Finding places to sight in your rifle

[zachthebowhunter]

Living in Montana, I have no shortage of places to find to sight in/ shoot my rifle. But I have a friend coming up to hunt opening weekend who lives outside San Francisco and he is having a hell of a time finding an open range to sight in his rifle. Went to two places last night that had been closed down and has to take thursday afternoon off of work to make it to the open place he did find.

Any of you guys have trouble finding places to shoot in your area?

 

[TheSurveyor]

Past 100yds can be a challenge on the front range without paying and even then only a few places.

 

[one ate E grain]

The National Forest Service has closed four large national forests in CA to recreational shooting. They are attempting to do the same in CO along the front range. This despite a mutually signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all the biggies (NRA, Pope and Young, TCRP, Congressional Sportsman and some 40 others as well as the USFW, BLM etc., saying that public lands will be protected for recreational shooting etc etc etc. they even agreed to enhance access to these activities not restrict them, the MOU was renewed recently. There was some discussion here. http://onyourownadventures.com/hunt...hooting-Ban&highlight=shooting+range+colorado
Recently I was given a series of letters from the CO Parks and Wildlife as well as a joint letter from all the shooting/hunting/conservation orgs, and another from the NRA/Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, all of them addressed to the Forest Service. They were reassuring in the sense that knowledgeable, respectable folks are working on the issue. The Forest Service seems to be unhelpful at best. I've no idea how things will turn out. Public lands are important places for shooting as well as hunting.

 

[James Riley]

I haven't been up to the Pawnee National Grasslands in a while (USFS) but I've seen nothing on the Comanche National Grasslands and in either place you can shoot for miles (and miles and miles). Has something changed?

I don't know about the front range around major metropolitan areas but where I live (in the mountains) I can shoot all over the place, on tons of BLM and USFS. If there is law or regulation I'm not aware of, then I stand corrected. But there sure is no signage anywhere I go and people shoot all over.

 

[SFC B]

To go out past 100m here in the Springs area I go to the Cheyenne Mountain shooting complex just outside Ft Carson. $8 a day gets you well maintained ranges with covered shooting positions and nice concrete tables.

 

[zachthebowhunter]

I guess this makes me realize not to take those places to shoot for granted and to keep treating them right as to not lose the access to them.

 

[LuketheDog]

To go out past 100m here in the Springs area I go to the Cheyenne Mountain shooting complex just outside Ft Carson. $8 a day gets you well maintained ranges with covered shooting positions and nice concrete tables.

And the range safety officers are all pretty good guys...

 

[Jamen]

We lost our range in my town from a landowner claiming stray bullets were going through his shop some two miles or so away. That being said if that is true or not that range was on a big downhill slid. People taking tvs and other items to shoot them and not clean up. To shooting shotguns at the wood targets and the legs. One of the last times I was out there prompted me to finally call the sheriff. Kids not too much younger than me must have been around 18 at the time to maybe they were 20. They went out there with fourwheelers and dirt bikes driving fast and wreckless. What chapped my rear end they had a baby out there with no ear protection and they were shooting rifles and shotguns. She was crying due to the loud noises I offered up my muffs they basically told me to get lost. And when checking my 100 yd target they thought it was a good idea to throw some hand gun rounds down range, after that I made the call... So now I just use the range we have at our hunting shack an hour away or I will go out to my buddies farms and I have access to shoot as far as id please with no one around!

 

[James Riley]

As we used to say in the Corps: Police your brass. And your butts. As a civilian you have to include your cans, bottles, washing machines, hot tubs, junk cars and the list goes on.

I not only pack out my own crap but I make it a point to bring out a load of other people's crap too. If every swinging dick would do that, then things would be looking good and you wouldn't have so many places closed down. Although, to be honest, I really haven't seen any places closed down around where I live. I think it must be more around population centers. Humans are filthy creatures.

 

[jryoung]

Living in Montana, I have no shortage of places to find to sight in/ shoot my rifle. But I have a friend coming up to hunt opening weekend who lives outside San Francisco and he is having a hell of a time finding an open range to sight in his rifle. Went to two places last night that had been closed down and has to take thursday afternoon off of work to make it to the open place he did find.

Any of you guys have trouble finding places to shoot in your area?

Sunnyvale Rod and Gun is open to the public Tuesday nights until 8 or 9pm, as well as Saturday until 5pm. I like Los Altos Rod and gun, open W-Sun. There is also Field Sports Park in South San Jose. That said, why would you sight in before travel to your hunting destination?

The National Forest Service has closed four large national forests in CA to recreational shooting.

Which forests?

 

[mtmuley]

Like jr said, why zero before? If he's headed for Montana, do it here. mtmuley

 

[zachthebowhunter]

Like jr said, why zero before? If he's headed for Montana, do it here. mtmuley

Just getting it close down there. He wont have much time when he flies in friday if he has to shoot a bunch if his scopes off. Apparently he hasn't shot in forever and it's made the trip from Missouri to Colorado to California in his 5th wheel. Also the timber he will be hunting opening morning doesn't allow for shots over probably 100-150 yards so it should be close enough at that range on an elk until he can shoot it here saturday morning.

I also gave him permission to just use my rifle so thats always the last ditch option.

 

[sbhooper]

It bothers me that people in gun country cannot even find many places to shoot. Here, where everybody shoots and hunts, is difficult because it is all private. Our lame county and state people do not even try to create a range. I let lots of folks use my range, as it is either that, or they shoot illegally.

At least where there is lots of public, people can usually go find a place to do some shooting. Cody, Wyoming, is in the center of lots of public, but still have taken it upon themselves to create a fantastic shooting complex.

I guess it is just the public attitude that dictates what is available.