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Sage Outdoor Adventures offers an explosive outdoor alternative

Jack Reyering
jreyering@postindependent.com
Instructor Will Sheridan of Sage Outdoor Adventures shows a student proper shooting technique.
Post Independent |

Summer in Western Colorado is open season for numerous outdoor activity and pursuits. Adventurers flock to the region for rafting, hiking and fishing among other activities synonymous with the Colorado summertime. The Roaring Fork Valley is a hotbed for these activities.

For seasoned adventurers, there is always a hunger to try new things. Those looking for a new outdoor pursuit need to experience a day at Sage Outdoor Adventures.

The Sage Outdoor Adventure Ranch is located 40 minutes east of Glenwood Springs between Eagle and Wolcott. The 6000-acre ranch is host to numerous outdoor activities for both the summer and winter seasons.



The ranch offers ATV and snowmobile tours, horseback riding, rafting and guided fly fishing. However, one of their best attractions is something that most adventure companies don’t offer.

Atop a scenic overlook, Sage Outdoor Adventure maintains two sporting clay courses. First timers and experienced shooters alike with both find the shooting experience at Sage to be one of the best of their life.



Sage has two full time shooting instructors with access to ten total to accommodate any party size. These expert marksmen, like Will Sheridan, can teach first timers the basics of trap shooting.“

Most of the time, we are helping those who have never shot before,” said Sheridan. “We can help people who are looking to improve their shot too, but we mainly deal with first timers.”

Visitors to Sage are welcome to bring their own gear to shoot. If you don’t have it, don’t sweat it.

“If you want to bring along your own stuff, you are more than welcome to. We’ll just charge you for the clays,” said Kate Ruark one of Sage’s employees, “but a lot of people either don’t have the shotguns and gear or don’t travel with them. We have an all-inclusive deal for them.”

The course itself is as thrilling as it is beautiful. The stations lie dispersed on a half mile trail along a mountainside with scenic outlooks across the Sage property and valley below. The course requires marksmen to shoot up mountainsides, over cliffs and through woodland areas

Much like a golf course, each of the shooting stations offers its own challenges. One station requires shooters to locate clays flying parallel to each other overhead at nearly a 60-degree angle. Two of the stations send a clay skittering across the ground mimicking a rabbit. Shooters must wait for the clay to take a friendly hop before pulling the trigger.

The stations are also very user friendly. A lone shooter can operate the launching station from a remote control set on a delay. Shooters can also send practice clays out before they step out to shoot in order to get a better idea of how to line up their shots.

The course is friendly to large groups, but at the same time it doesn’t get too crowded. Smaller groups and individuals can therefor experience the course at their own pace.

“We get maybe 30 shooters on a typical day at the 12-station,” said Eric Latendresse, another of Sage’s shooting instructors, “but sometimes we get groups of 25 at the 5-stand lesson. We might do 75 total on a busy day.”

In addition to the sporting clays, Sage has over 50 guides available to take visitors on any adventure of their choosing. They offer rafting and fly fishing on several stretches of river including the Colorado, Eagle, Bore Creek, Shoshone and Arkansas River. The ranch has over 70 miles of off-roading trails and over 6,000 acres of private land to explore on horseback.

Any activity adventures might associate with the Colorado outdoors can be found at Sage. Whether you’re looking for a new activity or a new setting, spend a day at Sage Outdoor Adventures and try your hand at the thrills of sporting clays.


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