Has anyone shot sporting clays at Pocono Manor in the past year? Wondering how the course was, condition of the machines, etc. They appeared to have some problems 2-3 years ago based on various postings around the net, but haven't seen any recent information.

 

I know about other places (LVSC, etc), but my PA house is in the northern Poconos, so this place is not very far.

 

ThanksIA

I could be wrong, but I thought that they were closed.

 

I believe I responded to a similar question a week or so ago, and no one else other than me answered...

 

I visited there several years ago, and liked the lay-out. I didn't get a chance to actually shoot, since the entire family was in the car out for a Sunday ride in the fall. Woods looked really inviting too...

 

Dave

I did end up going to Pocono Manor for sporting clays yesterday. It was fun, but I'd really call it "An offroad ATV trip through the deep woods and then some shooting at some stations that roughly resembled sporting clays."

 

I called early in the morning, and got a 2pm reservation. We showed up at 2pm. The guy asked if we had our own gear, and we said yes. He said, well, take the green cart and off we went! He had to lead us to the first target (him on his ATV, us in our golf cart) because it's 1+ miles away, through the golf course and then into the woods. No paperwork, showing of any kind of ID or anything.

 

There are maybe 12 stations. "Don't even bother trying station 5, it's always broken." Also, a few other stations didn't work at all, and a few stations had only one working thrower instead of two. We probably had 7 or 8 working stations, and maybe 12 working throwers. Since they are in the deep woods, the throwers are on 12V car batteries, and some of them were out of juice. They had a big "Cabela's Family Day" on Tuesday apparently, so many throwers were discharged.

 

The paths between the stations were rough dirt and boulder trails, more like an offroad ATV course in Mexico than a sporting clays resort in the Poconos, but it was fun. Some of the trails were extremely steep, and we ended up having my B-I-L getting out and pushing the cart up one very rocky and steep slope because the cart couldn't quite make it.

 

My only other gripe is that the shotgun holders on the cart were rough plastic, and I was quite concerned about getting my nice shotgun stocks scratched. Other places I've been have padded holders that are almost like a gun case held open, but this was just two plastic V's with velcro. We solved the problem by having my BIL hold the shotguns steady in the holders as we went over the more rocky terrain. On the other hand, there was no one else there (or probably anywhere within a mile), and you could shoot as much as you wanted.

 

So, for a "sporting clays" facility it's pretty much as rough as you can get. For a nice day in the woods shooting stuff, it was fine. My BIL had never done this before, and he had a great time and really enjoyed himself. He turned out to be an excellent shot, probably hitting as many as I did.

 

We shot around 125 rounds, and they charged us $50 (which is low, but on the other hand, things were pretty rough).

 

I can imagine going back again, but I would be thinking about the "ATV through the woods with some shooting" instead of "sporting clays."

Thanks for the update! It had been quite a while since I had visited. I never did the course, but it does sound interesting. Too bad they couldn't see fit to change/charge some batteries before you arrived @ 2:00 pm!

Sounds great! Gotta go out there with the wife and try it sometime. I love Lehigh but it gets so darn crowded there with all the retired old-farts (yeah, you Rosie!).......... We youngsters need somewhere to shoot without some cigar-smoking Kreighoff-toting retirees asking what's the hold-up sonny.

 

When you're ready for a road trip Rosie let us know!

Sounds great! Gotta go out there with the wife and try it sometime. I love Lehigh but it gets so darn crowded there with all the retired old-farts (yeah, you Rosie!).......... We youngsters need somewhere to shoot without some cigar-smoking Kreighoff-toting retirees asking what's the hold-up sonny.

 

When you're ready for a road trip Rosie let us know!

 

FUNNNNNY! Love it Mike, and thanks for the offer, as I'm getting in the mood for some clays!