Greenwater Shooting Pit

[jcxb]

What are the shooting hours of Greenwater Pit? I've been told sun up to sun down. I would like to beat the crowds by getting there early in the morning and leave when folks start showing up.

FYI, Triangle Pit shooting hours are 9 am - 6 pm from what I last saw.

 

[trevi]

What are the shooting hours of Greenwater Pit? I've been told sun up to sun down. I would like to beat the crowds by getting there early in the morning and leave when folks start showing up.

FYI, Triangle Pit shooting hours are 9 am - 6 pm from what I last saw.

Seems about correct, those hours, but with the time change, I am sure it will be until 5pm. Go early at sunrise.

Good luck.

 

[vicator]

I've been isolated at home, right after getting my new rimfire rifle and want to get out of the house. I practice safe social distancing, will clean up my messes, bring my own steel KYL target.

It looks like all DNR controlled areas are closed, which I believe only leaves national forest areas. I think Greenwater is considered National Forest area? Is this still open to shoot during this quarantine? I want to continue practice safe social distancing and see if there's enough space here.

If not, does anyone have a recommendation for anywhere else?

Thanks,
Victor

 

[rdb241]

I've been isolated at home, right after getting my new rimfire rifle and want to get out of the house. I practice safe social distancing, will clean up my messes, bring my own steel KYL target.

It looks like all DNR controlled areas are closed, which I believe only leaves national forest areas. I think Greenwater is considered National Forest area? Is this still open to shoot during this quarantine? I want to continue practice safe social distancing and see if there's enough space here.

If not, does anyone have a recommendation for anywhere else?

Thanks,
Victor

Copy and paste this for the cop when you talk to him. He might understand.........

 

[MexiChris206]

Whats the best place to go shooting outdoors around here im in Federal Way, WA looking to go shooting somewhere in the woods/mountains where I wont get in trouble

 

[jcxb]

Whats the best place to go shooting outdoors around here im in Federal Way, WA looking to go shooting somewhere in the woods/mountains where I wont get in trouble

Since you're in Federal Way, Greenwater Pit is closer to you. Triangle Pit is a little further away. I've been to both and like both. Greenwater Pit has longer distance 100-125 yards (shooting slightly uphill). Triangle is around 75-100 yards (flatter elevation). Rumors have been going around of a logging permit going through that might eliminate Triangle pit. If someone can confirm that, that would be great.

 

[Turbone]

Went to Capital Forest yesterday and the road (from Hwy 12) up to the c-line was closed. Decided to try Triangle and ITS closed too! Tried another access road to Cap Forest and road closed. This sucks
DNR has closed everything now. I checked all the State web sites just the night before and there wasnt a notice about it

 

[Cogs]

Went to Capital Forest yesterday and the road (from Hwy 12) up to the c-line was closed. Decided to try Triangle and ITS closed too! Tried another access road to Cap Forest and road closed. This sucks
DNR has closed everything now. I checked all the State web sites just the night before and there wasnt a notice about it

Yeah, DNR closed all state forests to all recreation activities last week. I posted it to the Trash No Land FB page and this forum at: Info for shooting on public lands...

I know not everyone reads the thread: Info for shooting on public lands, in the Outdoor section, but I try to keep up with important info there. I can't post it in all the threads! Best to follow Trash No Land on Facebook if you have it.

Bill

 

[Tacp_daddy]

I'll ask my local gun shop if he knows of anything open when I pickup my new rifle today. Really sucks that I can't even get it sighted in with everything closed down.

 

[XoXSciFiGuy]

BACKGROUND:
I have lived in the Auburn/Sumner area for many, many years, and grew up on a small farm near Sumner. My folks moved here in 1968 so my dad could take a job with Boeing. I've done the Forest Service road thing all over the state from Yakima to Forks. Done much camping in these areas, and Greenwater used to be one of my favorite spots because it's close and convenient.

I quit going up to the Greenwater area for a few reasons. (And there is something you should know about the Forest Service rangers who cover that area out of the nearby town of Enumclaw.)

1) In the last ten years or so, there has been an increase in drug-making activity up there. If you reach a dead-end turn-around on some old spur, and see plastic tubing, discarded propane tanks, etc lying around, it means someone was making meth there. If anyone is there when you pull up, stuff it in reverse and get the hell out of there. These people are totally nuts, and since if they get caught they can get more time in jail than for shooting someone, they sometimes shoot first and ask questions later.

2) There has been a proliferation of underage teens stealing cars and taking them up in that area on the Forest Service roads. Sometimes they bring guns and shoot up the cars they steal, or push them down any convenient canyon for laughs. I personally witnessed a group of teens who did this while I was camping above them. They were about a half mile away, and down from me. The car they shot up and dumped was a near-new Escalade. Wasn't anything I could do about it. I was alone up there on this camping trip and they were pretty well armed. I had to settle for watching these jerks through binoculars. But this sort of thing is forcing the US Forest Service rangers into being more militant.

3) You should expect these days that SOMETIMES...these rangers if they see you using a shooting pit up there, are going to ask you for ID and run your name to see if you are on the Washington State Bad List. One of the rangers told me that a retroactive law passed back in 1996 says that ANYONE who was EVER convicted of a felony in WA state and did not specifically go to court to get gun rights restored can now be arrested and their weapons confiscated. And they are sometimes doing that to people now. You see...years ago when people got a felony here, you got your gun and voting rights, all that stuff restored when you got off parole. If you were good with the Feds, who recognize this by the way...you were no longer good with the state. So you can conceivably pass the background check on a Federal level, thinking you are okay to own a gun...and still buy that gun without problems. But...if you get CAUGHT with that gun in WA you are NOT legal now. A more BS law I have never heard of, but there it is. The bad part is they made it retroactive, so you could be out there and not even know you are suddenly not legal. You could go like that for years, until some cop or ranger checks you out. Pretty unfair, huh? However....under those circumstances you are still okay according to the Feds, or any other state for that matter. Such baloney. If this describes YOUR situation, unless you've been in a lot of trouble lately...then it is a rubber-stamp approval at the courthouse where you got your original felony. Costs $1,400 or so with the lawyer, and I have a couple of friends who had to do that. One guy got in trouble clear back in 1980, was released from parole in 1985...buying and shooting guns no problem for many years...and then some Forest Ranger runs him in 2005 and BIG SURPRISE. Even the ranger said it wasn't fair, but the ranger took his guns and he was charged with Illegal Possession of a Weapon and had to go to court. No jail time, but he had to pay the $1,400 later and get restored.

4) Basically, since I-90 corridor areas and Greenwater area are about the closest outdoor shooting spots to Seattle and South King County, more crap has been going on up there...and as a result the rangers and the cops are cracking down. So watch out. There have also been problems with people shooting up the logging equipment at night, etc...costing the logging companies thousands of dollars. It just sucks how a few people can ruin things in an area.

Where do I go today? The Forest Service roads along Highway 101, on the Hood Canal side of the Olympic Peninsula...still lots of Forest Service access up there, and generally you will meet very nice folks, not druggies or crazies. I go there now, not Greenwater or the 90 corridor.

 

[XoXSciFiGuy]

I thought I should add to the previous post. Some parts were not clear, especially about that retroactive law.

How it USED to work in Washington until 1996, until they passed that crazy law and didn't bother telling people about it:

1) Prior to 1996 or so, if you got a felony you lost your rights to own a gun, with both the Feds and WA state.

2) When you got off parole, unless you had some violent crime or a special circumstance, both the Feds and WA state gave you all rights back. The Feds still do it this way.

3) WA passed a sneaky law saying that now ANYONE who EVER had a felony of any kind, and that felony was a conviction IN Washington...now you could only get gun rights restored by appearing in court for restoration with a judge, in the same county where you were originally convicted. Didn't matter if you had your gun rights restored originally. That situation was now kaput. (Frankly, I think they should have put up notices so people who got in trouble thirty years ago would be warned the law was changed.)

(On a side note...this law also applies to black powder weapons now, even though the Feds don't consider them real weapons!)

4) If the above situation describes you, chances are you can still go into a gun shop and pass the background check if it only goes to the Feds. My friend was doing this for years, no problem. Would have been nice if someone told him he was really NOT legal in WA.

5) If you move out of Washington, you are NOT affected by this bullbubblegum law. It only applies to people living in WA, who were convicted of any felony in Washington, otherwise you are still good. I'm not sure how it works if you MOVE HERE to WA and had some old felony and got restored. I did see the law once at WA dot gov. Sounds like it only applies to felonies where convictions were obtained IN Washington state, not elsewhere.

6) 99% of the time, if you haven't been in any trouble in the last five years, when you appear in front of the judge for restoration of gun rights, it is a quickie rubber-stamp thing. There is a lawyer near the Pierce County Courthouse in Tacoma who actually specializes in these cases. His fee, last time I heard, was $1,400 and he won't take your case unless he's 100% sure your order will pass the judge. He runs your whole background and looks at it first. My friend didn't even have to GO to court. The lawyer did it all. But he didn't get his guns back, either. I had to sit there out in Greenwater and watch them put my friend in handcuffs and take him to the Pierce County jail. He was a responsible guy who got in trouble at age 19 or something, got a felony for theft for something clear back in 1980. He was like 40+ years old and had never been in trouble since. And not only did they take his guns, but he had to wait five years to apply for restoration. He got that easy, but still...

I'm not a lawyer, but this whole law sounds like double jeopardy to me. How can they retroactively remove gun rights from people who were already restored decades ago? People who were totally clean for years after they got off parole, and were told their rights to vote and own guns had been restored. And then not TELL these people! It is total baloney all the way.

 

[User 1234]

Identify Prohibited Persons | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The Gun Control Act (GCA), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition, to include any person: convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; who is...

www.atf.gov

18 USC 922 makes convicted felons prohibited under federal law. Even if the sentence actually imposed was less than one year, if the charge could have resulted in a 366 day sentence the person is considered a convicted felon.
What is your source for the felony prohibition ending when parole expires rule?

 

[XoXSciFiGuy]

It's a good point, but eventual restoration of gun rights, even with a felony, has been on the books for a long time. The problems started when states like North Carolina (and Washington) started passing laws like the one I described above.

In the case quoted HERE, which ended up in Federal court, since the felon's rights HAD been previously restored, the court found this guy not guilty of gun possession by a felon. You are RIGHT when you say ATF bans your rights to gun ownership after a felony conviction, but the Feds also recognize when you have those rights restored, and most of the time the states would issue you a paper saying you were restored once you were off parole, except in special circumstances where the state might refuse. (Used a gun in a crime, etc) Then the state would send that notice into the Feds, and you could then pass the background checks or be legal to own.

It got screwy when they passed that retroactive law, though. You get restored. And then you are not. And nobody tells you.

That case I quoted applies to a rather bad guy, I have to admit. It's just an example. What Washington has going is a sort of Catch 22 law. You get in trouble say...back in 1988. You get out. You do the right thing. You get your rights back. You start passing the background checks and buying. Then in 1996 they take it all back and don't tell anyone. Doesn't seem very fair to me.

This discussion should be moved elsewhere. I probably should do some research and quote the WA law, etc. And the ones that USED to be in effect before they sneaked the 1996 law in on people.

 

[User 1234]

So you are referring to convicted felons who have affirmatively obtained court orders restoring their firearms rights, and not saying that the expiration of parole itself restores federal 2A rights.

 

[MikeSD]

I like to drive further into the forest to find your own spot with a suitable backstop. There are plenty of shooting pits that are just fine all through those roads, trash aside.

Take out more than you put in.

You may not be aware but there appears to be a slow movement to ban all recreational shooting in all national forests in WA. Most run by liberals.

It started on Snoqualmie a number of years ago. They did a safety study to justify closing shooting along I-90 corridor. First it was just along I90. After they got that they started closing more and more. Then it was limited to all areas below 3500 feet. Now everything is closed. If you call ranger station in North Bend they will confirm. They direct you to NF road 70 in greenwater. Now they are doing same there.

We need a national push to get this administration to reopen Federal forests that are slowly being closed by democrats.

 

[Turbone]

Capital Forest is open. Went up C Line last week and ran a box of reloads thru my Sig. Pulled over for 3 DNR trucks on the way up, they all waved.

 

[MikeSD]

C-Line? I thought c-line was closed. There us an alert about it on the Capital Forest page.

 

[Admiral_]

Capital Forest is open. Went up C Line last week and ran a box of reloads thru my Sig. Pulled over for 3 DNR trucks on the way up, they all waved.

Is this triangle pit?

 

[Turbone]

Triangle Pit is on Waddell Creek Rd SW and Sherman Valley RD, I was up Little Spur Rd off Hwy 12 before Porter

 

[K1NGSL1D3]

I live out in Bonney Lake. Is there a place near me? Sorry for the newb post but trying to find an outdoor place to shoot ‍