User Panel
Posted: 9/14/2005 10:26:27 AM EDT
I went out there today to site in my new AR with my girl and found a note on one of the boulders.
I didn't have my camera, so i wasn't able to get a pic, but what it said was "We the neighbors are going to get this place shut down. You guys are slobs and we don't want to live next to a dump." I could be off a word or two but that's pretty much it. On top of that, I had some Blue truck drive past gawking at us about five times. I started to feel a bit uncomfortable, then with the occasional sprinkle, i just said fuck it and decided to make my 1.5 hour drive back home. I made it a point to clean up my mess and take it with me, except for some cartridges that might've gotten away. Do we have anything to worry about? The place was a mess too. |
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the people around the sand hole are getting tired of all the trash and shooting,,, I hear it on the scanner all the time. I tried to give some info to the ar15 members when it comes across the scanner but it just turned into a pissing match. to each his own.
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that sucks, i'm sure the pit will be a thing of the past eventually.
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Would you want to live by the Pit? While I would agree it would be cool to have place to shoot consistently at, I wouldn't want to live with all the tannerite/propane explosions, people shooting at odd times of day, people shooting in the vicinity of my house who really shouldn't be handleing firearms, not to mention the mess. I can't blame the homeowners for wanting it to close. I hope nothing happens to it though.
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I know someone who grew up by the pit, accross the street from that school, anyways she was telling me that it has been an on going thing (shooting at the pit) for the past 25 years or so. She told me that it came up an many city council meetings about closing it down, but it hasnt yet. People were shooting at the pit long before any of those houses near the pit were built and that whoever built their house near the pit knew what they were moving next to. As long as people pick up their trash and we as shooters organize clean ups as in the past it will stay open in my opinion. I dont live by the pit, but everytime i go i bring home my trash and usually pick up others when i leave. I think that a lot of the trash left there is from locals, many times i've gone out there and have seen full trash bags right at the entrance, as in some dropped their household trash off at the local "dump," if anything is gonna get it closed down its that. McM
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i've never been to an arfcom pit clean up/shoot, but after seeing that note i'm gonna try and make the next one.
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Although I have never shot at the Pit, I did stop by to see it on May 31st. I don't blame the neighbors.
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Then don't go up there to shoot. If they take it, its over for firing unless its under DNR rules. And that sucks. Thos people shouldn't park their houses there if they dont wanna deal with the noise and mess. |
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Comparatively speaking that isn't all that bad to what it has been in the past. |
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I find it interesting that none of these complaining neighbors have ever organized a clean up. Seems to me it is always the shooters who arrange for a dumpster to be brought in and the place to be cleaned up.
Those people need to STFU. |
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I agree!! I have a buddy that has lived near there his entire life. Also been shooting there his entire life. I have only been there a handfull of times, but it is a mess. Too bad people don't clean up after themselves. Last time I was there, a couple guys and their kids brought out television sets. An old floor model one and a bigger tube screen deal. They shot the hell out of them and left them there to rot. I guess you can't help people that won't help themselves. Rob |
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You should have left one there asking why he was littering as well.
I do have to say that the mess will be our downfall. Heck, even after a pitclean up, we left behind a tractor and and old snowblower, on a clean up day. Unfortunatly only a handful of us who go there are on ar15.com and get this kind of info. If they do not like the dirtymess there, do not look at it. This thing goes both ways. |
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Why should the neighbors have to clean up that mess? That place is a dump, yeah its cool to shoot there but unfortunately the bad apples spoil it for everyone. Common courtesy unfortunately is not a common virtue.
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Does it strike anyone else funny that for some reason the people attempting to remove the pit from service thought it would have any value at all to tell the enemy exactly what they were planning to do? Someone needs to think more about tactics. -Dan |
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I have only shot there once. My brother was in from New York and we spent a few houors there. It was fun and reminded use of when our fathere would take us to a place on Bristol road just west of M-15 in Davison.
The thing that really suprised me was the amount of glass. I tried to shoot from a kneeling postion and ended up wiht a knee full of glass. As I started walking around it seemed like t was everywhere. What it really needs is a bobcat or plow to scrap the top foot off and start from scratch. How this happens, I cannot answer. Joe |
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A few things about the "Pit"....
The most important thing is that it is NOT a shooting range, it is a Sate Game Area. Can't really do any improvement that suggest the state is advocating the activity out there. We tried to get garbage barrels a few years ago and the DNR said it is not allowed. Another thing is that as crazy as it may sound, if you took heavy equipment out there and started moving dirt around or removing the soil, contaminated or not, you would probably be breaking some law about stealing state property or something. Another hard fact is that you could take every scrap of debris back home with you that you brought and some @$$wipe would follow up behind you and dump his grass, or refrgerator or deer carcass or road kill. You will never keep it clean....whether the crap gets shot or not there is usually a good pile of dumped crap. The last thing is that the neightbors will never be happy as long as shooting is tolerated. They don't want you shooting and they don't really care if the place is clean or not. The bitch is not about the trash is about the shooting......whether they admit it or not. Not saying it shouldn't be kept neat but I am afraid it is a uphill battle. |
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Is there ANY other spot in all of Southeastern Michigan that is like "The Pit" ??? I mean, this 1 blippin' spot can't be all there is, can it?
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It just takes a little looking. I can think of at least 2 other spots in the Lapeer State Game area that would offer a safe backstop. The problem is that neither of them are convenient to get to. You would have to hike in to get to them.
If you have any State Game areas in your area, scope them out for an alternative place to shoot. |
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gonna have to investigate...
Holly Wildlife Area 8100 Grange Hall Rd., Holly, MI 48442 (248) 634-0240 |
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Yeah i've been wondering if there's any alternatives to the pit that still offer the same convenient access.
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Blue pickup truck man is there often I hear. He sat in his truck and watched me shoot trap for 3hrs on a Monday morning in August (and he was there when I left). I asked him if he wanted to pull for me to give my wife a break, he didn't reply. Maybe he didn't hear me. It was a bit awkward...he just kept looking at me. |
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I think I saw that blue truck last saturday. Drove by like three or four times, Undercover? Neighbor? Bad guy?
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Well if it is an undercover officer he sure isn't very good.
Probably a pissed off neighbor or one of the many local wing nuts that hang out there, think they own it and belive we are invading it. Oh look....here come the black helocopters....everyone put on your tin foil helmets! |
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Maybe try some reverse psycology next time Mr. Bluetruck parks and watches. Make a point of obviously walking to the rear of his truck and writing down his license plate number.
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That's kinda creepy. Any car washes nearby? Maybe we could lure him to one?
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I have talked to the guy in the blue truck. A few things i know abought him. He and his wife are deaf. I know this because they were both there shooting one day and they told us to make sure we got there atention if we were going down range because they could not hear us. They do live near and i know the guy is there every morning because he picks up the brass. He says he even makes some money off it. That is all i know of the blue truck dude.
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It is legal to shoot there because it is legal to shoot on state land. The biggest threats in my opinion are Tannerite and the mess.
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Yup. |
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I've shot there once and never went back. I do have an Idea for you guys though. How about getting together one day and instead of shooting, clean the damn place up! Wouldn't that be great! I sure would give the locals less to bitch about and it wouldn't take but four or five trucks with a dozen or so guys. I bet it could be done in 3 or 4 hours with time to shoot at the end of the day.
Anyway, like I said I don't shoot there but for the ones who do it would be in your benefit to clean that place up if you want to continue to enjoy shooting there. AKARFAN |
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Good idea.
Unfortunately, we are already doing just that. In fact shooters contact the DNR 2 or 3 times a year and make arrangements for a dumpster. With a big enough group of guys it takes a lot less than 3 or 4 hours to get the place in pretty good shape. |
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The people I know who shoot out there...get this...PICK UP THE SHIT THEY BRING!!
What about really getting on the ones who bring all their crap, shoot it up and leave it? Just say to them (if your there when it happens) "hey, you gonna leave all your garbage out there?" "It's a $500 fine for dumping on state land and/or littering and I have your license number". Got a camera/video, film them and take pics. If they don't pick up their crap, make the call. . It's no different than a roofing company dumping their crap somewhere on state land or in your back yard that is adjoining state land. Hell, Ive seen the DNR hand out $500 fines for littering on the river banks while fishing and all the guy did was throw his cigarette butt away. What's the difference? The difference is that guy can still go fishing on the river and risk another fine for littering again. Once the pit is closed, thats it, no more. Don't think for one second that it won't happen. It's sad that we have to police our own shooting community because of some morons. And at the risk of being called a rat or snitch, it obviously needs to be done if you want to shoot there. Having the pit shut down is the alternative, which in my opinion is far worse than giving litter bugs the grief they deserve. Bring a bag, pick up your shit, or find somewhere else that lets you shoot up glass, propane, T.V.'s and everything else. Good luck with that. I've only shot there a few times. I would like it to stay open and clean as I'm sure most of you would also. [Rant off] |
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well, that's comforting a bit. Maybe he's waiting for us to get done to police up the brass. I was more worried he was some psycho or something. Course he still could be...j/k! |
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I had a good talk with a guy out there back in May I think....might have been January.
Anyway, I showed up at about 9:30 and he was walking around picking up brass and live rounds...don't remember the color of his truck. He wandered around picking up brass and rounds as we chatted. Nice guy, kind of quiet. As soon as my buddies showed up he left. Said he had 5 gallon buckes of live rounds he has picked up out there and I can't recall if he said; many 5 gallon buckets or 55 galon druns of brass. Said he used to sell it when there was a market for reloading brass but now the price for scrap is about the same as the price for loadable brass so he is just hanging on to it. I guess the point here is that there are perhaps many locals that just cruse around the place hawkinig the scrap and seeing what is going on. Perhaps there is no real conspiricy. That being said, there does always seem to be a guy that shows up at our more organized clean up/machine gun shoots. He usually just stands off to one side and watches....with a look of less than excitement on his face. I believe one of our guys has had a talk with him but I cannot recall the outcome. BustOff was the guy that spoke with him I think and if I recall the guy was displeased. Perhaps this is our "Blue Truck Guy". |
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why all the pissing and moaning, Burgess needs to take the .50 out there and give it hell ,,, break them in right,when it's over it's over....why doesn't anyone talk about guns?isn't that what it's all about????
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I have.....had the M2HB out last time over Labor Day weekend.
Think I shot about 300 rds. By the way, some of the MG'er are heading out there Sunday I think. Referencing your other post.....I will be in a tree stand about 200 miles north west of the pit......with hopes of firing my bow....not my AR. |
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