Riding the Range

Bob Harris (sitting in his machine) with his English pointer enjoy the time-and-work-saving benefits of the Bobcat 2200 utility vehicle.

The 2200 4x4 utitlity vehicle is the No. 1 support vehicle for our shotgun range. During the shooting season, we use it every day.” That’s how Bob Harris describes the value of the Bobcat® 2200 for the National Rifle Associaton (NRA), Whittington Center, Raton, N.M.

The 2200, along with a Bobcat skid-steer loader and a Toolcat™ 5600 work utility vehicle, save time and labor at this NRA facility. Featuring
the world’s largest shooting range, the center attracts more than 150,000
shooters each year. It’s the site of national and international shooting
competitions and includes facilities for just about any type of outdoor
target shooting—from skeet, small bore pistol and high-power rifle silhouette to black powder cartridge and muzzle loaders. Covering 33,000
acres, the center also offers large game hunting and youth education programs in shooting, hunting and camping.

Harris manages the shotgun range, which is spread over an area that extends nearly 4 miles from one end to the other. He puts the 2200 to work pulling trailer-mounted traps and hauling cases of clay targets in a train of as many as seven trailers, around the range or back and forth to the shop. When not working or transporting shooters and maintenance people around the course, Harris shares the 2200 with his English pointer when the two go hunting. “He thinks he owns the machine,” says Harris.

Among the 2200’s features that please Harris are the fuel economy of the diesel engine, the riding comfort, the ease of getting in and out of the
machine and the tilt steering wheel, which adjusts to fit the machine’s different operators.

“The four-wheel drive works fantastic for going through mud and snow and over various terrain,” he says. “I’ve carried more than a thousand pounds of clay targets in the cargo box and it doesn’t push the suspension down. In fact, the machine acts like it doesn’t even know it has a full load.”

Harris is also impressed with the 2200’s engineering.

“I’ve never seen a machine built as well as this one,” he says. “If you’re in the market for a utility vehicle, you don’t need to look any further.”