This would never happen at a range

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KC0QGL

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The last time I was out shooting I couldn't believe what I saw.

These two guys pull up in a truck unload a trap and start shooting. Not wearing eyes and ears by the way. After about an hour we (me, my wife, some friends and the guys next to us) stop shooting and start B.S.ing while two of them (the guys next to us) haul a target 665m down range. While the the two guys are down range, the guys from the truck start shooting again in the same direction as the other guys down range and then walk down range about 12m to find any unbroken clays and then shot at a small flock of birds, hiting one. They never bothered to check if the bird was dead or not. The good thing is they packed up and left after they shot the bird.

To darw a picture of the line up of the shooting line:
West to east:
My truck
My wifes car
The guys next to us
10-15m away the other guys truck(aka bird killers)
 
KC0GCL said:
While the the two guys are down range, the guys from the truck start shooting again in the same direction as the other guys down range and then walk down range about 12m to find any unbroken clays and then shot at a small flock of birds, hiting one.
Click to expand...

I imagined someone being a half step away from getting shot. This situation could have easily escalated into something nasty.

I fail to see the humor. I guess I am not cool and not sure if I want to be. Maybe I read the story wrong. I am a bit sleepy.
 
that's actually pretty humorous...dangerous...but humorous.
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A bunch of morons opening fire while there are still people down range is humorous? Really?

Ok. Tell you what. You come see me and we'll go shooting. Except I'll continue shooting while you're downrange changing out your target. It'll be a hoot! :banghead:
 
two of them (the guys next to us) haul a target 665m down range.
Click to expand...

the guys from the truck start shooting again in the same direction as the other guys down range and then walk down range about 12m to find any unbroken clays and then shot at a small flock of birds, hiting one.
Click to expand...


Obviously, these guys get the dimwit award for being jerks and shooting at anything that moved, but were they REALLY being unsafe?

If they were shooting at birds and clays, I would guess they're using a shotgun.

At 653m away from each other, the shotgun isn't anywhere close to dangerous...or at least, no more so than a slingshot.
 
That is unresponsible as they have no regard for anyone's lives on that range except what they were doing. I'd voice a complaint to any available range master if possible.
 
Keep it simple. Don't fire. The jollies are not that important.

The slingshot analogy only works if everybody in the area is equipped with nothing more than a slingshot. The people downrange may not take the time, nor have the ability, to figure out the make and model of the gun. Also, the friends on the line may have mistaken the actions of the newcomers. The folks downrange or their friends could have returned fire for reasonably believing they needed to defend themselves. Hey, it's all good because the return fire is too far away, right?

If the newcomers knew people were downrange, there's no good justification for firing at that time. What's funny is that at the controlled ranges around me, shooters are not even allowed on the line or allowed to touch their guns when folks are downrange. All of a sudden, we have folks here saying it's all good. I guess I just stepped into the Twilight Zone.
 
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I've been downrange setting up rifle targets while folks at the trap stations were shooting at clays. The shot falls gently enough that you may have to brush it out of your hair. As long as you aren't directly in the line of fire (the trap stations were about 100 yards to the side of the rifle range, shooting at an angle - at no point was I closer than 100 yards to the shotgunners while I walked down range) then I don't see the problem.

Shooting at birds which may be out of season, and never checking to see whether it was dead, that was irresponsible.
 
Maybe I'm just kinda squirrelly but one of the Four Rules says never to point the muzzle in the direction of something that one isn't willing to destroy.

People downrange? I believe that applies.

Unless I were to somehow wind up in a hostile situation against deadly force, I just couldn't rationalize pointing a weapon downrange knowing that there were people or even non-game critters present in that vicinity.
 
ignorance is blisters

"Some people" would be sure that this behavior could be eliminated by passing a law! Just make sure "everyone" was given "qualified" -government certified instructions to preclude dangerous behavior.

This, how ever, is part of the "the price" we pay for our Freedom.
We and they; the dangerous fools, can come and go as we please without bureaucratic restrictions. We enjoy it, while "those people" abuse it.

And then, perhaps some well meaning "sportsman" will take them aside and politely but firmly inform them that what they are doing -will not be tolerated.
 
(the trap stations were about 100 yards to the side of the rifle range, shooting at an angle - at no point was I closer than 100 yards to the shotgunners while I walked down range) then I don't see the problem.

I think it's a HUGE problem. Do you really trust the aim of the guys 100 yards away, and that they didn't have a bag full of old ammo with a slug mixed in? I have no idea what they're aiming at and what they've got loaded.
 
and that they didn't have a bag full of old ammo with a slug mixed in?
Click to expand...

Good point. I was going to mention that I've been in many situations where people were shooting birdshot MUCH closer than 600m - in my direction. The game farm where I do a lot of pheasant hunting comes to mind. Couple of places I've done sporting clays also. But the issue of mixed ammo is a real concern.

Killing a critter on my range gets you booted - for good.
 
It doesn't help to clean the gene pool if it's the stupid ones killing others, which is what this situation could have turned out to be.
 
They walked a half mile down range to check targets? How long does that take? Maybe the guys with the shotguns got tired of waiting. Might have been better to drive down range so as not to make people wait so long.
 
I used to shoot regularly at a range in a pretty suburban area. A main road was less than 2,000 FEET downrange from the 200yd range. Should they call a cease fire any time a car goes by? It seems the risk is especially mitigated by the fact that these guys were shooting bird shot. It wasn't very bright of them, but I don't see it being terribly dangerous.
 
It should take about 7 or 8 minutes to walk 600 yards. "I need my jollies now" is still no excuse to shoot.

By the way, where does it say they were shooting bird shot? Regardless what they were shooting, the folks down range and on the line didn't know these strangers or what the hell they were doing. Everybody had guns. This was obviously not the right time to play the guessing game.
 
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