Comfort is critical. Gun Mount involves a lot of arm movements, so wear loose fitting comfortable clothing that is weather appropriate and doesn't restrict shoulders and arms. Jeans and a tee shirt are perfect in the summer. During cooler weather a collarless sweat shirt is a good idea. Heavy collars can inhibit gun mount efforts. Definitely wear shoes that are appropriate for walking outside on gravel, in the woods or a grassy field. I recommend hiking and walking shoes with a solid flat base.

Everyone, and I mean everyone must wear eye and ear protection at all times. As for eye protection, any covering is acceptable including sunglasses or corrective glasses. The goal is to keep shards of broken targets from possibly hitting you in the eye. Regarding ear protection, I would recommend a basic set from a box store that are pre-molded and have a couple flanges. They are a bit better than the squishy, contractor grade foam style ear protectors that tend to fall out of the ear too easily.

Some students, particularly those accustomed to shooting pistol and rifles, use ear muff style ear protection. Generally, that style of ear protection can get in the way when trying to mount the shotgun tucked up just under the cheekbone and up to the eye. If you insist on that type of ear protection, I strongly urge you to use a very low profile ear muff.

It depends on your skill level and goals. For experienced shooters seeking to really dig in deep on a particular game or type of target at a particular game, a two hour or longer training is common and entails a great deal of target shooting. I personally recommend that you spread the training out over the course of a few separate sessions. This gives the student a chance to practice newly learned skills in between the sessions. It lets the instructor correct, or reinforcement prior lessons to better hone skills. For brand new students two hours is the absolute maximum recommended length of an initial session, but no longer than that. The very first training session will detail gun safety rules, site specific range rules and cover the basics of eye dominance, mounting a shot gun and stance. This takes a large part of the initial training session - maybe half an hour. So, to actually get some time to shoot, booking a bit longer session enables the instructor to get more time for the shooting aspect of training. That said, students unaccustomed to holding 7 or 8 pounds (the average weight of a shotgun) with their arms for a long period of time begin to fatigue after about half an hour to 45 minutes of actual shooting. So, I recommend that the initial training should run 1.5 hours but not exceed 2 hours.

Yes, you may. Bull Run is unique compared to many other ranges and you may bring ammo that you purchase from an outside source; however, the ammo must comply with Bull Run site rules as follows: 1) All ammo must be a small shot size intended for target shooting. So, 7 1/2 size shot or smaller is allowed. Please see picture below.

2) All ammo must have no more than a maximum of 3 drams of gun powder.

3) Ammo may not travel when shot at a speed greater than 1300 feet per second. Look at the label of the ammo box you intend to purchase. The specs should be detailed. There is a correlation between the amount of gun powder and speed of the ammo. Less gun powder means a slower speed and Bull Run limits the speed and amount of gun powder.

Bull Run Shooting Center Clients: Payment for shotgun shooting instruction sessions can be made conveniently on-site via credit or debit card, or GooglePay and ApplePay. Also cash payments are accepted for added flexibility. For group bookings of more than 3 students, please contact Bull Run directly in advance as a deposit payment will need to be made to secure your preferred date. Also, please advise Annette and together you can coordinate the booking with Bull Run.

Private Range Clients: Payment for shotgun shooting instruction sessions can be made on site at the time of the lesson via Venmo or cash.

For a private lesson the student is responsible for the cost of all ammunition, targets, instruction time, as well as a shotgun rental if you do not own your own gun. Prices vary subject to the location of the lesson.

Bull Run Prices at this time ( 1/1/2026) are as follows:

Ammo: about $ 9.50 per box - depends on brand

Targets: $ 8.75 for 25 skeet, trap or wobble targets | $ 29 for 50 sporting clay targets

Gun Rental: 12 or 20 gauge gun rental - $ 25.00

Instruction Time: $ 75.00 per hour for 1 student, each additional student adds $ 50/ hour with a maximum of 3 students per private instructor

Generally, lessons at a private facility are $ 100 per hour per person for instruction time.

Ammo and target prices are similar. There are no gun rentals at the private facility.