By Eric Smith
As the ever-constant winds blow across the open fields of Ottawa, Kansas, gunshots from hand-built, bolt-action rifles crack and shortly after fade away in the afternoon breeze.
Despite the constant interruption, Tim Yoder’s vision momentarily harkens back to when he first shot a revolver with his grandfather. A native of Topeka, Yoder’s youth was spent outdoors, practicing shooting targets to prepare for the fall deer hunting season.
“When I look back, the time that I spent [shooting] with my grandparents was very good bonding time,” Yoder says. “I’ve got those [same] guns now and my kids can shoot them. I think that’s cool.”
Firearms and shooting sports were always a part of Yoder’s plan. Working as a Marine Corps Small Arms Repairer/Technician, he gained a vast skill set, all with the intent of starting a gun shop.
Today, Yoder, and partner David Powell, are owners of Great Plains Precision Rifle Range in Ottawa, the only private long range precision rifle range in the Kansas City area.
Yoder met Powell while working at Burns & McDonnell.
They opened Great Plains Precision in 2019, solving a need for a long-range target practice space closer to the Kansas City area. Gone were the days of driving for hours to specialized facilities like Severance Training Center, in Conway Springs, Kansas.
Great Plains Precision is more than just the typical public shooting range. The private range, which charges an annual membership fee, is built for those dedicated to the art of seeing how far they can successfully ‘send it.’
The sport frequently referred to as “PRS,” an acronym for the sport’s main governing body, the Precision Rifle Series, is a big part of Great Plains Precision’s focus. Competitors are challenged to engage steel targets – typically several — ranging often from 300 to 1,000 yards away, with 8-12 shots, in under two minutes. It is part long range rifle shooting match and part drag race.
Oh, and much of it is done from improvised shooting positions, varying from off rock piles, out of a porthole, or perhaps a tower of railroad ties.
An Olathe resident, Powell handles much of the tedious, minute, and tremendously important clerical work requisite in the firearms business. The pair also own and operate Great Plains Guns, a separate, small firearms shop where Yoder largely performs custom rifle work.
What drove Powell to the precision rifle hobby was a unique combination the Army veteran hadn’t found elsewhere.
“From late high school, through college and through the Army, I shot competitively,” Powell said. “I like the combination of skill and precision, and art and engineering, and how that all comes together. That’s what really hit home for me.”
That drive was a necessary evil as training facilities for Yoder and Powell’s preferred discipline are infrequent and wide-flung.
Four times per year, the range hosts an Introduction to Long Range shooting class, aimed at helping beginners accurately hit targets at ranges up to 600 yards.
A fall class teaches many of the same concepts but focuses the application on hunting.
Yoder said the hunting class focuses on getting the prone hunter up from the stable, flat ground, which frequently isn’t a viable position in a hunt. “We get them [shooting] right on tripods,” he said. “We give them a foundation [of skills] and then we get them some experience.”
So far, the businesses are doing well for Yoder and Powell. Yoder is now able to run the range and Great Plains Guns full time. That doesn’t mean things are always smooth and easy.
Recently, Yoder was made aware by county officials that the range would have to be closed for fear of stray bullets possibly crossing the Prairie Spirit bicycle trail more than a mile north of the range.
A Franklin County Planning Commission public hearing was held on May 15th concerning the range where, by the end, the committee allowed Great Plains Precision to continue operating while Yoder considers plans to ease concerns from the public.
“I said ‘When I was a kid, I rode the tires off my bike, so I fully support the trail,’” Yoder said. “I can’t go against this trail.”
“We’ve never had anybody hurt out here,” Yoder said. “As far as safety, as long as we’re all on the same page, then that’s the biggest thing.”
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