Busted... I'm an idiot.

[jackdanson]

So I went to a local conservation area range to waste some ammo and came home with a ticket.  It's an unattended range that folks have decided to turn into a bit of a dumpyard.  Anything you can think of to shoot people drag out their and usually leave behind.  Range sign says paper targets only.  When I arrived there was another group out there... one of there targets was an archery "deer" target.  Anyway I had set up some clays on the far hill "backstop" and was shooting them when I noticed a conservation agent coming up.  He asked if the deer was mine, I said "no, I'm shooting those clays."  Well aparently they are cracking down on people shooting non-paper targets so I got a nice little ticket for my trouble.  Agent said the clays weren't really a big deal, but if he was going to give the other guys a ticket for their deer, he had to give me one too.  Should have kept my mouth shut about the clays, I don't think he was concerned with them until I said something...

Guess I should follow the rules next time.... or keep my mouth shut.  Lesson learned.

[Fly320s]

I wonder which are more eco-friendly, clay targets or paper. Both decompose pretty quickly.

[SkunkApe]

In my experience, standard clay targets don't break down quickly.  I know you can buy special biodegradable targets, though.

When we shoot clay targets at my father's property, we go out to look for unbroken missed clays once in a awhile.  I've found unbroken targets from the previous year (identifiable bceause they were a different color from what we were currently throwing) wholy intact.

Maybe they decompose quicker if they're broken?

[charby]

We shoot biodegradable ones at my gun club. Box says with ample rain they will decompose in two years.

[Lennyjoe]

You would be amazed at the crap people shoot up in the desert around Tucson Arizona. A bunch of us Highroaders got together one year and cleaned up an area commonly used for target shooting. We hauled off a lot of stuff. 2 weeks later it was just as bad. I use paper targets only and have built my own stands to use. I never leave anything behind except the projectiles.

[RoadKingLarry]

You should see the crap people leave on the plinking range at the private club I belong to. tvs, major appliances, rotten food.
Then they leave it for the maintenance crew to clean up. Just raises the cost.

[T.O.M.]

I shoot with a buddy on his in-laws property.  We built portable stands out of scrap lumber and shoot paper or cardboard.  His father-in-law lets us shoot whenever we want because except for the occassional brass that we miss, no one could tell we've been shooting there.  Too bad some shooters are such slobs.  Gives us all a bad name.

[Scout26]

We shoot biodegradable ones at my gun club. Box says with ample rain they will decompose in two years.

Bio birds are sulfur based instead of petroluem pitch.  They kill plant life because they really change the Ph in the soil. 

Pitch birds don't really breakdown. 

[Ben]

A bunch of us Highroaders got together one year and cleaned up an area commonly used for target shooting. We hauled off a lot of stuff. 2 weeks later it was just as bad.

Same deal at the National Forest shooting area I go to. The Forest Service actually sends a crew with a couple of dump trucks and a front end loader to it once a month to clean it up, and within a couple of weekends, it's full of crap again. That includes tons of glass. I can't believe people still think it's cool to shoot glass.

I always end up loading a couple of hefty bags with garbage whenever I go up there and tossing them when I get back home. To no avail really, but it makes me feel a little better. Somewhat hypocritically, I do end up shooting at some of the stuff before I haul it away. 

And on the "good for Ben" side of things, the same jackasses that leave their crap up there usually don't police their brass either. Over the years I've collected literally thousands of .45ACP cases, and even hit the jackpot on 10MM once in a while. If I had a 9mm, I'd never have to buy brass again. There's more of that than anything else.

[zahc]

How much was the ticket?

[charby]

And on the "good for Ben" side of things, the same jackasses that leave their crap up there usually don't police their brass either. Over the years I've collected literally thousands of .45ACP cases, and even hit the jackpot on 10MM once in a while. If I had a 9mm, I'd never have to buy brass again. There's more of that than anything else.

Pick everypiece of centerfire brass up and sell in on gunbroker.

[jackdanson]

How much was the ticket?

Just over $100...  I'm waiting for it to show up online so I can pay it.... says it could be 2-3 weeks, but it needs to be paid w/in 30 days  :|

Might just call it in.

Yeah, I thought it was a mess there, but I figured clays wouldn't really leave a mess.  The "backstop" is a bunch of sand/gravel imbedded in a hill, I wouldn't think that a broken clays among the sand/gravel would be a big deal... I don't think the agent did either, but technically I was breaking the rule.

[Ben]

Pick everypiece of centerfire brass up and sell in on gunbroker.

Interesting. Is the price you get worth the time of sorting (because there's always gonna be some crushed stuff)? This is kind of an open area next to a hillside versus a nice level range, so brass gets run over, exposed to rain, etc. For myself, I try to go up there to shoot on Monday mornings, thus hopefully getting once fired brass that has only been sitting out for a day or two.

[El Tejon]

Bio birds are sulfur based instead of petroluem pitch.  They kill plant life because they really change the Ph in the soil.

The guys at Purdue made birds from soybeans.  Enviro friendly and you can eat them when the Mugabestan inflation kicks in!

Soybean clays=>http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2008/05/01/students-score-big-with-soybean-invention/

[charby]

Interesting. Is the price you get worth the time of sorting (because there's always gonna be some crushed stuff)? This is kind of an open area next to a hillside versus a nice level range, so brass gets run over, exposed to rain, etc. For myself, I try to go up there to shoot on Monday mornings, thus hopefully getting once fired brass that has only been sitting out for a day or two.

100 once fired .300 win mag go for $40

1000 once fired .45 acp can go as high as $70

etc.

[Scout26]

The guys at Purdue made birds from soybeans.  Enviro friendly and you can eat them when the Mugabestan inflation kicks in!

Soybean clays=>http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2008/05/01/students-score-big-with-soybean-invention/

I think ones made from cow manure would be ideal.....http://www.cowpots.com/

[El Tejon]

O.K., but you can't eat them, unless you, um, want to.  You Illinois people eat your cow pots; we'll dine on soy discs.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

some livestock have been know to eat clays and it not be good for em.  i wanna say pigs but it was a long time ago

[SkunkApe]

some livestock have been know to eat clays and it not be good for em.  i wanna say pigs but it was a long time ago

"Do not throw where hogs feed."

That was the warning that used to be on the boxes of clays I bought.  I used to wonder what that meant.  What was the danger - that I may throw one and hit a hog in the head or something?  Then why not "do not throw where cows feed"?  Do cows possess special ninja-like clay-dodging skills that hogs do not?  Or are hogs deserving of some special protections that other livestock are not?  What if I just gently placed the clays where hogs feed, rather than threw them?  Would that be OK?  Also, how is one supposed to determine exactly where hogs feed?  There are plenty of wild hogs these days.  Where can I get a hog-feeding area map?  So many questions...so few answers.  I just decided to play it safe and quit shooting clays.  My conscience is heavy enough - I don't want the added weight of harming hogs added to my list of wrongs.

[taurusowner]

Why does it matter if it breaks down quickly? Clay is rock.  It doesn't matter if there are small chunks or rock on the ground.  That's what the earth is.

[brimic]

some livestock have been know to eat clays and it not be good for em.  i wanna say pigs but it was a long time ago

Something in the clay will kill pigs.

Not entirely sure how pigs ever got related to a trap field, but I imagine some farmers launched clays over a pig pen and found his pigs dead within a few days.

[CNYCacher]

I think they are no longer made of clay.  ..

[KD5NRH]

In my experience, standard clay targets don't break down quickly.  I know you can buy special biodegradable targets, though.

Jumbo charcoal briquettes are much cheaper, and more effective targets.  (Ever seen a neon orange quail?)  They'll break down in a couple of good rains if nothing nibbles them to dust sooner.

[charby]

Ever seen a neon orange quail?

Only on public hunting grounds near nuclear powerplants.

[slingshot]

I try to take more with me when I leave than I brought with me at the range.  If everyone did that, there would be no litter problem.