Onamia Gravel Pit Range

[aprilian]

As a relatively new shooter, I have not had Range Officers disturb my enjoyment. There are good points above about why RO's protect the club's existence, but I'm surprised no one mentioned one of the reasons for RO's - that of keeping you safe from other fookin eedjuts (the correct Irish pronunciation). We've all seen a group of younger shooters who all recently started buying guns and have no idea that they are being unsafe until a RO points out the violation. At the indoor location I shoot most often, the rules are always explained to each shooter. It is amazing to me how often I need to go talk to an employee about a rule violation one or two lanes over. The employees must get tired of having to tell people the same thing repeatedly, which may come across as "attitude".

Life is different than when we kids rode our minibikes on any open property and shot BBs and 22s anywhere we wanted. An overly zealous (and some might say authority hungry) RO is more a symptom than a root problem.

[Holland&Holland]

Wow, this thread decended into an argument quickly.

Complain about ROs and policies if you want. Either follow them or find another place to shoot or buy your own range.

Treat other people's property with respect or expect consequences. Public land is not your land it is our land. If I find you littering I will turn you in.if that makes me a douche, so be it.

[MJY65]

...........or buy your own range.

Which is what I said in my first post in this thread.

[wasfuzz]

I am no longer a member there.

That's good, cause who want to belong to a Club that would let you in?

[Zombinie]

Thank you for all of your input, I am glad we had a discussion on range etiquette and I learned a lot about various ranges and why policies are the way they are.
For those who give a damn I will be joining Rainbow Sportsmen Club once the ice clears up, and in the meantime I will be visiting a small public range in ND (and yes I will be safe and clean up).

[yukonjasper]

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_forests/map.html

The only flaw in the "shoot in state forests" is that there are limited opportunities if you live near the metro. Private, rural land is your best bet or get to know someone who already has a setup.