# Clean up, and ... uh ... don't shoot people.



## SLCHunter (Dec 19, 2013)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/us/a-culture-clash-over-guns-infiltrates-the-backcountry.html

Story about conflict over BLM and FS land use with reference to Saratoga Springs clean up efforts ...


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Good on those people that cleaned up out at Saratoga Springs.

.


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## hemionus (Aug 23, 2009)

As a fellow shooter, sportsman, and conservationist it sickens me to see the trash left by shooters. One day target shooting will be only allowed on developed ranges and I can't say I am against it either.


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## hondodawg (Mar 13, 2013)

I agree it does look bad. But I know all trash isn't being dumped by shooters..but we get all the blame. Best thing we can do is clean up after our selves and take more trash back home with us to dispose.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

hondodawg said:


> I know all trash isn't being dumped by shooters..but we get all the blame.


I agree, but shooters will take some of that trash and make a bigger mess by scattering it and using it for target practice. 
It's good that people are taking the time to clean others messes up, but it's a losing battle. The slobs will return and the whole process starts over, it's a constant battle that can't be won unless everyone does their part.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Uh I call bull crap on this article. My back door is less than 1/2 mile from where this supposedly is and I rarely hear gunfire. I've driven there several times just looking for different places to shoot and I can tell you that it isn't the shooters doing this because I have yet to see a single shooter there any time I have gone! Yes every weekend there's 5-20 cars parked in the parking area with folks riding 4 wheelers, razors etc all back there but it's more uncommon than common to hear shooting. When you stand at my back door or sit out on the back patio like we do daily you can easily hear any gunfire going off there. I am willing to bet dollars to donuts based on the type of people I see coming out of there that the garbage is mostly left behind by the atv riders and not the VERY few almost non existent shooters that they claim are here.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

I've only shot out there a handful of times, but along that west side of the lake there are a lot of people that are shooting, and most of the garbage I saw was an assortment of household appliances full of bullet holes. Maybe the shooters were so mad people left garbage they decided to shoot it all..........and then were still so angry that they forgot to pick up their spent casings and targets they actually took out there to shoot.:shock:


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

LostLouisianian said:


> Uh I call bull crap on this article. My back door is less than 1/2 mile from where this supposedly is and I rarely hear gunfire. I've driven there several times just looking for different places to shoot and I can tell you that it isn't the shooters doing this because I have yet to see a single shooter there any time I have gone! Yes every weekend there's 5-20 cars parked in the parking area with folks riding 4 wheelers, razors etc all back there but it's more uncommon than common to hear shooting. When you stand at my back door or sit out on the back patio like we do daily you can easily hear any gunfire going off there. I am willing to bet dollars to donuts based on the type of people I see coming out of there that the garbage is mostly left behind by the atv riders and not the VERY few almost non existent shooters that they claim are here.


so it's atv riders that are sprinkling empty shell casings and shotgun shells everywhere? It's worse than I thought!


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

utahgolf said:


> so it's atv riders that are sprinkling empty shell casings and shotgun shells everywhere? It's worse than I thought!


The VERY few shell casings and shotgun shells were accumulated over a period of several years. Yes there were a few but the places I went to you wouldn't have even filled up a home depot bucket if you picked up every single one and I went to at least 10 different shooting spots in the last 6 months here. Hey if you want to believe a NY article about Utah then go for it. I know the truth because I live right next to this place. Come out and see for yourself. Go south on Redwood Road, then go west on Stillwater drive until it turns to gravel, keep going up the gravel road less than 1/2 mile and you're at the shooting spots at Israel Canyon. I've been living here since December. From what I was told by Saratoga Springs PD, at one time it was a very active shooting destination but the last 2-3 years hardly anyone shoots there anymore. Their statements concur with what I have ACTUALLY seen with MY OWN EYES and heard with my own ears.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

LostLouisianian said:


> The VERY few shell casings and shotgun shells were accumulated over a period of several years. Yes there were a few but the places I went to you wouldn't have even filled up a home depot bucket if you picked up every single one and I went to at least 10 different shooting spots in the last 6 months here. Hey if you want to believe a NY article about Utah then go for it. I know the truth because I live right next to this place. Come out and see for yourself. Go south on Redwood Road, then go west on Stillwater drive until it turns to gravel, keep going up the gravel road less than 1/2 mile and you're at the shooting spots at Israel Canyon. I've been living here since December. From what I was told by Saratoga Springs PD, at one time it was a very active shooting destination but the last 2-3 years hardly anyone shoots there anymore. Their statements concur with what I have ACTUALLY seen with MY OWN EYES and heard with my own ears.


If that's the case and there are not many people leaving garbage, that's great news. A lot of spots I shot at a few years ago looked like a landfill in the middle of a war zone then.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Kwalk3 said:


> If that's the case and there are not many people leaving garbage, that's great news. A lot of spots I shot at a few years ago looked like a landfill in the middle of a war zone then.


That is what I heard. My neighbor that I lived next door to in Draper told me that several years ago he came out here to shoot and never came back again because there were so many people. I am sure some of them brought old computers, tv's etc and being the good sportsmen they were just left them there over time. I guess what I am saying is that this may have happened in the past but it isn't going on now. I do know there is a lot of ATV's and a hell of a lot of drinking on weekends by the atv-ers out there. Do they bring TV's and computers and drop off brass and shotguns shells...probably not but those that are there have been there a little while, not from this year. Now I can tell you that come this weekend there's going to be some broken clay pigeons out there when I take the grandson to shake off the rust for the youth duck hunt...but we will pick up our hulls as always and probably will pick up any trash where we are at as well.


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## High Desert (Sep 25, 2007)

I walk my dog past an area used as an informal shooting range on a hillside in Davis County. It looked like a dump with old shot up monitors, bottles, cans, shell casings, furniture, etc. It was an eyesore that I got tired of seeing and all shooters were being tarnished by the irresponsibility of some. My son and I finally took a bunch of it to the real dump. Someone else apparently cleaned up part as well. I then started taking a garbage sack with me while walking the dog and now it stays clean. The vast majority of shooters are responsible. The fact that the accumulated trash is gone sends a signal that it is not okay to turn the hillside into a dump and there seems to be less trash left over time. As much as I dislike cleaning up other's junk, I like even more walking on a clean mountain. You may not be the problem but you can be the solution.


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