Going to the range, Texas Vs California

So, I used to live in the Silicon Valley, near the hear of California liberalism and anti-gun policies.  Now I live in deep East Texas, where gun laws are much closer to my tastes and both auto parts stores and purveyors of glass windows/auto glass have a gun and ammo section.  So, shooting sports are popular and should be accessible and affordable sue to the lover cost of living, right?  Mmm, not so much.

See, in San Jose I would generally shoot at one of two locations.  The first was an indoor range, Reeds, which was my favorite indoor range in the area.  Good facility, right around the corner from work and generally nice people.  Range fees are now $16/hour (up a little since I left) and you get one target.  They generally don't care how many guns or calibers you are bringing.

If I wanted to shoot outdoors (rifle, pistol or skeet/trap) I used the Santa Clara Field Sports Park.  For $15, you can shoot all day with as many guns and calibers as you want.  Or, for $9 you can shoot 25 clays on the skeet/trap range.

Here in Texas, things are different.  At the local range on the other side of town, its only $10 for an hour on the range.  However, if you bring more than one gun, its $10 for each additional gun.  If you bring different calibers of ammunition to shoot through the same gun, each additional caliber will cost you $10.  And it seems, this is a standard for many ranges in the area.  There is an indoor range about an hour from here, towards Houston, that is spectacular.  They don't care how many guns or calibers I bring.  But, its $20 for the pistol range and $29 for the rifle range.  Plus the hour drive.

Skeet and trap have their own differences.  There are several near Houston that are great.  One has pistol and rifle as well.  Pricing, tho, is $10.50 for 25 clays, $14 for pistol/rifle and $7 for each additional gun.  The other one has similar offerings and no extra gun/caliber charges, but does have the member/non-member pricing scheme, so my prices would be higher still as I am not a member.  Plus the hour drive for either.

Generally, for skeet and trap I am driving an hour in any direction.  Many of the surrounding shooting venues have the member/non-member pricing.  The membership costs would be ok if i lived close and could go multiple times per week.  But that just isn't in my budget, since gas prices are still north of $2 a gallon.  Most of them I would need to use twice a week minimum for me to break even at the end of the year.

So, while my cost of living has dropped dramatically from when I lived in California, my cost for a day of shooting has gone up.  Disappointing, but I still am far happier in Texas.  Now I just need to make friends with someone who has a home range and a skeet machine...