Five Stand in the Snow
We keep Five Stand open year-round. Access is by our five-person snowcat until the snow clears, then we use our Polaris Rangers.
A half-day shooting clays in the snow is $390 per person. We supply loaner shotguns if needed, all ammunition, a guide/instructor, and snacks. Maximum four. Minimum two. What’s special about shooting black clays against a snow-covered background is how much easier the targets are to see: Instantly better shooting.
Joanna smokes one.
Cross country ski back down either through untracked powder or on the snowcat track or return on the snowcat if you wish. We see something interesting every trip. For example, we have three flocks of wild turkeys on the ranch this winter. We do not plan to hunt them this spring to encourage them to make this their home. Now turkeys are not known to be the brightest birds. In case you are wondering how long it takes a flock of turkeys to figure out it is easier to walk single file in deep snow, we have the answer.
Why they are not flying, only the turkeys know.
Bill Weiss
We began on a serious note. We end on a sad one.
Bill Weiss died in Jackson, Wyoming on January 6, 2022. Bill was a partner in Lazy Triple Creek from the beginning. When Ron Saypol’s vision for a real estate development at the ranch failed, Bill Weiss stepped in as the managing partner and recruited Edward Watson, the Executive Director of the West London Shooting School, known also as Dr. Watson of the Shooting Gazette, to come to Idaho to lead the construction of the world-class shooting facility that is now Lazy Triple Creek Ranch. Bill, Edward, and our current Ranch Manager, Steve Sorensen, made Lazy Triple Creek Ranch and our world-class shooting facilities the very special place that Bill loved and enjoyed.
Edward Watson died in 2016. I understand Edward has a 14-station Sporting Clays course ready for Bill’s arrival which looks a lot like what we have at Lazy Triple Creek Ranch and is said to be truly out of this world.
Bill was a partner and a friend. He will be missed.
That’s all, folks.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay shooting.
The Team at Lazy Triple Creek Ranch
And now the Toys
Boys never grow up. Their toys just get bigger.
Ranch Manager Steve finally has the tractor of his boyhood dreams.
Jackson Hole Airport Closure
Jackson Hole airport is scheduled to close for runway repair from April 11 to June 27. We are 90 minutes from either Jackson Hole airport or Idaho Falls airport. Plan to arrive and depart from the Idaho Falls airport while Jackson Hole is closed.
New for 2022: Cast and Blast
Jointly with the top fly-fishing lodge in the area, we will be offering Cast and Blast in 2022. Three days of fly fishing on the iconic rivers of eastern Idaho combined with three days of shooting at Lazy Triple Creek Ranch.
Let us know if you would like to fish and shoot in 2022.
Long Range Precision Rifle and Handgun Classes
No dates selected yet, but we will be offering long-range shooting (to a mile and more) and pistol classes again in 2022. Come with a group of four to eight and you get to pick the dates. World-class instructors will be available.
Upland Bird Hunting 2022
We will change over from clays to upland bird walkup hunting with guides and dogs and European Style Driven Shooting with Western Sensibilities on September 1, 2022.
Walkup hunts remain $690 per person per half day. A full day of European-style driven shooting, lunch, and walkup hunting with guides and dogs after lunch remains $2,900. We supply loaner shotguns if needed, all ammunition, snacks, lunch, guides and dogs, cocktails and conversation on the deck at the end of the day, and birds cleaned and vacuum packed for your departure. Avoid travel to Europe, lost guns, and a loader telling you that’s not your bird. European Style Driven Shooting: It’s better in America.
Book soon if you would like to come with a group or would like to stay overnight in the Lodge as part of your shooting experience. We are booked by groups already from September 27 to October 22 with two additional groups trying to agree to dates with others in their group.
Book soon also if you would like to join our season opener: European-style driven Shooting with Western Sensibilities on Saturday, September 3, 2022.
We have room for eight guns. A full day of clays and birds high overhead, no walkups. $1,750 for a very full day of shooting. Arrive at the Lodge by 9:30 am for coffee, pastries, a welcome, safety briefing, and shotgun fitting for those who don’t bring their own guns. Head out to Clay Canyon with a guide in our Polaris Rangers for simulated driven shooting with clays high overhead, break for elevenses, move to a second location for two more drives of clays high overhead, break for lunch. After lunch, head back out to meet the guides and dogs for two drives of birds high overhead at each of two locations. We supply loaner shotguns if needed, all ammunition, guides and dogs, snacks, lunch, cocktails and conversations on the deck at the end of the day, and birds cleaned and vacuum-packed for your departure.
Clays 2022
Our clays courses; trap, skeet, five stand, our world-class 14-station sporting clays course, and more will be open to guests from June 1 to August 31, 2022. Book now if you would like to come with a group on a certain date, otherwise let us know one week ahead and we should be able to accommodate your request.
Arrive at the Lodge by 9:30 am for coffee, pastries, welcome, safety briefing, and shotgun fitting for those using our guns, head out to the clays facilities with a guide in a Polaris Ranger. Shoot Five Stand, our 14 station Sporting Clays course, or other shotgun games. Back in the Lodge by 1 pm. $390 for the half-day. Add simulated driven shooting at two locations with clays high overhead for $150 more. We provide loaner shotguns if needed, clays, ammunition, snacks, and lunch for four or more. Some come to shoot. Some come for lunch on the deck with world-class views. I’m looking at you, Jim.
Mainly for locals; shoot Shotgun Saturdays. Same half-day for $250 per gun first and second Saturdays of every month June 1 to the end of August. Add simulated driven shooting after lunch for $150 more. Minimum four. Maximum 12. Shooting alone? You will be welcome to shoot with us if we have three or more others that day.
Trophy Elk Hunts
Only my son and I have hunted the ranch for the past 15 years. Approximately 200 head of elk make the ranch their sanctuary in the fall because of the low hunting pressure.
We offered opportunities for a trophy elk hunt of a lifetime in 2021 for the 2022 season to a very limited number of special guests. Demand exceeded the numbers we were willing to take by 300%. Tags were available over the counter but sold out the day they went on sale at 10 am on December 10, 2021, for the October 15 to 22, 2022 hunt. Only three of the six who wanted to hunt were successful. We will try again this year for the 2023 season.
If you would like to hunt with us in 2023 let us know before the end of November 2022. We have a strong preference for families hunting together. That makes families stronger and our nation stronger.
Arrive October 13 for two days of scouting before opening day on October 15. Hunt until all tags have been filled or the season ends. That has taken two days since we started hunting the ranch except for one year when wolves and cougar were on the ranch. We will prepare our own meals just like a real backcountry hunt except we will be staying in the Lodge. $8,900 per person hunting. $390 per day for anyone joining but not hunting. $3,000 deposit to confirm your hunt.
We will make final decisions by December 6, in time for the tag sale on December 10.
Lodge Stays
The Lodge is open again for overnight stays for your visiting friends and family. All Covid-19 risk reduction protocols remain in effect. $390 per room per night. Catering by our private chef is available.
The Ranch in Winter
The ranch is slowly emerging from its blanket of snow which means Steve and Corey will be working outdoors getting ready for our third season of welcoming guests to the best-kept secret in the shooting sports world.
If you are interested in half-day shooting Trap, Skeet, Five Stand, Simulated Driven, Grouse Butt, Crazy Quail, or the best 14 station Sporting Clays course anywhere, or hunting upland birds either walking our fields behind dogs or European Style Driven Shooting with Western Sensibilities or simply enjoying a private, exclusive corporate retreat or family retreat, you can help us greatly by booking early. Early booking allows us to plan staff and bird supply for the season.
We open June 1 for shotguns and clays until September 1 when we switch over to upland bird hunting (mostly pheasants including jumbo pheasants again this year with a few chukars); half-day walkups with guides and well-trained dogs and our signature event, European Style Driven Shooting in America with Western Sensibilities. Please book now if you would like to shoot with us with a group of six or more, if you would like to stay overnight in the Lodge, or would like to join one of our European Style Driven Shoots which are scheduled every Saturday from September 1 until the end of November or other dates for groups of up to eight.
Opportunities to shoot at Lazy Triple Creek Ranch are already close to 50% booked. All days between September 25 to October 21 are sold out. Six groups are wanting to book, have received proposals, but have not yet agreed to dates with all in their groups. We particularly encourage those groups to book soon. We turned away 61 guests last year and have already turned away 21 so far this year. We value the private, exclusive nature of a very special place over commercial success. Your group of six or more will have exclusive use of the Lodge during your stay. We recognize plans change and will apply deposits to later, available dates.
We are seeing price increases of 30 to 300% and shortages of all shooting supplies. We are fortunate to have clays in stock for at least three seasons and to have our ammunition bunkers and fuel tanks full for the 2022 season. Despite these challenges, we plan to keep prices unchanged for 2022. If we need to increase prices, we will honor prior bookings. Another reason to book early. Add 6% Idaho sales tax and 8% Idaho lodging tax to all prices.
Here’s what’s available for the 2022 season.
Boys and their Toys
More on those toys later.
We start with a serious message.
This is a view of Field Two last summer.
At the time, Jeffrey called this a Van Gogh.
This photo now has a very different meaning.
“Slava Ukraini”
And glory to all who defend freedom.