Southern AZ Shoot and Clean Up

[WhoKnowsWho]

Well...

There was an area I used to go to off of old Senoita Highway, with a nice backstop, I'll go check it out and see if it is still good to go and let you all know.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Sounds like I need to research the "no shooting on state trust land" and see who really owns the land the pit sits on.

After I get back from the rest of my hunt. Got delayed today cause my son trashed his front left driveshaft in his car Sunday eve. Had to help him get it back on the road.

On the way out in the morning.

 

[sumpnz]

I know the land on the other side of Wentworth is State Trust Land, but there are (or at least were) no signs indicating such out where we shot. I've just got back to TUcson from my first week at the new job in Phoenix, but when I get a chance I'll see if there have been any signs put up. If there's no signs, then I think we should be OK. Officer friendly may well have been told to go out there due to some complaints and made up (or his supervisors made up) the State Trust Land excuse. But regardless of ownership, AFAIK, no signs, we're cool to shoot.

 

[Zonamo]

Looks like there are lot of shooters from the Old Pueblo here at THR. Sorry I missed this thread when it first went up. I would love to find a spot for shooting other than the local ranges, but I took a long break from shooting and all the places I used to go as a kid are covered with houses. And now it looks like the sekrit shootin' site was just shut down.

I just checked the Arizona State Land Department GIS map, and according to them all the land on both sides of Wentworth between I-10 and north of Andrada Road is State Trust Land. If you have a map viewer you can check out the GIS map here:

Arizona Surface Management Map

There is a section and a half of BLM northeast of South Kolb and Sahuarita. I haven't been out there myself but on the map Kolb dead ends going north from Sahuarita. There is another section shown a mile south on Empire Road to the east of the Cienega Creek Natural Preserve. That's pretty much it. The rest of Southern Pima County looks to be almost entirely State Trust Land or Privately owned.

I would be leery of shooting at the old Titan Missile Silo site until I had more info on the land ownership status. It shows on the map as State Trust Land, but it may have been overlooked in preparing the map and still be Federally owned or even privately owned.

Also, aren't there a couple of spots up in Reddington Pass on National Forest Lands that are okay to shoot at? Or were the rumors that they slapped a closure order on Reddington true?

I couldn't find anything more specific than no hunting "along the front range area near the urban area of Tucson" on their site. Shooting isn't even listed under the pull-down menu for "recreation activities." Apparently in the eyes of the Santa Catalina Ranger District, target shooting isn't "recreational."

Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest

 

[Zonamo]

Sounds like I need to research the "no shooting on state trust land"

Unless you are lawfully hunting or a lesee of the land in question, being on State Trust Lands is technically trespassing. You can get a special use permit to camp, but I don't think they issue them for target shooting.

 

[sumpnz]

Thanks for all the info Zonamo.

AFAIK, WRT State trust land, target shooting, plinking, etc is strictly verboten. Hunting, with a valid license (and tag if for big game) is allowed with no other permits required, but don't do any sighting shots once there. Camping is allowed with a special use permit. I think you can walk through state trust land w/o a permit so long as you don't camp, harvest any plants, or shoot Coke cans. Motorized vehicles are also usually not allowed (including quads, dirt bikes, etc).

A guy where I (used to) work was telling me about a spot south of Sahaurita Rd. I think he said to take Wentworth south (I'm not sure of this 'cause I thought Wentworth ended there) and you'd come to an old open pit mine where you could shoot up to a few hundred yards.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

No activity for a while...

I am going to go try to find my old shooting spot off Old Senoita Highway. I can't remember where it is for sure right now, but I am loading up the car with my wife, the Garand I got yesterday, and some other odds and ends, and I'll go find it again. I'll let you all know where it is at.

 

[cidirkona]

WKW: "I am loading up the car with my wife, the Garand I got yesterday"

I love my guns, but man, I don't love my guns... Brings a new meaning to shotgun wedding, now doesn't it? hahah

I finally got my fiance to not hate guns now... one step in the right direction.

-Colin

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

I love my guns, but man, I don't love my guns...

I guess I should make sure I can't be quoted and have my words look strange from now on!

It took me a while to find the place, but I found it, and was nice and clean, and some people left some pumpkins to pop! I'll draw a map for later.

 

[cidirkona]

Sweet! Be sure to put the signs on the wrong side of entrances... it's a must!

-Colin

 

[cidirkona]

Big5's got some decently nice stuff in this week (all the m44s are gone from the Speedway store, Ryan got the last one)... but I did manage to pick up a really nice Mauser. I'll go back for an m44 tomorrow when they said their shipment comes in (Ryan's is in mint condition).

My friends and I are going shooting Sunday afternoon... although the question of "Where?" has obviously come up since the last time we went out we almost got arrested. Can anyone make any maps to the places we know are OK to shoot? (and no, please don't make me a map to a pay-range... )

-Colin

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

I originally got my M44 from Big5 too, but it wasn't in mint condition, maybe I can trade?

If I remember, I'll make a map in the morning for you.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Okay, on I-10 East, slightly past where we were going to before, is Highway 83, also known as Senoita Highway. Exit there, and turn left. Imediately after getting on Highway 83, turn left onto Old Senoita Highway, can't miss it, big turn in area. Drive down that way till you hit the dirt, then follow the dirt road for a little over 3 miles. It's bumpy, but not too bad, don't speed or you might spin out or hit a cow. Around about 3 miles, you will pass a ranch entrance on the left and then a little after that, a large turn off area to the right. Follow that short road to several areas with backstops that can be used to shoot at. It was pretty clean when I was out there, so hopefully we can help keep it that way.

 

[sumpnz]

I'd love to join you guys, but my wife is coming up to Phx this weekend so we can try to find a house to buy. Normally I would be back in Tucson, but since it took all of about 2 hours for our house to sell (dang-it, shoulda listed higher) we need to find something pretty quickly.

 

[cidirkona]

Cool, thanks for the map! It wasn't as funny as mine, but it's probably more accurate... I should be out there around 3 on Sunday afternoon.

-Colin

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

I should be out there around 3 on Sunday afternoon.

I'll probably be dead asleep by then or I would go out there too. Have fun!

 

[cidirkona]

Well, we're meeting up at around 230 and heading out from there, everyone else is more than welcome to come along with us! The more the merrier (as long as they're safe and follow the basic safety rules of course)!

-Colin

 

[cidirkona]

Well, we found our new favorite shooting spot today...

We followed the directions (which were a lot easier to read than mine, btw) and found a nice old man shooting a 22 into a small embankment. We stopped to say 'hi' and he gave us a few pointers of places to shoot around there -- one of which was the old missile silo itself. We headed off in that direction only to notice that the "County Property: No Trespassing" signs on the gate were broken wide open. That didn't seem like a good idea, so we went on a little four wheel trip around the fence to the right and around to the back of the missile silo.

We found ourselves in a lakebed, with nice backdrops in every direction. After taking a quick walk, we realized that the backdrop to the west was only about a quarter mile from the 83, so we decided to shoot northward.

Beautiful day, and some beautiful surplus rifles...

We had some problems with 8mm rounds light striking, but the guy who had never fired anything but "dad's shotgun" before found a strong liking towards the Turk Mauser I picked up for $80 earlier this week. Both Ryan and I found a HUGE liking towards the m44s that both of us had picked up in the past week as well. Man, those little guys sure put out a flame and a shockwave.

I noticed some of my 7.62x54R had yellow tips on them, two packages of the 7 I had were yellow tipped. I throught they were tracers, but even shots fired toward the hills (150 yards..>?) when dusk was setting in didn't show anything but a puff of dust upon impact...

After much cleaning, I finally got my grandfather's Masuer stock fixed with some Gorilla Glue (thanks to the guys on the C&R forum for that tip).

Oh... and huge thanks goes to whomever left this guy's identical brother at West of the Pecos on Friday... He wasn't in there a few hours before I dropped a few pennies on it... Too bad I have to wait until the 30th to actually be able to take him home... :banghead:

Practical? No... Fun? Sure looks like it's going to be...

Why don't they make the police-firearm-background-check clearable as soon as they get news back from the PD, not just after two weeks no matter what?

Wah -- that was a long post. I'm done now.

-Colin

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Hehe, cool!

 

[cidirkona]

Does anyone want to set up a shoot for the weekend after Christmas? Maybe some time after that to be sure mostly everyone can get together? That lakebed is 4-wheel drive accessable only unfortunately, but it sure is a nice spot...

-Colin

 

[sumpnz]

Regardless of the situation involved with moving to Phx, I'll be in Oregon from the 22nd to Jan 5. Depending on what happens WRT buying and selling houses I might in Tucson the weekend of Jan 8-9.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

If anyone is up for shooting on Jan 2nd to ring in the new year, my wife and I will be going to the area I mapped out to shoot for a while in the morning, probably around 8 or so, not sure yet.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I just got back in town from Ohio/West Virginia. Wouldnt you know it, I got a friggin cold while I was up there. Must of been the single digit temps and 2 ft of snow that caused that.

Anyway, Im out of ammo for now. Gotta hit the gunshow next weekend and stock up.

Good news though, Im ready to start reloading so Im gonna get some powder, primers and bullets and work up some 10MM and .45 loads maybe this week.

Hope everyone had a great holiday. I did. Was nice to see the family and all.

 

[cidirkona]

I'll be out there around 1pm as I've got church in the morning. If you've got 4wheel, go around the silo to the lakebed.

-Colin

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Looks like the weather is being disagreeable today. My wife doesn't want to brave the wind/cold/ and possible rain.

Sorry cidirkona, though if it does clear up by the afternoon, she might still want to go out.

Gotta hit the gunshow next weekend and stock up.

Another gun show this weekend, I think my wife wants to go get those custom made ear plugs since she has such small ear canals, but I don't want to buy anything for once in my life! Guess I will have to go just in case...