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I'll tell you what I got… I got a life! In other words, it has changed my life! (Perhaps I could rephrase that to read: The people on this NWFA forum have changed my life!)
I now have a focus and direction I never would have conceived a few years back.
When I joined, in 2012, I had been away from gun ownership for 40 years. I hadn't given it much thought during that time, but always remembered the fun days of plinking varmints, coyotes, and game hunting as a kid. My focus was on climbing the corporate ladder, raising a family, playing golf and going fishing.
One day, my youngest son asked to go deer hunting and it rekindled those special memories of hunting with my dad and brothers. So, I joined NWFA to refresh my memory on hunting techniques, where to go around my area and if Black Tail are any different to hunt than Mule Deer.
I started hearing from people who were welcoming, courteous, helpful, and encouraging. I liked it here and felt very comfortable communicating with total strangers because I sensed a brotherhood of mutual love and respect for the second amendment and these people were just darn nice to me. Little did I know, my life would soon begin to take on a new focus and direction.
Many of you know what direction I have gone and what my focus has become, but for those who don't, let me tell you the who, what, and why of it.
I took my son out to a public forest to teach him how to use a rifle for hunting. We got out of the truck and were both in shock from the volume of trash at a target shooting site in the forest. IN THE FOREST! What the heck? It was a real eye opener for me. I was expecting something more like my childhood memories of shooting on our own ranch. We never took trash out on our ranch, shot it up and then left it there! I expected a clean place to shoot, just like nature should be… natural!
I posted my frustration on NorthwestFirearms and promptly received lots of replies of mutual feelings. I started to get a sense that this stuff is happening in all forests throughout Oregon and Washington. I wanted to do something about it and decided perhaps I could do a little something in my own back yard.
I shot an email off to the forest agency managing the forest I was in and asked them; if I could get a few of us hunters and gun owners together to clean it up, could they help with the disposal cost? They were super excited and responded with a positive YES! Beyond that, they will supply the trash bags, gloves and provide insurance for anyone if an injury happened. I posted this news to the NWFA forum and said let's get together and go do this! The response was awesome!
My first cleanup was so much fun! We had 35 people attend, cleaned up about 4 shooting sites and when we were done, everyone brought out their toys and we blew the place apart! Of course, we had to do a second cleanup of our own mess, but, it was so much fun we all wanted to do it again.
And so it began. Cleanup after cleanup, lots of volunteers meeting and greeting, sharing and enjoying each other's company. And the group shoots were always a blast!
One day, the owner of NWFA, @Joe Link , asked me if I would consider becoming the Volunteer Coordinator for NWFA. I almost turned it down because I was no authority and was a bit shy, but thought, okay why not! It shouldn't be much more than what I'm already doing! (The direction of my life was becoming a little more focused now. Thanks Joe!)
After a couple years, it became apparent to me that this effort, encouraging responsible target shooting on public lands, could, and should, be a bigger deal. I wanted to reach out to more gun owners and public land shooters all over the Northwest. This forum is a perfect platform for that, however, it was missing an important element that was needed to move the cause to the next level… An independent non-profit C-3 organization to qualify for grants, open doors with forest management agencies and gain corporate support through donations. I felt it could forward the cause for positive change.
So, I started Trash No Land, a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization focused on the goals of promoting responsible shooting on public lands and saving our good places to shoot.
Since then, the members of this forum have been my primary source of motivation and encouragement, as well as, my biggest volunteers! I have met many great people here who give their time, resources, thoughts, ideas and fellowship! I really look forward to renewing those acquaintances and making new ones along the way. (I have also had the unique opportunity to shoot so many guns I will never be able to own in my lifetime! From Full Auto to 50 cals! It's been awesome!)
So my life has changed because of this forum and the members of NorthwestFirearms! There's no better family than the gun owner family who live here and I'm thankful for that. Thank you for giving me encouragement to pursue a passion you helped to develop!
Note: The Trash No Land organization is not affiliated with NorthwestFirearms. I am only a member here who started a separate non-profit. I appreciate the opportunity to communicate on this forum and value it as an integral part of furthering the cause for improving the shooting sports on public lands.
I'm sure this forum has touched most of us in one way or another. Perhaps you could share your experience of what you have gained from this forum?
Bill
I now have a focus and direction I never would have conceived a few years back.
When I joined, in 2012, I had been away from gun ownership for 40 years. I hadn't given it much thought during that time, but always remembered the fun days of plinking varmints, coyotes, and game hunting as a kid. My focus was on climbing the corporate ladder, raising a family, playing golf and going fishing.
One day, my youngest son asked to go deer hunting and it rekindled those special memories of hunting with my dad and brothers. So, I joined NWFA to refresh my memory on hunting techniques, where to go around my area and if Black Tail are any different to hunt than Mule Deer.
I started hearing from people who were welcoming, courteous, helpful, and encouraging. I liked it here and felt very comfortable communicating with total strangers because I sensed a brotherhood of mutual love and respect for the second amendment and these people were just darn nice to me. Little did I know, my life would soon begin to take on a new focus and direction.
Many of you know what direction I have gone and what my focus has become, but for those who don't, let me tell you the who, what, and why of it.
I took my son out to a public forest to teach him how to use a rifle for hunting. We got out of the truck and were both in shock from the volume of trash at a target shooting site in the forest. IN THE FOREST! What the heck? It was a real eye opener for me. I was expecting something more like my childhood memories of shooting on our own ranch. We never took trash out on our ranch, shot it up and then left it there! I expected a clean place to shoot, just like nature should be… natural!
I posted my frustration on NorthwestFirearms and promptly received lots of replies of mutual feelings. I started to get a sense that this stuff is happening in all forests throughout Oregon and Washington. I wanted to do something about it and decided perhaps I could do a little something in my own back yard.
I shot an email off to the forest agency managing the forest I was in and asked them; if I could get a few of us hunters and gun owners together to clean it up, could they help with the disposal cost? They were super excited and responded with a positive YES! Beyond that, they will supply the trash bags, gloves and provide insurance for anyone if an injury happened. I posted this news to the NWFA forum and said let's get together and go do this! The response was awesome!
My first cleanup was so much fun! We had 35 people attend, cleaned up about 4 shooting sites and when we were done, everyone brought out their toys and we blew the place apart! Of course, we had to do a second cleanup of our own mess, but, it was so much fun we all wanted to do it again.
And so it began. Cleanup after cleanup, lots of volunteers meeting and greeting, sharing and enjoying each other's company. And the group shoots were always a blast!
One day, the owner of NWFA, @Joe Link , asked me if I would consider becoming the Volunteer Coordinator for NWFA. I almost turned it down because I was no authority and was a bit shy, but thought, okay why not! It shouldn't be much more than what I'm already doing! (The direction of my life was becoming a little more focused now. Thanks Joe!)
After a couple years, it became apparent to me that this effort, encouraging responsible target shooting on public lands, could, and should, be a bigger deal. I wanted to reach out to more gun owners and public land shooters all over the Northwest. This forum is a perfect platform for that, however, it was missing an important element that was needed to move the cause to the next level… An independent non-profit C-3 organization to qualify for grants, open doors with forest management agencies and gain corporate support through donations. I felt it could forward the cause for positive change.
So, I started Trash No Land, a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization focused on the goals of promoting responsible shooting on public lands and saving our good places to shoot.
Since then, the members of this forum have been my primary source of motivation and encouragement, as well as, my biggest volunteers! I have met many great people here who give their time, resources, thoughts, ideas and fellowship! I really look forward to renewing those acquaintances and making new ones along the way. (I have also had the unique opportunity to shoot so many guns I will never be able to own in my lifetime! From Full Auto to 50 cals! It's been awesome!)
So my life has changed because of this forum and the members of NorthwestFirearms! There's no better family than the gun owner family who live here and I'm thankful for that. Thank you for giving me encouragement to pursue a passion you helped to develop!
Note: The Trash No Land organization is not affiliated with NorthwestFirearms. I am only a member here who started a separate non-profit. I appreciate the opportunity to communicate on this forum and value it as an integral part of furthering the cause for improving the shooting sports on public lands.
I'm sure this forum has touched most of us in one way or another. Perhaps you could share your experience of what you have gained from this forum?
Bill