Thread: Salmonberry Rd event: is this just plain rude or am I overthinking?

So my brother was in town today, hadn't seen him in a bit and I figured we could go do a little shooting since the weather seemed cooperative enough. We head for Salmonberry Rd and after pulling into that first shooting spot start plinking away with my .22 pistol but before long a car pulls up with 4 people in it. I wave at them, as I do with just about every vehicle that passes by.

Then the car pulls in right beside mine and the occupants climb out. I say hey and ask them if they're here to do some shooting. A guy answers in the affirmative, I ask if he really thinks there's enough room there for so many people doing their own thing in such a small area. The guy sneers at my concern and says something like "We're safe, we've got a cop with us." At first I was inclined to go with it, but they were taking quite some time getting set up and from the way the guy addressed me I got the vibe from them that they just wanted us gone, even though there are at least 3 great shooting spots only a little further down the same road. I don't like confrontation and I certainly would never have imposed on someone like that... so I bagged up all the plastic bottles that I'd brought to chase around and drove further down the road, sure enough, the next spot was available.

I guess I don't get it. Every time I see that a shooting spot is taken, I don't try to push other people out and always respect the fact that other folks got there first. If it's one of the bigger spots, one that's truly big enough for everyone, even then I would ask for permission from the people already there. I've done that before, and the people were very cool about it, I've got to fire new guns I've not tried before and allowed them to fire mine and all was well. Very rarely have I gone to that road and found that every last spot was taken, so if the first is taken I have no trouble moving on to the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th... if they are all taken, I've never encountered a situation where the folks at the bigger spots weren't totally cool if I joined once I asked permission.

Am I genuinely under the impression that 6 shooters at that spot would either have to slow everything down (everyone's gotta wait for their turn) or become a safety hazard, neither of which was particularly desirable to me. There are spots on that road FAR better suited to lots of people. So am I just totally off-base and it really is just totally cool to invite yourself to shoot with folks you encounter no matter how small the space and so forth? Cast some light.

I hate that when that happens. you never know if strangers are going to be safe or not, also dont really know there intentions.
If a person is out trying to train , its hard when you got to keep one eye on strangers , kinda becomes a waste of time and ammo.

Some peoples idea of "safe" and other peoples are completely different. Just because they had a "cop" with them means nothing. I have been in the National Guard for many years and worked with many "Cops" that are also in the guard. the fact is just because they carry a gun day to day for their job does not mean that they know what they are doing. Many "cops" are not fans in my experience. They also know very little about guns and safety, except for their issue weapon. most people assume that just because they have to carry, they like it. Sad! sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

Seems kinda rude to me, too. I usually go shooting by myself since my ol' shooting buddy moved back to North Dakota and I'd rather do just that, shoot alone. Some times I go with my wife and I'd rather that we don't have anyone else to watch or be concerned with. I am fortunate that the area that I prefer to shoot at is beyond property that my family owns, so if we encounter too many people we can retreat to our own place.
I agree that most people are cool and safe. I've run into many. I've also seen groups of people that I'd rather not be around when the shooting starts.

it was rude. It's as you said. I've met some great people in the shooting community at the various bigger spots, but still there are the yo yo's that try to come up behind and pick your brass while your still shooting! There are manners and ettiquit for everything from shooting to bowling and things are safer and more fun when it is followed. I also try to avoid anywhere I see the shooters are as much into drinking as shooting!

That is why I will use a couple of the smaller areas up there. Sometimes I use the the big pit but not offten.

A couple of the folks seemed alright, but the guy that did most of the talking seemed like he actually wanted a confrontation from the tone of his voice and the way he dismissed my concerns, as if it to see he didn't care if I were comfortable with it or not. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and though "well maybe he didn't know that there's still a few great shooting spots only a little further down the road," but if I were the late bird in that situation, I would still not have imposed on other people. I've been in that situation a couple of times before and all I did was ask the shooter(s) if they knew of any other spots. In one case, a guy did know of a spot and gladly gave directions, in another case, the guy said there was room for one more. The reason I brought up the question is that I tend to be on the socially inept side, and so I thought maybe there was some standard of etiquette or code of honor or something that did make it totally cool for folks to just show up in the same little spot and that maybe I was being the rude guy by attempting to hog the space. For those not familiar with that particular spot, it's not at all wide, if one were to establish a firing line, it would be probably not more than 50 feet wide.

Was this rude? Absolutely! This sort of things really bothers me too. Hopefully people who may have otherwise done just this will read this thread and think about it next time they're up shooting and encounter others. Between your two posts it sounds like you're the sort of guy we need more of when we're out shooting.

One of the main reasons I joined Four Corners Rod and Gun club is to not have to deal with people while shooting. Everyone at the club follows the same set of rules and everyone has plenty of room.

Sounds like some jerks. Even if I don't know the area I would have driven on. If it was a larger spot that could easily accommodate everyone, I might have stopped.

Yes, very rude. You should have suggested another spot just down the road. If they didn't take the suggestion then move off down the road yourself.

Originally Posted by pchewn

.... You should have suggested another spot just down the road...

It did occur to me at the time to do just that, but figured the "spokesman" would interpret that as "get lost!" and become even more unpleasant, particularly since they'd basically begun setting up before our conversation had even ended. Maybe he figured "having a cop" gave him the authority to push people around with impunity. Sucks to give lousy people their satisfaction but if there's anything I can do to avoid confrontation and assure my safety and those around me, I do it.

I am not a lawyer, but next time try to figure what station that "Cop" is from.
a)If he admitted that he is cop, and he was actually not. It is second degree misdemeanor, and he can go to jail for it.
b)If he was, then if they did any thing wrong, you can sue the station where cop from for abusing his power.

All you need to do is pick up the phone to teach them a lesson

There are lots of areas up there - I would suggest they move to the next one or to play it safe - I may move.