Joining Dakota County club - should I?

[Bitter Bastard]

Thanks BB! I would have definitely gone for it if it was not for the volunteer hours. I am not sure I will have a chance to spend more than 8 hours at the range through the summer...

Volunteer hours are EASY to get if you try at all. There are numerous events that you can help with - ladies day, the family, various work days, and the big one - deer rifle sight in, which is the last 4 weekends before deer season. 8 days to choose from to get your 8 hours in.

What kind of time blocks do you sign up for? 1, 2, 4, 8, whatever you want?

For deer rifle sight in they usually want you to do a whole day but I've done two 1/2 days in the past as well. Not sure about the other events, but for work days, it's usually show up, work a while, then sign out. It's usually fairly casual. You can also log work hours for general maintenance, there is a list of projects in the clubhouse to work on, and so on.

[sprigfan]

I just sent in my acceptance on Friday. I was expecting to wait another year or two, so I was pleasantly surprised. This will be my first gun club membership, so I have nothing to compare to. Casual is what I am hoping for.

[dleong]

The latest club newsletter e-mailed to members yesterday indicates that the Board of Directors has approved increasing the club's membership cap to 600. Up from the current 500, if memory serves. This should produce some movement in the current waiting list.

Correction: Up from 500, not 450.

[ttousi]

Went to orientation yesterday...........left before the range tour. Decided for a number of reasons it was not a good fit for me. Cancelled my membership via e-mail.

Hope it works well for others.

[gun_fan111v2]

Went to orientation yesterday...........left before the range tour. Decided for a number of reasons it was not a good fit for me. Cancelled my membership via e-mail.

Hope it works well for others.

Definitely curious - anything you would be willing to share through PM will be appreciated.

[Ron Burgundy]

Went to orientation yesterday...........left before the range tour. Decided for a number of reasons it was not a good fit for me. Cancelled my membership via e-mail.

Hope it works well for others.

Good for you. I sat through all 3 hours, including the 2 hour reading the rule book. I'm still trying to decide if I should cancel.

Did you get your money back? Dues & deposit?

[Ghost]

This is a bit concerning. I won't be able to attend orientation until July.

[Erud]

What is scaring you guys away? I'm not a member anymore, but unless they changed something, the orientation/re-orientation was always just mind-numbingly boring. Nothing that would make anyone leave, unless they had a bad case of ADHD or something. Curious if there is something new going on.

Thanks,
Erik

[Ron Burgundy]

I'm still on the fence. I'm not a rifle shooter so having the ability to shoot to 300 doesn't do anything for me.

I was a little disappointed in the pistol bays but maybe I've been spoiled by Forrest Lake and Pine Island.

Add in work hours, some weird rules (lead only on metal targets), a PITA route to get there via gravel roads, and the state of the facilities I'm just not sure the value proposition is there.

[Ghost]

If they upped membership then I assume they have plans to improve facilities, or at least that's what I would do.

[Erud]

All fair points. I was a member for 10 years up until a year or so ago, and don't recall seeing any real improvements done during that time. Keeping membership numbers small is good as far as I'm concerned for a private club, so adding 20% might not be a great thing. It's a decent club, just doesn't really have what I need at this time. I could never find the time to actually get there to shoot in the last few years anyways, much less get my work hours done...

[ttousi]

Went to orientation yesterday...........left before the range tour. Decided for a number of reasons it was not a good fit for me. Cancelled my membership via e-mail.

Hope it works well for others.

Good for you. I sat through all 3 hours, including the 2 hour reading the rule book. I'm still trying to decide if I should cancel.

Did you get your money back? Dues & deposit?

Check never hit the bank yet..spent 22.00 to stop payment (seemed easier than trying to get check back or refund)

1. Access....website says don't come in on whatever trail...........locked gates thru U of M all over, finally used "not use rd?" Told in orientation that the rule had changed some time ago. Try updating website

2. Orientation person did not know newbies were coming. No list of newbs....here sign in on back of target......Totally unorganized

3. Read 20 0pages of handbook word for word...I have a very low tolerance for that. Then reorientation people leave after 1st 1 & 1/2 hours. No short break lets go right into reading 17 pages of bylaws. Thankfully he skipped some.

4. After bylaws he says I'll sign your back page which will act as your badge and give you access code then we will do range tour. That's when I had enough and left. Sitting for 2 plus hours and I couldn't even doze off....though I tried.

Misc concerns
Unannounced closing of roads.....was on both sides of the same gate during trying to get in
Apparently they cut hay periodically and my guess is unannounced so driving in from east metro to find the rifle range shut a definite possibility
Also on occasion you will see a tractor atop the hill doing something....hold fire until he is 10 degrees either side ........Really?......!!!
One outhouse with porta potty near main gate 2-3 blocks away. How do you handle 20-30 DNR students plus membership
No covers on ranges because we won't spend the money since we only have a yr to yr lease.
Newbie asked how often mail was checked since he had sent in his application via certified and it had not been picked up yet. That's when I figured my check probably hadn't hit the bank yet
Re-orientation every 3 years ..not a bad idea. Reading the book to people again...Bad idea

IMHO.........The good old boy club needs some serious attention to detail and communication. Had I known some of the above I would have never put myself on he waiting list

.02

[ttousi]

Here is what I emailed them after checking with my bank

Jim

I attended the orientation today and realized that the DCGC does not meet my needs. I left the orientation before the end.

Please cancel my new membership application. You may simply discard the 300.00 check since I put a stop payment on it.

Thank you
Me

[VMAX97]

Here is what I emailed them after checking with my bank

Jim

I attended the orientation today and realized that the DCGC does not meet my needs. I left the orientation before the end.

Please cancel my new membership application. You may simply discard the 300.00 check since I put a stop payment on it.

Thank you
Me

Thanks for the information. From what you said and the google maps, the place certainly could use some improvements but with a year to year lease, that does not bode well for a club. Faribault maybe a few miles further away but, I rarely have time to get to the range and 8 hours of mandatory "volunteer" hours would not work for me. I am curious what their lease cost is and what their money is spent on.

[yukonjasper]

I'll vent, as long as the topic is here.

I liked that it was close to my house in Eagan and offered a 300yd range and a place to shoot pistols. On the surface it looked great. But, as mentioned they really hadn't put much ongoing investment into the place. I think there were frames over some of the positions on the rifle range but not canvas to provide shelter - I saw no improvements at all for the 3 or so years I belonged.
I was a member for a while and some of the frustrations listed here were my experience as well. The route in was unnecessarily circuitous and designed to keep neighbors who live on a dirt road to not have to deal with any dust from that dirt road - silly - people can use common sense.

If I remember correctly, the U of M and/or the State are the lessors through the UMore land use agreement and it at their pleasure that the place exists. The year to year lease seemed to be a driver on a lot of things as the members were very very very aware that if any of their neighbors complained or became unhappy with the club or their members, it was the end of the lease. They were ferociously defending against that.

This, in my opinion, has lead to an over apologetic and restrained approach to appease the neighbors and an unnecessarily aggressive attitude and intolerance of minor infractions from the members towards other members. One incident over uncasing a rifle - arguably at the line or within 1.5 feet of the firing line - a disputable distance and, by the way, when no one else was on the line firing. The Member being described was evidently leaving and happened to be driving his truck along the exit road and thought it important enough to accelerate into the parking area then slam on his brakes, creating a cloud of dust, and shouting at me through the open window of his truck. I had 2 other run ins with people who were apparently long standing members who didn't seem happy that I was breaking into the Old Boy Network - shutting down the range without communicating with me to see if I was also done with the string I was shooting - arbitrarily shutting down the range as it suited them with no consideration for others - frustrating when the attitude presented is that I was messing up "their" range day - how long had I been a member - Look down the range more often for the cone etc. - they were shooting 3 shot groups and walking the entire length of the 300yard range - no spotting scope. 3 shots and a 15 minute delay.............WTF. I was also tracked down and berated when I took a wrong turn out of the facility to use the prohibited route - honking and flashing lights and then being told to turn around follow their truck to the correct road - literally at 4 mph so as not to raise a cloud - seriously? Granted, all of these things could be technically construed as infractions.

Because the Old Boy Network is so on edge about one infraction causing the entire lease to be cancelled, many minor infractions are treated with over bearing and irrational reactions which included - in my case - verbal abuse and belittling. These are adults speaking to another adult - If I make a mistake, I'm happy to take criticism and suggestions for corrective action, but cussing and being talked down to as if I were 4 years old is not necessary - the tone could have easily escalated into an altercation if I had not seen the overreaction and chose to de-escalte. Granted, they can run the operation however they want and I can choose to not belong.