Blair Garrett
Off the beaten path, tucked away in a quiet corner of Blue Ridge Summit, lies the Orvis Hill Country shooting range, where members can shoot clays, hunt wildlife, and be a part of a tight-knit community.
The gun club offers a variety of activities and perks for members and non-members, but the crew has big plans for events in the future. While you need to be a member to go on the upland bird hunts on the 572-acre property, non-members are still encouraged to shoot clays and take in the mountain scenery.
Orvis Hill has big plans for its official grand opening April 6-7, 2019, where they plan on bringing vendors and potentially thousands of hunting and sport fanatics to see what the group has to offer.
“We’re sending out a lot of invitations for the grand opening,” Orvis Hill Manager Jeremy Mays said.
The grand opening is a lead-in to much more for Orvis Hill, which plans to offer members a variety of fun events to bring its tight-knit community even closer.
“We’re going to do a guns and clubs event, where they’ll shoot here in the morning and then they’ll go play golf at Liberty or a local course,” Mays said.
The massive property still has plenty of area prime for development, with the group only using about 150 acres and featuring a plethora of clay shooting bunkers and stands.
“We have a 15-station course, 100 round clays,” Mays said. “We still have plans to move things around and reorganize, but that will come eventually.”
While the club has been open to accepting new memberships for a short time, the growth of the member list has been substantial over the past couple months. “The growth has been really good, so it’s exciting,” Mays said.
Orvis Hill also utilizes local hunters to lead members to have a fun and safe time.
“For our upland hunts, we have all local guys who bring their dogs in, and they’ll run the hunt,” Mays said. “They also do a safety speech beforehand.”
Orvis Hill has more to offer than just hunts, though, allowing members to enjoy the community and the comradery that the shooting grounds offer. The Orvis lodge is a log cabin formerly used as a deer hunting facility, which offers several cozy rooms for members to kick back and relax after a long day.
“We have a member room here where after they’re done hunting, guys will just come up and sit, drink, talk, and smoke cigars,” Mays said.
The future for Orvis Hill is bright though, with events like fly fishing and competitions on the horizon.
“We want to get some stuff going on the clays side of things as far as competitions after our grand opening,” Mays said. The team is also looking into developing youth programs for young outdoorsmen to participate in.
For those looking to get away and have fun with friends or family, or those who are looking to be a part of a sportsmen community, Orvis Hill Country Shooting Grounds sits off Gladhill Road in Blue Ridge Summit and features a pro shop with hunting gear, apparel and everything in between.
