Don't be 'that guy'.

[savage1r]

We, as gun owners, have a responsibility to take care of the public lands where we shoot. That means if you packed it in, pack it back out. There was a stark contrast to this pile of styrofoam as back at the line, someone had gone to great effort to collect a huge amount of trash to be taken away. Then some clown shows up with a 'screw everyone' attitude and gives the rest of us a bad name. Don't be 'that guy'.

Video Link

 

[Chevelle SS]

No respect whatsoever.

 

[savage1r]

Places like this get threatened with shut downs every year in my area because of complete jerks who trash it and leave their crap everywhere. This kind of disregard for natural areas as well as fellow shooters is disgusting.

 

[medalguy]

Exactly! Last year I was shooting with some friends on BLM land and when we were done we cleaned up our targets, and just then a BLM ranger drove up to talk and check IDs (common here). He noted the trash we had picked up and thanked us for that, and got back in his Jeep and grabbed a handful of BLM marked trash bags and handed then to me asking me to please continue the cleanup whenever I came out to shoot. Most people don't bother to clean up anything and leave all their trash. But guys, I can't clean up the whole outdoors. PLEASE do your part and take away just a little bit more than you brought!

 

[OptimusPrime]

Great advice.

 

[Trent]

Good message, Savage.

I'm with you 110%.

 

[Jim Mac]

When we were alot younger and dumber we left alot of trash behind. Use to love to shoot anything that would shatter. Last few times we went to the desert I jist stop and buy a few ten pound blocks of ice to shoot. Great to watch it shatter and when your done all you leave behind is a wet spot. Jim

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I agree...and, of course, hope you meant a metaphorical smack in the back of the head! I wouldn't want to really do that with a bunch of people toting firearms at these ranges...especially the types that would trash the place like this.

I concur...Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts learn "leave nothing but footprints". A range gathers enough incidental trash just through empty shells that don't all get picked up.

Those of us who care...leave the places cleaner than when we arrived.

 

[slumlord44]

I don't shoot on public land. Have my own place on the farm. Do fish on public land. Carry a trash bag and always pick up some trash before I leave. Always find some. As you say, can 't pick it all up but can make it a little better.

 

[longhair75]

I agree...and, of course, hope you meant a metaphorical smack in the back of the head! I wouldn't want to really do that with a bunch of people toting firearms at these ranges...especially the types that would trash the place like this.

I concur...Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts learn "leave nothing but footprints". A range gathers enough incidental trash just through empty shells that don't all get picked up.

Those of us who care...leave the places cleaner than when we arrived.

I agree. I learned the same when I was a Scout. It would never occur to me to leave my trash behind.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Yeah people like that piss me off. We had a little place near where I live and a lot of people shot there. No one had written permission but word was the owners didn't mind people shooting there. Well, some jackasses took an old couch and an old stove down there, shot it up and left it. Now there are posted signs everywhere and I don't blame the landowners. They tried to be nice and got screwed over. Idiots.

 

[MErl]

linking this thread to the pumpkin thread.

If you shoot things that leave organic debris in public areas, what is your policy on cleaning? If the debris are gone in 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? If something that will be eaten?

 

[Ryanxia]

linking this thread to the pumpkin thread.

If you shoot things that leave organic debris in public areas, what is your policy on cleaning? If the debris are gone in 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? If something that will be eaten?

We always clean up but if it's organic/biodegradable we usually leave it unless it's like a pile of soupy fruit in the walking path to the next backstop.

 

[savage1r]

Yeah, I picked up some of the cans that were lying around and shot them up, but then I picked them back up and put them in the trash pickup pile as well as a few more that were lying around. It doesn't really take much effort.

 

[mr.trooper]

A pumpkin or something will eventually degrade ... but use common sense. Some kinds of fruit with heavy peels or rinds can stick around for a surprising amount of time.

The major enemies are things like plastic (grocery bags / junk food wrapers) and metal (food / beverage cans). If just those 4 things vanished, the majority of the trash would vanish.

Yes, sometimes people do goofy stuff and shoot odd things - but the majority of trash are "convenience" items that get left behind, or blow in on the wind from parts unknown.

A single 'Walmart' can polute many square miles with what i like to call 'city tumbleweeds' - plastic shoping bags.

 

[Mauserguy]

Where I shoot out in the desert people will dump trash. The last time I went, I picked up a truck tire and the internals of what was once a refrigerator. I felt good about doing my part, but really it was just a drop in the bucket. We need to find a way to correct these dumpers. By the way, they may not have been shooters.

I was out one time and I ran into a couple of very nervous guys with a trailer full of junk. When I pulled up they were visibly shaking in fear and quickly left, with their junk. Had I not shown up at that time, they probably would have just dumped it and gone, never to be caught.

Mauserguy

 

[zdc1775]

I see this at every range I go to. Just this past weekend I picked up two full trash bags full at the local WMA range. I hunt the same WMA for small game and deer and almost always bring out trash with me then also. It seems like no one today has any personal responsibility anymore.

OT but the first thing I thought of when I saw then thread title was this comic. WARNING THE LINK HAS ADULT LANGUAGE

 

[ChaoSS]

It's unfortunate that people are so self absorbed, selfish, and inconsiderate these days. Where I live my house is the only developed lot out of 12 at the end of a dirt road, so I basically live at the end of a field. Not mine. There is a street that ends at the beginning of the dirt road. I heard the dogs barking one day, and looked out to see two guys unloading a trailer full of garbage in middle of the field. I walked out and informed them that the police would be called, and I would give them video of them dumping trash, including their license plates, if they didn't clean up every single piece. They did. About 20 minutes later, I saw them driving past again, with an empty trailer. Nearest county dump site is at least 20 minutes away, one direction. So I guess one of the other undeveloped properties in the area got a new trash pile.

 

[Reefinmike]

I always leave with more than I came with, today I came home with an extra 18 pounds of range lead and a few hundred extra cases... I cant believe people just leave that stuff laying around

 

[BruceB]

Today, a friend and I went to the Humboldt County range in northern Nevada.

It was a glorious day for shooting, with just a hint of breeze and temps around 70 even with the bright sunshine.

There are four ranges excavated out of the mountainside, two at fifty yards, one at 100, and the last with targets at 100-200-300 and 400 yards. there is also a shotgun location with permanently-installed target throwers on posts for public use. Not a trap or skeet range; this is more for recreational and 'defensive' shotgun users.

This shooting area is open 24/7, without supervision and without fees.

THERE WAS NO GARBAGE! NONE! The place has been open for a few years now, and the local shooters take VERY good care of "their" shooting facility. It's extremely rare to encounter any trash whatever.

This just goes to show that it CAN be done. I'm very impressed with my fellow local-area shooters.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

linking this thread to the pumpkin thread.

If you shoot things that leave organic debris in public areas, what is your policy on cleaning? If the debris are gone in 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? If something that will be eaten?

I think about it like this:

"Trash" is something I consider to be "litter". Paper, wood, metal, plastic, and things that aren't generally considered "biodegradable" in the short term. I don't leave trash behind.

"Garbage" is another matter...but not really. This I consider to be the rest of the spectrum. Biodegradable or not, garbage is garbage. I would not want it strewn about on my own lawn for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is appearance.

If I had my OWN property that I could shoot on, I'd STILL clean it up. At least to some extent, given the loacation. Pick up the pumpkin chunks, scrap up the pumpkin guts, etc. If it were my own property, I'd at least clean it up and move well it off the range into the woods (critters gotta eat, too).

BUT...

Public shooting ranges are not personal private property. Somebody else's private shooting ranges are not your own personal private property. So don't leave garbage lying about any more than you would on your own lawn.

If you wouldn't want to clean it up in your own lawn...then don't even bother making the mess in the first place.

 

[ArMagoo]

We have the trash problem as well, unfortunately. We also have problems with people that think Saguaro cactus make a great target. So sad to see a good 75 to 80 year old Saguaro all shot to pieces.

I could not agree more though, pack out more trash than you brought in!

 

[madwildcat]

It boggles my mind that a 9 year old Cub Scout has enough intelligence not to do something like this, but someone old enough to drive and shoot (and apparently blow stuff up) doesn't. Sad example of the lack of respect some have for shared land. Hope this doesn't get the place shut down.

 

[osprey176]

We used to shoot at an old clay pit frequented by a lot of slobs.One day we found a fresh big pile of household trash dumped there.The slob didn't even bother to remove his junk mail....so,we had his address.We loaded up his trash in our pickup and returned it to his front yard.Why not?

 

[zdc1775]

We used to shoot at an old clay pit frequented by a lot of slobs.One day we found a fresh big pile of household trash dumped there.The slob didn't even bother to remove his junk mail....so,we had his address.We loaded up his trash in our pickup and returned it to his front yard.Why not?

Priceless