Christmas Morning Ghostown at the Range

The family was gathering at 11:00 this morning for a waffle & bacon brunch at my inlaws, but I got up too soon, and decided to kill a little time at the outdoor range. It's about 17 miles away, and I needed to test some loads in my 300 Whisper Remington 700, and check the zero since changing the scope and packing it this last deer season. Upon arrival, about 9:00, the place was eerily empty. There are two owner residences nearby, and they didn't have cars parked outside, either. I went to the 50 yard range, put up a target, then scanned the 25 & 50 yard ranges for brass left by non-reloaders. It was 32 degrees on my car thermometer on the way down, slight breeze, and it seemed colder than that, probably due to moisture in the air, etc. After verifying impact at 50, I packed up and moved to the 100 yds, and due to the still muddy conditions, I opted to scan the targets to see if I could find some clean spots, and check my zero without walking through inch deep muddy lawn, and got the bright idea to shoot from my nicely warmed up vehicle, rather than a cold, concrete shooting bench. The owner/mgt would have been all over me for that, parked side up to the range, window down, and "sniping" from my passenger door window. It took some front seat "wrangling" to get a good, stable position, maneuver the rifle around (with sound suppressor attached), and get a good position from the driver's seat. Five shots later, and I had confirmed that my A.R.M.S. based throwlever mount for my 6x Leupold was still "on" at 100 yards. It was all very strange, being the only one there. Prior to leaving home, at 7:30 in the morning, my wife and I heard several gunshots somewhat west of our house (in rural NE Ohio). I could not tell if it was a large caliber handgun, or small-medium bore rifle or pistol carbine, but I think someone got a new gun for Christmas, and HAD to try it out (7:30am, but daylight had broken about 7:00). Anyone else go shooting today (on Christmas)?

Thank God target practice on one's own property or with permission is not illegal here. Was this guy on YOUR property, 351 Win? Public lands usable for hunting here are also o.k. for routine shooting, I believe. Regarding brass, I scrounged only about 8-10 casings today. We have a 70 some year old guy who comes to the range 4-5 times a week, and scrounges brass, shooting and spending 4-6 hours there. It is his only recreation. I'm thinking he goes home and has barrels of brass in his house in every room, a classic horder. He has stated that he has picked up hundreds in a day at the range on occasion. I only get the leftovers, or the ones worked into the gravel that he doesn't see, or scrape out like I do........