benches that are usually empty) a 100 yard range (with about 20 benches that are usually always empty) and they are building a 500 yard range.

I'm not sure about the ranges in GA but any suggestions on something similar (north of Atlanta is possible) would be awesome.

Thanks

 

[janedoedad]

Bass Pro in Duluth.

www.georgiacarry.org for information on Georgia laws

www.georgiapacking.org for more information and Georgia centric forum.

I know nothing of the Northside.

 

[Water-Man]

River Bend Gun Club
Dawsonville, GA

 

[ugaarguy]

Academy Sports & Outdoors has stores south of Duluth in Snellville, and north of Duluth in Cumming. Just a few minutes from Duluth is Buford, where the Mall of Georgia is located. No firearms, but there's a pretty good size REI right across GA 20 from the mall proper. I know it's not a destination store like Bass Pro, but most Wal-Marts in GA sell long guns, including Colt AR-15s.

You could also head south to Lawrenceville, and then hop on GA 316 to Athens. Athens has Clyde Armory, which is the Colt LE distributor for much of the south. They're open to the public and are basically a tactical gun warehouse. There's also Franklin's, and that's an interesting place. They have some personalities to put it lightly, so customer service can be interesting. They also have some great folks working there. I mention them because they're the oldest FFL still operating in Athens, and they get some really interesting pieces in on trade / purchased collections fairly frequently. Ignore sticker prices there and negotiate with whichever manager is working.

Going the other direction, hop on I-285 and slide around the north side of Atlanta to the Smyrna area. June 6-8 is the Blade Show, at the Cobb Galleria Center. It's the largest knife show in the world, and there's a good bit of other related outdoor gear there too. Going Gear is also in Smyrna. They don't sell guns, but they have a very large knife selection, a huge inventory of flashlights, and a very large selection of other outdoor gear.

Other stuff: A carry permit (Georgia Weapons Carry License) requires no training, and runs about $75 for fingerprinting and admin fees. It's good for five years, and is issued by the probate court in your county of residence. The carry permit also covers all knives. You can't carry in government owned buildings, except for restrooms in state parks because you can carry in state parks. Georgia has gun and knife law preemption, so you don't have to worry about restrictive local ordinances. GA is also very friendly to Class III.

On knives you can carry anything up to 5" blade length even without a carry permit. With a carry permit you can legally carry any knife. On school campuses (public or private, including colleges & universities) you're restricted to 2" max blade length, carry permit or not. Outside of schools, there are no restrictions on double edged blades or blade shapes. Auto openers (switchblades) are also fully legal.

 

[Mike J]

I don't know too much about the North side of town but there is a private range a guy I used to work around was a member of that sounds like it might be what your looking for ihttp://www.creeksidefiringrange.com/index.htmlng

Being Northeast of town you also might want to check out http://www.southrivergunclub.com/
I am not sure which would be closer to you but I have heard good things about both.

There is also a range on the WMA at Charlie Elliott east of Atlanta. I believe you would just have to get a hunting license & wildlife management area stamp to use it.

I haven't been to any of these as I have places to shoot on private land.

 

[jmr40]

Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna is worth the trip and not really that far from Duluth. Cabelas is building a store off I-75 North of Atlanta near Cartersville. It should be open within 2 years. Unless I'm mistaken another BPS is going up in the same area with about the same time frame.

You aren't too far from the NE GA mountains which have decent trout fishing and lake Lanier if you like lake fishing.

For decent deer hunting you'll probably have to join a hunting club. There are tons of public land in the GA mountains, but success rates are very low. Under 5% on most Wildlife Management Areas. But the bear population is decent as are hogs.

The good news is that big game seasons are far longer than you are used to in CO. Archery opens in mid Sept for 4 weeks, 1 week of primitive weapons which includes archery. Rifle season opens the 3rd week of Oct. and runs through Jan. 1 in the north, Jan. 15 in the southern part of the state. Waterfowl is open part of November then all of December and January. Squirrel is Aug 15-Feb 28. Other small game is mid November trough Feb. Turkey opens mid March-mid May. June and July are the only 2 months where there isn't an open game season. You can still hunt coyote or hogs on private property then since they are non game with no season.

I can't help much with ranges within driving distance form Duluth. I'm NW of Atlanta about 1/2 way between there and Chattanooga. There are a few places good here, but you probably don't want to drive that far. Although several of our members drive from Marietta and Smyrna.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have shot both at River Bend to the North and South River to the East of Atlanta.
Just for scheduled matches, I don't live very close, so I don't know their membership status. But they are good quality ranges.

 

[rdhood]

I lived in Buford (10 miles north of Duluth) during grade school/high school/for about 10 more years, and currently live towards Dawsonville (other side/opposite end of Lake Lanier).

Dawsonville Gun and Pawn when north of Lake Lanier. There is also supposed to be a largish gunshop over in Gainesville that I have not visited yet. If you start finding yourself up in Cobb/Cherokee counties, Cherokee Gun and Pawn (in Canton) does free FFL transfers (I try to purchase something when I use them). There is also a range down at 141/peachtree Ind Blvd in Norcross that I have used before. In short, I pass by 4 ranges during my daily commute... not bad. I'd estimate that there is probably a range within 15-20 miles of anyone in Atlanta Metro, and at least two within a 5-7 mile radius of Duluth.


There is a shooting range/gun shop right there in the heart of Lawrenceville (about 5 miles from you). There is also a Bullseye Range in Cumming, and a range off of 141/400 (technically this might still be Alpharetta). I prefer shooting up at Wilson Shoals WMA, which is a good hour up the road from you on 985.

But for a club like you are used to: River Bend Gun Club , Dawsonville, GA

http://www.rbgc.org/


One forum you will want to tap into is Georgia Outdoor News and their forum:

http://forum.gon.com/

Georgia specific forums on hunting, shooting, fishing and the like. Hunting anything anywhere in Georgia? They will give you the scoop. If you are a hunter, then you will want to go the Dept of Natural Resources website to to get info on a hunter safety course, to check out hunting regulations, and to register for special hunts (example ALLIGATOR hunt. You accumulate points each year until you get enough for an alligator tag for the area you want to hunt, at which point you can hunt one). The DNR website is:

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/



if you carry, check out Georgia Carry . org:

http://www.georgiacarry.org/

They will have all the scoop on getting a carry permit in your city or county. They will also keep you up-to-date on firearms issues as the make their way through state government.


The biggest online marketplace for gun related items is the Outdoors trader, georgia section:

http://www.theoutdoorstrader.com/forums/3-Georgia-Classifieds-Very-Addictive!



There. I think that is a great place to start for any newcomer to Georgia. Welcome!

 

[Giterboosted]

Waaaay up here bout an hour north of atl I can show you probably 30 gun/outdoors stores including the one I work at, we'd love to have ya, we have a good few outdoor and indoor ranges in the area

 

[SigSour]

Hey all, thanks for the info. Our move in date is March 1st so I plan on spending the spring/summer cruising around and checking out some places that will all be new to me.

Thanks!

(and if anyone else has suggestions feel free to share)

 

[osteodoc08]

Cabelas near cartersville. Woot woot, can't wait!

I second adventure outdoors in Smyrna , I've never seen so many firearms under one roof. Makes all the bass pros I've been to look like childsplay.