Arthur started Up the Creek Arms, at 1495 Dover Road in Cove City, in 2017 and taught her first student as a certified shooting instructor later that year.

“I started teaching because so many people, mostly women, were coming to me to ask for help,” Arthur said. “Fortunately, and unfortunately, I have been able to help a lot of domestic violence victims who come to me for empowerment sessions.”

Arthur said she also works with widows.

“They spend their whole life leaving the protective aspect to the man and now they feel vulnerable,” she said. “Also, I have a lot of older folks who come with adaptive needs, like they’ve been shooters their whole life but they had shoulder surgery or are recovering from health issues and need help.”

Arthur said her education in the pre-med field helps her understand how to make the body work. After studying medicine, Arthur went back to school for a business degree.

She really put her business degree to use five years ago when she started working on plans for a shooting range. Arthur said she did an extensive financial analysis to determine membership and entry fees for the Up the Creek Arms Shooting Range.

“That’s what my background is mostly in, financial projections and analysis for business purposes,” Arthur said. “We’ve tried to make it as affordable as possible to be able to continue to grow. That is a hard balance to strike.

“This economy is not kind to the business owner or the consumer.”

Arthur said she’s yet to receive a paycheck from Up the Creek Arms since she saves all her income for the shooting range.

The first phase of the Up the Creek Arms Shooting Range, which sits on about 50 acres, opened on Jan. 25, and Arthur anticipates three more phases.

The range opened with a 400-foot shooting berm to accommodate different shooting distances out to 100 yards with multiple lanes, Arthur said. 

Although it’s not available yet, phase one will also have shotgun skeet platforms where shooters can fire at targets launched from automatic machines. Arthur said she’s working on adding that discipline to phase one as a temporary station, which will be moved to a permanent location in another phase.

Phase two will bring an enclosed archery cage and an additional enclosed cage for axe, hatchet and sharps throwing.

The second phase will also add a towered rifle range with different levels and shooting distances up to 1,000 yards. Stacked high cube shipping containers will sit behind the classroom, facing the property line furthest from the road, where members can shoot from.

“Those towered rifle positions are gonna take some time because everything out here we’re making (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible so it doesn’t matter what type of shooter we have, we’re here to adapt and provide for their needs.” Arthur said.

“My engineer is trying to figure out if it’s gonna be more cost effective to have an elevator attached to that system or to build a ramp.”

Additional berms will be constructed toward the back of the property with each berm getting larger as the distance from the road increases.

Toward the end of construction on phase two, Arthur will create a flanking berm that runs beside the tower to the back of the property line. The flanking berm will act as a canal system that drains into a nearby pond.

During phase three of construction, the skeet range will become a permanent fixture.

Phase three will also bring specialized tactical ranges. Arthur said she’s already in negotiations for contract work from different law enforcement and military agencies in the area.

The final phase will bring a massive permanent structure with an indoor range and a permanent shop, Arthur said.

As each phase progresses, more safety measures and sound reduction methods will be added to the range.

“We’re working very hard to give as much as we safely can as quick as we can,” she said. “Up the Creek is for anyone who needs it, anybody who needs a safe haven to get training, a safe place to practice their skills.

“That’s (what) we’re trying to do, not make a killing off the public, just pay bills and build the next thing.”

Public access will be limited to certain disciplines, like the shooting range bays. As more disciplines come, Arthur will announce which ones the general public has access to.

Members will have access to all disciplines at the shooting range but must go through an application process. If accepted, members can pay for access monthly or annually, with discounts available.

“Members, because we vet them, we don’t put a range safety officer or instructor on them,” Arthur said. “Instead, they pay monthly or annually and as we add more disciplines and provide more access and training options, they get to make their membership modular. Every time we tack on a new discipline that’s an extra $10 a month.”

The general public will have access to certain disciplines at an hourly rate of $15 per discipline, per shooter. Minors are also allowed to shoot but must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

“We don’t charge for minors, as long as the adult is paying,” Arthur said. “I’m not here to make money off kids.”

Currently, Arthur is handling much of the daily operations at the shooting range on her own while her assistant instructor finishes his education. Arthur has four range safety officers who work as volunteers.

One of the range safety officers is her husband, who helps behind the scenes when he has time away from his day job.

“We drew up a little application for volunteers and future employment,” Arthur said. “So far, everybody wants to volunteer because they see what we’re doing and they know we volunteer our time and our knowledge and our skills.”

The shooting range is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

However, as daylight hours increase and Arthur’s assistant instructor finishes school, the hours of operation could be extended, Arthur said.

Up the Creek Arms also offers concealed carry classes, one-on-one private lessons and custom carry gear.

Arthur hopes to bring in additional instructors for first aid and survival training as the range expands.

Another goal Arthur has is to create a nonprofit gun club where people can raise money to travel to shooting competitions around the nation. Up the Creek Arms would host its own shooting competitions and use the funds to send members to bigger and better competitions.

Additionally, Up the Creek Arms is a recruiter and partner for the National Rifle Association and the United States Concealed Carry Association.