Run in with "ANTI-" today while shooting

[Colorado Osprey]

Kinda long story.. sorry

For those that use the south shoot site you know it can get pretty busy on weekends.

So.. picking up a friend in Divide we went north on North Road at Highway 67 in Divide.
Followed it westerly onto Cedar Mountain Road and then north onto Ridge Road.
About 1/2 way down Ridge Road there is a gate onto the National Forest that used to be seldom used with Forrest access road 511 and loop 511A.

There is a great meadow at the bottom that is horse shoe shaped and about 2.5 miles long.
A great place to site in long range rifles.

Anyway, staying on loop 511A we went down to the meadow and were close to private property to prevent motorcyclist and ATV'ers from getting in our way set up a shooting lane against a hillside about 150 yards long.

After about a hour this guy comes trotting down and starts telling us that the Sheriff is on the way and we are not supposed to be shooting here and that we shouldn't have driven down to this place and that we passed 5 signs that said no vehicles were allowed. Now the Sheriff was going to arrest us and confiscate my automobile, my guns and my ammo. He says that he has already had 3 horses shot this year and is not taking it any more.

I know that there was a law passed last year that says you have to stay on access roads and that not doing so can result in a $250 fine and loss of hunting rights for a certain period if you are in an act of hunting while breaking the law.

I was very consious of this driving in to make sure not to break any trail laws and to be on a marked trail.
I also know in some areas it is marked No Shooting in June, July and August... but not marked here.

Anyway.... packed up started to drive out and my friend who was with me called the Sheriff's office on his cell phone when we got reception as he personally knows all or most of the Deputies..... Collegues.

They said no call was placed about us.

In fact they asked if the guy was causing any trouble and wanted to know if we would like a Deputy to come out. We declined their offer

After looking at trail maps and back tracking our route we broke no laws.

My buddy was upset and wanted to get our big game rifles which make lots more noise and go back for an afternoon of shooting.

I though it was better that we return another day, with a few Deputy friends with us to do it all over again.... it ought to be interesting next time.

Befvore that we are also going to stop by the Sheriffs office with GPS locations to confirm where we were and make sure it was truely ok and stop by the Forest Service to again confirm our legality.

There has been problems with Liberals in Teller County that like to make up their own rules, post their own signs as well as make fences and lock gates that are on public property to prevent access near their properties. I think this is one of those "guys".

[HunterCO]

If you were not breaking any laws why would you pack up and quit shooting? Me personally I would have told the guy to pack sand and told him to call the sheriff then I would have continued shooting.

Thats just me. [Tooth]

[7idl]

whats that you say? .50cal day at that site?

damn, I'll have to go out and buy one! :D

[al_g]

If you were not breaking any laws why would you pack up and quit shooting? Me personally I would have told the guy to pack sand and told him to call the sheriff then I would have continued shooting.

Thats just me. [Tooth]Exactly, this is the best solution. I also hope that the anti calls the sheriff and ends up getting educated.

[libertyordeath]

heh. my buddy and i were up at the north shooting loc on saturday. we arrived at 9:30ish, set up a couple reactive plates at 100 yds and some paper at 25 yds to zero my new scope and his new m1a. a few guys showed up by 10:00ish and set up on the pistol range. shortly after we got our firing line set up and rifles laid out, a guy, a woman, and a dog come walking up the trail from the road. my buddy says to me, "who the hell brings their dog to a range? that poor dog's ears are going to be ringing." the new trio comes walking up the trail (heading toward the berm on the 100+ yd range) and i walk to greet them.

i smile and ask them, "how's it going folks?"

he answers, "pretty good. you know how far this trail goes back?"

i told him, "just to the berm back there, but you don't want to be hiking here. this is a shooting range."

puzzled, he replied, "really?!?! well, there's no sign that says that; the sign out there says foot traffic welcome."

i, somewhat amused at this point, assure him this is indeed a shooting range and call his attention to the spent casings, everywhere. after mentioning this to them, the woman volunteers as she opens her hand revealing two empty 12 gauge shells, "yeah we saw them and picked a few up."

i then politely suggested that they may want to try the trails on the other side of hwy 7 to the south. he said, "yeah, that sounds like a better idea. thanks for the info, buddy." to which he then extends his closed fist seeking a knuckle bump. i oblige him, tell him to be safe, and then the trio heads south from the range.

as they walk away, i look over at my buddy who is just shaking his head. "stupid morons," he adds.

so, moral of the story: don't underestimate the stupidity of poeple and always be aware of your range surroundings (including the area beyond the berm).

[Sixgun]

[Rock][OLA][Fire][DriveBy][MG][AR15][UZI][ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2][ROFL2]Sounds like a PARTY>>>[Beer][M2][M2]

[USMC88-93]

................... this is a shooting range."


[Personal Opinion here but]...........

Technically no it is not a shooting range just like the area in Lefthand is not a shooting range. There is nothing stupid or moronic about hiking/walking around in the mountains where you can. They have just as much right to be there and in fact if they were there first it would by your responsibility not to shoot until they were clear of the area. They were nice enough to pick up some spent shell casings they would not be familiar with how dirty that area gets and wouldn't know those shell casings were only a drop in the bucket of what is out there left by the idiots among us. I applaud them for being considerate enough to make the attempt as small as it may have been.

To call someone moronic for exercising their rights to open space is in itself moronic. It is not an organized "shooting range" you were kind enough to warn them of the dangers posed by shooters in the area and I commend you for that. Cherry Creek is a shooting range where we shoot is just a known get together spot which we could easily loose. Thanks for being safe enough to warn them sounds like a positive encounter.

[libertyordeath]

To call someone moronic for exercising their rights to open space is in itself moronic... ...Thanks for being safe enough to warn them sounds like a positive encounter.

yes, it was a positive encounter and hopefully they left the area with an appreciation for friendliness of the shooting culture. but allow me to apologize if the intent of my previous post was not clear. the stupid and the moronic adjectives were not directed at their attempt to use public lands for hiking. it was because of their apparent complete disregard for their own safety and their surroundings. had i not politely greeted them, they looked as though they were going to continue walking straight down the range. they had already walked behind the group shooting pistols, and were on course to walk past shooters lying in prone positions and straight through what could have been an active line of fire. again the point of my post was not their use of public lands; rather it was their use of their heads, or lack thereof.

i know i'm preaching to the libertarian choir here, but this happens all over our society as the nannyist government relieves people of their personal responsibilities (and consequently their rights). people stop thinking, especially about their personal safety. i frequently get laborers and techs on my construction sites (generally the younger ones, but not always) walking under loaded excavator and loader buckets; where it would only take a ruptured hydraulic line to drop several tons of soil and steel on their heads. or they walk behind and/or stand in the blind spots of dozers. the examples are numerous. some people don't use their heads. and when some people don't use their heads, we, the thinkers, have to use ours twice as much to prevent accidents.

while i agree that low-impact hiking should be encouraged and appreciated, their motivation for picking up the couple of 20 gauge shells wasn't no-trace hiking; it was curiosity, since she promptly discarded the shells to the ground after i explained that this area was used for target shooting.

cheers all. just be safe out there and keep in mind not everyone pays as much attention to their surroundings as you do.
[Beer]

[Daniel187]

Am kinda close to Boulder and get the same thing, there are so few places to shoot and then you get really "smart" collage hippies wanting to walk around the shooting range, well let them and lets see what happens[M2]

[RYAN50BMG]

whats that you say? .50cal day at that site?

damn, I'll have to go out and buy one! :D

I triple dog dare you.

[7idl]

I triple dog dare you.



hmmm, you wouldn't know any dealers now, would you? [Swim]

[Ridge]

If you were not breaking any laws why would you pack up and quit shooting? Me personally I would have told the guy to pack sand and told him to call the sheriff then I would have continued shooting.

Thats just me. [Tooth]

Big +1 I'd have shot until the sherriff showed up or I ran out of ammo, whichever came first...

[antixss]

Definition of MORON - person who walks into the middle of an active gun range.

When guns are being fired MOST intelligent animals on earth (including humans) pay attention. Or should.

whatever.