No where to shoot !!

[braud357]

I have been shooting IHMSA silhouette since 1980, and have been an active participant since then. I have attended many State and Regional championship matches, and have attended 6 IHMSA International matches. I was very fortunate in the fact that for many years I had a place to practice - first at my brother Charlie's range. His father-in-law had land, and Charlie set the place up so that we could practice out to 200 meters. I never fully appreciated this blessing until it was gone ! After I became the match director at Ascension Silhouette in Gonzales, LA., we had limited usage of our hosting range, which was operated by our local sheriffs department. It was sometimes hard to orchestrate, but we could shoot big bore there also. I moved to Bainbridge GA in Sept. 2009, and was hopeful that I could find a place to practice there. The county where I live is rural, and consists of mostly farm land. My fiance' works for local government, and knows many of the local farmers. We were sure that we could find a place for me to use a couple of times a year to practice. Such has not been the case ! The only range that is available locally is a WMA public range located about 20 miles north of here. It is only a 100 yard range, and you cannot shoot steel there. It is a nice enough place, and has been useful in sighting-in my scoped guns. But, it is very rural, with no supervision. I honestly do not feel very safe out there alone, and have left there a couple of times whenever some "questionable" individuals arrived to share the facility. Then there is the problem of the distance I have to travel to attend a IHMSA match. The closest IHMSA sanctioned match is in Pensacola, FL, and it is 193 miles one-way ! The next closest is 275 miles one-way ! With the current state of the economy, and the fact that I lost my job on March 31 - plus the price of gasoline, my outlook is bleak ! I think that my problem is shared with many individuals; some active and some just starting out. When I was a match director I had many shooters ask me when the range was open for practice. Our arraingement was that we had access to the range only on match days. This fact in itself probably discouraged many potential shooters for trying our sport. There has been much debate on how we can promote the sport, and encourage potential shooters. I think the major obstacle to that growth is the lack of suitable places to shoot. Travel nowadays is not cheap ! I am only stating my dilemma, but I think that many others are in the same "boat", so to speak. I am in the process of trying to move back to Louisiana, but we are currently trying to sell 2 properties in a bad housing market, so who knows how long that will take. I am not crying here, but wanted to share my current situation with my fellow shooters, who are probably feeling the effects of some of the things I have mentioned. I really do miss shooting, but cannot see how I can afford to do so. Hopefully things will improve in the near future. Until then, I will remain hopeful ! I hope that all of my friends out there are well, and I hope to share the range with you soon ! ------ Philip Braud

[35isit]

I feel your pain Phillip. I am very lucky to belong to a club that hosts matches. I am a life member and have a virtual unlimited use of the facility. The club doesn't allow non-members except on match days. I also have access to a few hundred acres of land I can shoot on any time I want to. We have had new people come out and when told there were no open practice days never came back. Some clubs allow it some don't. Mine doesn't and that was decided before I joined in 1986.

I hope you have good luck selling your property. When you get back to Louisiana I hope you can find a place to practice and shoot.

[Rodent]

I hope that everything works out for you Phillip. I am fortunate enough to belong to the facility where we hold our matches. But, non members can not just come on over and practice unless they are with a member. That may not be a bad idea. I will start to let other steel shooters know when I am going to be at the range to practice and that they are welcome to join me.
Good luck on your move back to Lousy-Anna. I lived in Lafayette for a while and really liked it. A great state.

Mike

[high standard 40]

The situation here is a little better than it is for Philip but not much. I now conduct the matches that Philip used to but as he said, we are using the local Sheriff's Dept facility. We are very grateful to them for the use of the facility, but it is for one day a month only, so there are no practice days. Additionally, we can leave no infrastructure in place. We have to carry in our rails and targets for each match and remove them at the end of the day. For this reason, we shoot only Smallbore and Field Pistol. Big bore is out of the question because of the obvious difficulty setting up and taking down. It's just too much weight to deal with. Also of note, whereas this range does have a 300 yd berm, Big Bore would not be safe because there are no side protection berms and immediately to the side of the 200 meter distance is a large training building for department use. Only paper targets are used on this 300 yd range and must be placed so that all bullets impact the berm. Lastly, there is no local support for our sport here. There is no "club" to help with this effort. It's just me and my wife. All the work is on us. We do have several shooters who travel to shoot with us and some do offer to stay after the match and help pick up. For their assistance, I am grateful. But when I get back home I still have to unload the truck and trailer and store all the rails & targets. We can stay at the range after the match has ended and everything is loaded to practice some Big Bore but we are limited to the 100 yd range with side berms and usually by that time I'm too tired for it to be of much benefit. At least when Philip returns, there will be three of us to share the load. Now, please don't interpret this as me complaining. I love this sport and will continue to conduct matches even if I'm the only one there. I want it to happen so I'm making it happen. As far as practice anywhere else, there are no public ranges here that can accommodate silhouette and population density is such that it will never happen. Our "Parish" is among the top 100 fastest growing counties in the nation. Our population is expected to double in the next 10 years. There is no land available for shooting.
Louisiana only has one big bore range and it's 225 mile from me......and they only have two matches a year. Will Kirste conducts these matches and he is in the same boat as me. It's just him and his wife. He also does not enjoy any local support. God bless him for his efforts.
The closest range for me is Jackson, Ms. and that's 160 miles. I make that trip as often as I can but my work usually interferes and then there is the gas expense.
I really envy you guys who have a local range or even one close by.

[oldnewbie]

I understand where you are coming from also. I live in the Atlanta area and most of the places that i could find that had a enough distance wanted too much money for membership (I come from the poor shooters side of the track) so the place that I practice at is only 100 yds and I am/will be guessing for the 150/200 meter distances. I am guessing my drop from ballistic tables/reloading manuals on MV and drop.
The club that holds the BB shoots is about a 2 1/2 hr drive so gas is an issue with me too. But since I am just starting back again after so long I am just going to suck it up for the time being as I want to shoot.
At least the club that I am going to shoot at has a lot of nice people.

[i26963]

Well, I guess I'm luckier than most. I have a 200 meter range with swingers on our farm, whixh is about 8 miles from my home.I'm in the process of adding some rails, and will hopefully have 5 free standing targets of each animal soon.
The range where Robert Walker and I are match directors is about 40 miles from home. We usually try to get in a little shooting when we go over to work on the range.
MC

[35isit]

Phillip's situation is like a lot of others. If you could get out a map and find each match location. Most states have one maybe two IHMSA ranges in them. So just to make a match could require a long drive for most anyone. Case in point for me is the closest range without Lawrenceburg or Crittenden is 3-4 hours away. Either Oh, Tn or Paducah Ky. I know at that distance I wouldn't be able to shoot every month.

As far as practice on private land. Who can blame the landowners? In todays sue happy world one little problem could break them. They are not willing to take the chance.

I done a little research on mapquest. I know there are larger population densities in other areas. The three largest population areas of Ky are Louisville, Lexington and Northern Ky. If you include the Cincinnati and souther Indiana area there must be at least 1-2 million people. These 3 areas are basically 2hrs apart and less than a 100 miles from each other. Our matches should be overflowing each month.

[Richard Pickering]

The ''where to shoot'' problem is related to the population density. How many ranges have been forced to close or move due to population encroachment ? Thankfully for some there is legislation passed with the help of the NRA, mostly related to noise. People who buy or build near an existing range cant holler about noise------what did they expect ? It's a shooting range, not a golf course.
So our ranges must be located where we have safety areas past the targets; away from population centers. Additionally, the population is less and less inclined to pursue shooting as a recreation. Hunting suffers as well due to property pressures. Hunting isnt cheap either when you pay for a lease and figure the time. Most people do their ''hunting'' at Kroger or Publix. You know you are going to see something and you dont need to get up early.
Conversely, folks who live in rural areas can, in cases, go to their buddy's or their uncle's property. A lot of them dont want to ''compete'' or cannot afford it. How many do you know that own a Ruger 44 and some sort of 30-30, and maybe a Ruger 10-22 as their sole battery. A long handgun shot is 50yds.

[marshall623]

Phillip , I wish you the best on your move back to Lou. trying to sell property is tough unless you give it away. I know where your coming from about the public ranges, you meet alot of folks who have no bussiness with a gun. I have 2 public ranges about a hour in either direction , the one I heard people were stealing gun's when folk,s where setting targets and were by they're selves. It's hard to find a place to shoot 200 M where I'm at, most a 100 yards maybe. The price of gas is big hurdle for most. Me and my wife and 2 girls live souly on my income. I feel blessed to be able to shoot when I get to. I would have loved to went to the reg 2 last year but a vacation for 1 was just out of the question.

[braud357]

Well, I am finally back in Louisiana ! We arrived last Saturday (June 18), and have spent the entire week unpacking and arrainging. I think that I have a job lined up, and I am also eager to get back shooting. I have no regrets about moving to SW Georgia in Sept. 2009, but it was a wasteland as far as shooting opportunities are concerned. If I had been closer to Gainesville or Lincolnton, and my many IHMSA friends there - it would have been much better. At least now Charlie will again have help with the SB-FP matches in Gonzales, and the trip to shoot BB in Jackson MS is not nearly as long. I need to get busy and sight in some guns !!