Slob shooters make it hard for all of us

[Dave Workman]

Are Northwest recreational shooters a legion of pigs?
 
   A pair of public meetings slated May 15 in Ellensburg and the following evening in Selah are very likely to put at least some recreational shooters on the spot, and perhaps rightly so, as the Department of Fish & Wildlife takes a hard look at safety issues and possible solutions to problems on the agency?s Wenas Wildlife Area.
 
http://www.examiner.com/article/are-northwest-recreational-shooters-a-legion-of-pigs
 

[Twmaster]

Those sorts are not shooters. They are lazy jerks with guns.

[Faeruss7]

     These shooters are definitely not good stewards of the land. If there are laws against this poor behavior, I would hope that the guilty parties are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am, however, extremely skeptical about any new regulations based on the actions of the few, who refuse to honor any law. That is a path that leads to tyranny.

[Twmaster]

Laws exist. I'd wager it's littering. And I agree with you. New regulations could be a vector for the anti's to get their dreams fulfilled.

[Spirit 1]

Sounds like a great opportunity to me, if you play your cards right. Could be a fine time to organize a new shooting group/club who are interested in demonstrating responsible firearms use and ownership while also stirring some good clean fun into the pot.

Possibly you could start a club and have a Turkey Shoot on Sundays at one or more spots, with real loose rules on what you can shoot, lots of categories to include anybody. In addition, set up another area dedicated to unorganized shooting but provide target stanchions.

The Turkey Shoot might have cash prizes, or discounts or shooting sports merchandise from local sporting goods dealers [there's some nice free advertising and a customer draw], or genuine turkey prizes for the best shooting in categories, whatever. Get Govt. permission to set up some very stout target stanchions, like rustic all wood 6"-8" fence post or pole material, and suitable [if needed] backstops. Have some litter containers on site, installed & serviced by 'Club Member' donations?

Good opportunity for some local advertising in the papers and talk radio, getting folks interested while further advertising vendors who want to be involved. Charge a minor fee for joining, to defray expenses, and have a caveat for participation in the Turkey Shoots on Sunday afternoons: ONLY FOLKS WHO COME AND HELP OUT WITH A CLEANUP ON SATURDAY ARE ELIGIBLE TO SHOOT ON SUNDAY!

Add in a small entry fee to help cover expenses. Of course members could get together and further police the area, also preparing it for Sundays. The local refuse disposal site might be willing to allow free dumping to club members on Saturdays. Possible these recreation areas could provide a simple transfer facility so that clean up crews only have to drop refuse off, to eliminate fees & complications. There's a great opportunity here to take a deficit and turn it into an asset for local shooters.

This would also result in many local citizens patrolling the same areas where others are prone to trash it up, and on the same days when they're most likely to come and do it. By recording license plates of people they see that are out shooting on their own that could further help in keeping areas clean.

[Twmaster]

Spirit, there ya go. Great idea.

[armoredman]

The worst thing is, any area that doesn't have some sort of regular attention by an official agency will fall back into wrack and ruin through inattention. Even my favorite range requires an extra man and more time to clean up on Mondays, from junk left on the line. I've seen some very nice areas closed to shooting because of drunken slobs. Cars, refrigerators, water heaters, all kinds of garbage left out after being shot to ribbons, broken glass everywhere, spilled oil on the ground, it's sickening, and the major reason I won't shoot at wildcat ranges any more. I went to one that was so popular and overused that you literally couldn't take a step without stepping on discarded brass, shotgun hulls, broken glass or debris. The county sent in a bulldozer on that one, same day the area was chained off.
Start off by assuming whatever you do will get shot up. Any signs you post will get holes poked in them. Any benches will be shot, and target stands will get ruined or stolen. It is wort the effort if enough people get involved AND you can get local LE to run by once in a while to arrest slobs. See, none of the drunken bums will attend any of the meetings, even know there WAS a meeting, and will continue with what they do, littering and careless shooting, until the word gets out, hey, bad area, man, George and Jorge got arrested for endangerment and criminal littering last week, lets find somewhere else to get high and make noise!
BTW, best investment the group could make - rent a bulldozer and consult with an NRA range building officer - cut some REAL shooting lanes into the ground with real backstops. Signs need to be heavy duty metal, set way into the ground on torch resistant poles. If you build overheads, use thick wood, maybe even railroad ties. Anything light will be destroyed.
I've dealt with these type of people many times in the past, even knew some, and it always sickens me to see what they do to the landscape. Even worse when you point it out, and they have the me-first, blank stare of "What? I don't care!"
Last thing - do NOT confront slob shooters! Those who destroy the landscape for temporary fun may also be under the influence of recreational substances, and the last thing you want to do is confront someone who is under the influence, armed, with buddies. Be a good witness and call PD.

[jameslovesjammie]

Our club is going through the same thing...but on private land with club property.  We used to have rolling target stands that the club paid for and built.  Anyone who wanted to use one could just grab one and roll it out.  There was probably $30 in parts in each stand in lumber, wheels, and a rod that acted as an axle.  The past winter, the 7 we had were rolled out into the snow and mowed down with AR's.  When they couldn't get their jollies off that, they took out one of the wooden shooting tables (VERY sturdy built, probably $100 in green treated lumber) and went to town on it.  Same goes for several surplus school desks that we had out there for when young kids would come to shoot.  We had some big spools the electric company donated for us to use as tables...shot up.  I went out one day last fall with my boy and there were 5 guys from the ages of 40-55.  They were smoking cigars and bump firing AK's.  One guy had a Mosin with a bayonet.  After a string of all of them emptying mags, they looked down the range and asked if I was all clear.  I said yes, and one guy ran down range with the Mosin and speared the wooden target stand with his bayonet.  I was about to say something (had their license plates written down) when a board member happened to come out just as they were taking a broken 40" plasma TV out to shoot.

Some guys have no respect.  The incidents the past year have caused our membership to double.  We are a small club compared to what most of you shoot at.  I would bet most people who come out have a guest membership, not even full membership. 

[Twmaster]

People seem to have zero respect in general these days. The moral decline seems to be in free-fall these days.

[Spirit 1]

From the 50's 'Beat Generation' through the 60's 'Free Love - Get High - Drop Out' culture and on through the 70's people were taught social irresponsibility and personal irresponsibility. Now the chickens have come home to roost! It's a plague across America, seen everywhere at every level, where the only common bond between men is selfishness.

There's much in the news lately about another epidemic, that of Obesity and Morbid Obesity. Bottom line there is it's the same root cause: can't say no to self, can't exercise responsibility.

[Norman]

From the 50's 'Beat Generation' through the 60's 'Free Love - Get High - Drop Out' culture and on through the 70's people were taught social irresponsibility and personal irresponsibility.  .

I am a member of the 50's "Beat Generation" all right....got my a$$ beat by my parents a lot.  Well not a lot, after the first belt whippin I kinda cooled it with the smart remarks. lol  In my youth I got a belt and a switch a couple of times. Nowadays all a kid has to do is threaten ma and pa with a call to the cops about kiddie abuse.  Where the heck was that when I was a kid?!?  I feel cheated!!!    
On social responsibility if I smarted off to any adult and my parents found out or heard me, see above, so you cant blame the 50 and 60's, maybe 1970 on.

[CZMN]

I belong to a small informal range. Way out in the sticks. You pay your dues and they give you the combo to the gate to let yourself in. The vast majority of people I run into out there are great but there is always a few. One guy got caught stealing a gas can out of the shed which housed the lawn mower and weed whips. Others will spary the wooden target frames with AR's or Ak's and just generally leave a mess with plastic bottles or milk jugs they shot up.

I try to go out there on off days in the middle of the week. Often times I have the entire place to myself for hours. But there have been times when a group of guys will show up on 4 wheelers and highly likely they are not members and got on the property through the woods. Thats when I usually start to pack up.

I have spent hours out there not shooting but just cleaning up others peoples mess.

[Dave Workman]

I belong to a small informal range. Way out in the sticks. You pay your dues and they give you the combo to the gate to let yourself in. The vast majority of people I run into out there are great but there is always a few. One guy got caught stealing a gas can out of the shed which housed the lawn mower and weed whips. Others will spary the wooden target frames with AR's or Ak's and just generally leave a mess with plastic bottles or milk jugs they shot up.

I try to go out there on off days in the middle of the week. Often times I have the entire place to myself for hours. But there have been times when a group of guys will show up on 4 wheelers and highly likely they are not members and got on the property through the woods. Thats when I usually start to pack up.

I have spent hours out there not shooting but just cleaning up others peoples mess.

I spent 20 years as an officer of my gun club, from board member to president, and I spent a lot of time cleaning up after the cruds who see their range as just one more big gravel pit garbage dump.
I'd love to catch these swine in the act and pull their membership badges.

So, I wrote about this from the perspective of somebody who's been there, done that and got the T-shirt