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First a bit of background: Ronco Road in southern Polk County is a gravel road branching off of Pedee Creek Road that dead-ends near a small parcel of BLM ground. It accesses several parcels of private land and a pretty large tract of Hancock industrial forest land. The County didn't have the money to maintain the road, and especially a bridge that was failing and weight limited to where loaded log trucks could not cross. The landowners negotiated with the County to allow them to maintian the road and put in a gate to limit vehicle traffic. This allowed Hancock to replace the bridge at its own expense. At this point the road is still a public road, but vehicles are not allowed.

Sunday I was doing a little work with my road grader on land we own in the area, and headed out to Pedee Creek Road to relocate the machine at our operations base. I came around the corner about 100 yards from the gate to find that a group of people had set up using the gate as a shooting bench and shooting at plastic bottles and discarded Jack-O=Lanterns placed on the road in front of me! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: IMG_20161113_134735_740.jpg

Fortunately, they were not shooting at the time I rounded the corner (I think), and it looked like they had just set out a new batch of targets. All of them were at the "firing line" when I first saw them. They may have heard me coming, as the old grader is very noisy.

Among the many safety rules violated were:

No backstop.
Did not know what was beyond their targets.
Shooting from a public road.
Shooting at a public road.
Shooting accross a public road.

The guns I saw were a home-defense pump shotgun, a M1911 .45, and a .22 rifle.

I chewed them out pretty badly. I think they were shocked to see me come around the corner. They said that they thought no one was up the road since the gate was locked. The woman said she was sorry, and I replied that "You would be a lot sorrier if you had killed someone." I told them that what they were doing was criminal Reckless Endangerment.

After thinking about it, I filed a report with the Sheriff about the incident. They felt it should be investigated for Reckless Endangerment. We'll see what happens.
 
Now re reading it again, this is a public county road with some BLM, private and private timber land, with a private paid for bridge and a locked gate that the public can't drive past. Can I pass the gate on foot, is it posted no trespassing, it is ever opened up to the public?
 
Well I'm glad they weren't the type to just shoot you and leave the scene.

Scary indeed. You never know what idiots you'll run into in the woods doing unsafe activities.

Glad it all work out.

Maybe time to put up some warning signs around there.
 
I did get good photos of the license plates and a close-up of the fellow who was walking towards me in the attached photo.
The public can walk, horseback ride, or bicycle beyond the gate on the County road. It ends about a mile and a half beyond the gate, and does not touch the BLM parcel. There is a fairly extensive private road system connected to the county road, but it is not public access.

The private parcels are posted. Hancock has their restrictions posted on the gate. There is no plan for open access planned.
 
These idiots are the lowest form of firearms owners, and I desperately HOPE they get a visit from LEO.

That's a well traveled road there in the picture, gate or not! WTH

:s0054:
 
That's a well traveled road. I'd recommend riveting a sign to the gate: PRIVATE LAND NO TARGET SHOOTING.
Locked gates on private land mean "no trespassing, mutherfocker" in my book.
My guess is you were surprised, pissed, and exercised a great deal of situational awareness. If the guy walking up to you looked nefarious, I'm sure you would have altered what you were going to do. Glad that turned out OK.

I'm guilty of target shooting from BLM roads, while on BLM land, where the locked access gate was used by Freres Lumber of Lyons. I'd meet some of their guys in there while shooting. However, I was always aware of my backstop, and was shooting from the road, not along it. Since I joined TCGC, I haven't done that in 10+ years.

Too many 4 wheelers and dirt bikers along roads to even risk it, IMO.
 
Just a little add..
and don't treat the actual dead-end of a dead-end road as a backstop.. often a well used trail into the woods starts there.
Stay clear of roads!
Anyway, that'd piss me off too.
 
Update: It happened again yesterday! :eek::eek::eek: This time is was a couple of young guys with .22's. They had put targets on trees down the road using a long cloth tape measure.

I was coming out in my pickup, with a neighbor behind me in his pickup. Since my first incident, I now honk my horn when I get within 100 yds. of the blind corner leading to the gate, and again just before the blind corner. Apparently, these two heard my horn and were not shooting when I rounded the corner.

They thought "it was private road and nobody was up there." I explained that it was a public road, but no vehicles allowed, and was heavily used by the landowners. I also pointed out that the last incident lead to a visit from a Deputy, and nearly resulted in criminal charges for Reckless Endangerment.

I also pointed out that using trees for target stands damages the tree, and even if you miss the tree, you will likely hit other trees behind it. Not to mention people!

I am meeting the Sheriff next week to discuss this situation. I should not fear for my life when I am driving on a County road, nor should I fear for my life when approaching a County road on a private road/driveway. :mad:
 
Bubblegum!

Anyways you can post the area of concern? "No Shooting, Sheriff Takes Notice" or some such. Along with the a posted one on your gate, as mentioned above?

You shouldn't have to, given it's obviously not a safe shooting area, however, sadly seems folk are not recognizing that fact.
 
It seems common sense is in very short supply these days. These people need to be held accountable for their actions and it made public for the other imbeciles out there who do not stop and think first.
 
I'm glad you weren't hurt, either time. I'd like to suggest you consider putting up some of the "Trail Cameras" to provide the Sheriff with hard evidence. It's Very hard to make a case against these Low Lifes without pictures. A Dash Cam or a Body Cam, for when you show up and they're back would also be helpful. Another thought would be to contact the Game Department because some of this could fall under their jurisdiction, especially if this is Hunting Season in that area.

I'm on my back trying to get over a Broken Right Ankle but there was a time I had to deal with these Abusive and Hostile type of individuals. Good Luck!
 
I used to (mid 70s) hunt (with permission of tree farm landowners) south of there near where the highway turns south going into Kings Valley. Still thinking of maybe moving to the area, but sounds like now idiots from Salem are making their way out there to shoot.

The only safe place to shoot on a road is on a dead end - e.g., an abandoned logging landing and then into a backstop (there usually is one). Too much chance of someone coming down the road either in/on a vehicle/machine or walking or bicycling. Even on my own property I am careful to have a backstop, and know what/who is beyond that backstop - I shoot down slope and a gully (on my property) is behind my backstop (not to mention a LOT of trees).
 

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