forepaw

Hey Kavika1991. Welcome to the forum. Understand that your instincts regarding the SV range are right on the money. I too moved here recently from a community with a shooting club filled with dedicated, knowledgeable shooters, with high morale, competent officers, and multiple disciplines. Thank God, I am still a member, as membership is capped, and there is a waiting list to get in! This is in stark contrast to the SV range. I almost don't know where to begin, as the topic is one of considerable exasperation for me. Part of the problem is with the club leadership. They are old, tired and paranoid. They spend too much time bickering and squabbling, and, with the exception of the trap and skeet range, are out of touch with the needs of the shooting community. They are predominantly represented by (and cater to) ex-military and ex-law enforcement people. Now I have friends in both groups, and there are great people to be found in both. But some tend to exhibit an extreme authoritarian mindset. To make matters worse, shooting range leadership is basically comprised of a cabal of petty tyrants, who are authoritarian-directed, and who do not appear to exhibit any knowledge or enthusiasm for competitive shooting, marksmanship training, or allowing experienced shooters to come out, set up, wring out their load or their rifle and be left alone. Rather, they, and some (not all) of the so-called RSOs start barking orders at you almost from the minute you step out of your vehicle. Then, they breathe down your neck the whole time you are conducting your shooting, chronographing, note-taking, target evaluation or whatever. Some are not too bad, but many are borderline intolerable. As you know, there is nothing more offensive than being treated like a 6-year old, and ordered around, and talked down to when you are minding your own business and trying to get your shooting done. If you show aggravation and become short with the RSO wannabe, they can kick you off the range, and mandate your attendance at a meeting of club officers where you will have to defend yourself in their kangaroo-court, to see if you can keep your membership. Wow. Additionally, the local shooting community for years has failed to stand up, resist the status quo, vote out the tyrants, and give the shooting range a chance to be run like other ranges and clubs. In fact, I doubt if most local shooters have any idea what other clubs are like. I see them all time time, shooting magazine after magazine out of a short-barrel AR, raising puffs of dust around a gong the size of a car window, and if they make an occasional lucky hit, they know they are a dead-eye. Whooo-hoooo. This is not marksmanship. It is nothing but turning money into noise. Meanwhile, your face is smarting from their muzzle blast, your ears are ringing, and you flick their brass out of your pocket and off your bench. The SV range is not, and will never be, a world class range. But it is certainly a good range, and could be much better with the right people involved. Another part of the problem is the land is owned by AZGFD, and leased to the consortium of clubs. Part of the range is on state land, and part (impact areas) is on BLM land. This generates confusion and more petty bickering, and I believe is part of the basis for the paranoia of the club leadership (due to friction with AZGFD) and is the reason most of the range is shut down most of the time. Even when open, they insist on jamming everyone on Range #4 cheek by jowl, and then wasting most of your time with cease fires and silly checking of every single firearm, magazine etc. If you touch anything on your bench during a cease fire, you will likely get chewed out, and possibly thrown off the range. Good grief. In the meantime, multiple ranges sit unused. Just Crazy. AZGFD is a big wet blanket on enjoyable shooting, and if it could be done, title to the state-owned land should be signed over to the city of Sierra Vista, and leased back to the club, in 10 year increments. A 99 year lease would be better, as it would allow for capital investment. The BLM should be petitioned to classify the impact area as "Highest and Best" use of the land. This doesn't mean it could not be still available for grazing etc. - of course it could - it would just codify that the predominant use would be recognized as a projectile impact area. Another major problem is, there are no young, energetic shooters who want to step up and become candidates for officer positions. Rather the local mindset is very similar to the experience described by zackcarp. Now I don't know zackcarp personally, but everything I have heard and read indicates to me that he is a first-rate, stand-up guy, and I look forward to meeting him one of these days. However, avoiding the range and going to find a place on public land for long-range, or even short range shooting, is not an answer. For one, it is a public range, and we should be entitled to use it. We shouldn't have to burn fuel and rubber, and drive miles out of town to shoot. There is a ton of state trust land close by, but you cannot legally target shoot on it. That leaves USFS and BLM, and that is only going to be available until some hiker, birdwatcher, rockhound or horseback rider complains about gunfire where they are recreating, and then look for restrictions and potential closure - just like Hunter and Ash Canyons a few years ago. There are a couple of other unfortunate side effects of wildcat public lands shooting. For one, we could all become concentrated on the best places to shoot, and sooner or later, there will be a safety issue, or words exchanged, which sours the experience for everyone. For another, while you, me and zackcarp are out shooting on public land, we are not available on the local range to help mentor a youngster, or assist an adult new shooter with some basic instruction and safety info. With the prevailing political and economic climate, there are a LOT of new gun owners. Many are desperate for some quality instruction, but unless they get it from youtube, it is not going to be available locally. The SV range leadership provides no training, does not communicate, does no outreach, does no solicitation for volunteers, no announcements for workdays. They don't even circulate a newsletter. They don't answer e-mails. They are the shooting club equivalent of the hermit kingdom, N. Korea. Sorry for the long read, but us SV folks have a lot of work to do if we are ever going to improve the public shooting situation.

I was driving eastbound on I-40 in Aug. 2018, and looked below one of the overpasses between Kingman and Seligman - there were about a dozen feral hogs rooting around. I called AZGFD in Kingman to report the sighting. The lady at the front desk kept telling me well, they must have gotten out, contact the sheriff's office to see about notifying the owner. I kept telling her ma'am, you don't understand these are FERAL hogs. She just didn't know how bad those things are. Around 2014 - 2015 or so, there was a fenced hunting opportunity on one of the hobby ranches in about the same area, except S. of I-40 and E. of Hwy. 93. I was at Desert Archery in Kingman, when Stuart Bowman was there. He had an ad posted on his bulletin board for hunts. Believe it was 18A, but may have been 18B. Also talked to a guy at a long-range varmint silhouette match, who had hunted there. Black fella, gung-ho hunter, said he had taken one or two, and they were quite tasty. Those suckers are as wild as deer.

Mexican cartels are increasingly moving into wildlife crime (msn.com) If this is true, then just about any outdoor related activity in Mexico is probably contributing to poaching, extortion, smuggling, and all the things that impact what used to be legitimate tourism. Not to mention the flow of illegals and illegal drugs into the U.S.

+

The old bulletin board. Very cool. Great job.

I had pretty much the same problem all my life. Ordered a pair of Hanwag Alaskan GTX boots with custom footbed from Lathrop and Sons, and they have been excellent. I have covered hundreds of miles, many in rough country, and have never had a blister. They are not cheap, but I would buy another pair without a second thought. Right now, I am at the point of finding a good cobbler to re-sole my current pair. Can't comment on the other posts with respect to various brands. I am sure there are many that are good, but how well do the hunting forums support re-selling pairs of boots after you try them and then need to try something else? I have seen some great deals on used boots, and maybe that is the way to go. However, you might wait a long time for the right size and model to come along. One thing I have found helpful is when I have a hunt coming up, I start rubbing my feet with alcohol about 3 weeks prior. I have heard it helps toughen the skin. Also found Vaseline between the toes reduces friction when you are in rough country all day.

Check your PMs.

Maybe check date and time on your pm's. Couple of us responded about the same time I believe.

Ft. Date Creek.

PM sent.

We're going to be expecting a youtube video on how to do makeshift nock repair using Leatherman tool. 😁

I think the stock has been mislabeled. It looks like a type C stock, not an S. As I recall, type S (scant) has a straight grip? Pretty neat to find an 03, not an 03-A3.

Howdy BC8702, Wife said she really likes the phone. Good luck with sale of remaining phone, and hope you have a great new year!

Hey Kev, if you let that new puppy ride in your skivvies every day, by the time he is 30# it will seem like the most natural thing in the world. Might need a new belt and some pants though😊 .

Doing something wrong. All I get is 404 file not found.

Kev hope you are able to find a nice one. They are out there. Should be moving any day now.

This is sort of an antique. Non-programmable, but great speaker.

John what critter/sound this time?

PM sent.

Looks like a 9 y.o. Hard to tell without a closer look though. Great ram, no matter which unit he came out of. Did this unit receive transplant stock, or is it an historical population?

Ha. I know where that is. Very nice bull. And perfect pose too! As you probably know, it is very rare to find a bull of that caliber on public land in CO.

Yep. 1200 - 1600 hrs. Sonoita Fairgrounds.

Let me guess who is going to be the gun bearer on your next trip. 😁

Left hand or right hand?

Might not be a bad idea to send that photo to the AZGFD veterinarian. There seems to be something wrong with the hard outer layer of hoof-like material that should be on the outside of those hooves and dewclaws. I know we don't have CWD, but there could be some deficiency in the diet that is reducing formation of the horny fingernail-like material that should be on the hooves of a normal critter. Those are really strange dewclaws. That was a super nice buck though.