21 replies to this topic

[pete]

Ive got my grandpas old shotgun and my dad and I took it to the range recently to try shooting trap for the first time. Well we didnt know what we were doing and only hit two out of thirty.... Now our friend that we keep bees with is giving us a trap and says hell take us shooting at a ranch he has permition too. My question is where else could we go shooting clays? I was thinking in the Los Padres NF but I dont get it, do you need to pick up the clay pieces or rake them up or what? I just cant justify leaving a big pile of bright orange crap all over the forest, unless it were to just weather away or something like it. Also any tips on shooting with the shotgun would be much apreciated. Thanks.

[tawnoper]

Unless you know someone with some property around T.O. / N.P. you'll have to drive a bit to do some shooting. You can go out to the Angeles Range in Sun Valley, it's about an hr away. They have a skeet and trap range. Or you can drive up to Cherry Creek up on hwy 33 above Ojai. It's about 1.5 - 2hr drive from N.P....and it's free but sometimes gets busy...or you can head out to the dez out near Mojave...always room out there. You can stop by big 5 and buy a box of clays and a hand throw for under 20 bucks. And no, you don't need to pick them up but make sure to pick up your shotgun hulls.

[pete]

Okay, thank you. Ive been to Angeles, thats where we went shooting the clays. I belive Cherry Creek was just closed to target shooting recently. Is that an actual gun range? Ive never heard of it. Is it OK to just shoot clays anywhere target shooting is alowed in the Forest or is there restrictions that apply to clays and not paper? It just seems like it wouldnt fly with a ranger to leave a bunch of flourecent orange junk all over the hills.

[tawnoper]

As far as I know Cherry Creek is still open to shooting. It's not a range...it's a designated shooting area. Sometimes they close the gate going in so people park at the road and walk a couple hundred yards up the road to shoot.

[bzzrd feedr]

They make a biodegradable clay target. We use them at our duck club and they just melt away after time.

[pete]

Okay, so I found the clays from Big5 are biodegradeable. The Los Padres website says cherry creek "Drainage" is closed to target shooting. Im not familiar with Cherry Creek or if its included in this ban or not. My only question left is if you can just shoot anywhere in the Forest that isnt closed to target shooting or are there any places I can find the restrictions? Im planning a trip the the ranger station next weekend to see if they know anything.

[tawnoper]

Okay, I just checked out the latest on Cherry Creek...you're right, looks like they closed it to target shooting on Aug 1st. That place has been there forever, this is the first I know of it being closed to target shooting. Used to be another designated shooting area out near Acton called Kentucky shooting Range...they closed it after the place began resembling a land fill. What is with people bringing out T.V.'s, microwaves, refrigerators, computer monitors etc., shooting them to pieces and then leaving them there? Friggen pigs. I'd imagine that's what happened to Cherry Creek (among other stuff) since it was starting to look that way. No, you can't just target shoot in the national forest. I'd just head out to the dez near Mojave...lots of BLM land out there.

[pete]

Okay thanks. Yeah the NF website had pictures of all the junk left there like TVs and thousands of hulls. Guess Ill have to just shoot on my friends ranches for now. Thank you to all for the help.

[pete]

Finally got a hold of the forest ranger in the office and apparently you can shoot anywhere EXCEPT for Cherry Creek, provided you clean it up which is a given to most of us on here I hope.

[tawnoper]

You may want to check this out:target shootI guess it depends on who you talk to...that being said, I've done a lot of target shooting in Apache Cyn just over the hill from Cherry Creek without a problem.

[True2ThySelf]

I picked up two boxes of biodegradable clays and a hand thrower last month but didn't know where I could use them. I figured I would head out to BLM land in the high desert when hunting season was over and get some much needed practice.

[dangerranger]

If you leave orange pieces of clay laying around on public land it would be concidered littering. Clays must be shot over private land with the owners permision. If you dont have private land to shoot on, look in the phone book for trap clubs. there are two near me that charge $7.50 a round [25 targets] thats barely over what the clays cost, and they provide the thrower. You will also find that many trap clubs provide some coaching or instruction for free. Its just basic instruction but it teaches the rules of the range, the rules of trap, basic shooting, how to pattern a shotgun, etc... call ahead, its usally an informal thing. its geared tward getting new people involved in the sport of trap. but they are all good things to know. DR

[Lang]

Oak Tree. Its right off the 5 Freeway. http://www.oaktreegunclub.com/. It used to be nice to just go out and have a day, but irresponsible people have ruined it for everyone. I would rather go to Oak Tree than take a chance I might be shooting in a closed area.

[microtus]

About a year and a half ago I had multiple conversations with the Mendocino National Forest regarding the shooting of clay pigeons. At first, nobody had an answer to my inquiry but when the dust settled it came down to being required to pick up "all" evidence of the clay pigeons. Yes, they were aware of the biodegradable pigeons. The brush is so thick in the area I was looking at that a person could hide a fleet of buses. You can NOT walk through it.

[pete]

You may want to check this out:target shoot

Im talking Los Padres above Ojai, Angeles is pretty strict with shooting.

If you leave orange pieces of clay laying around on public land it would be concidered littering. Clays must be shot over private land with the owners permision

That makes sense to me but the forest ranger for the district I'de be in said it was fine.

[True2ThySelf]

Has anyone been to http://www.aplacetoshoot.net/ to shoot clays? Their prices seem cheap enough. I will probably try them in Feb after hunting season unless someone has horrible stories about them.

[pete]

Thats a little farther than going to the forest for me and I'de like not having to deal with idiots at ranges. Angeles(the main shooting range at least) is full of people just blasting an entire magazine in 10 seconds. Wes Thompsons in Piru seems really nice(the owner is a great guy and they provide spotting scopes on the rifle range that goes to 1000 yards) but they dont have a shotgun range. As far as real shooting ranges go Ojai Valley Gun Club up in Rose Valley seems like it would be a fine place but its all private and impossible to find out very helpful info on it without knowing any members.

[tawnoper]

Im talking Los Padres above Ojai, Angeles is pretty strict with shooting.

Gotcha...but it also states: Designated shooting areas also exist on the Los Padres National ForestSeems odd they would designate shooting areas to somewhere that allowed open shooting everywhere.Anyway, as I said. If you go over the hill and down into Cuyama Valley you will shortly come to Apache Cyn. I've shot a ton out there without a problem. I used to live in NP...it's not a bad drive from there. You do need one of the Adventure Passes though...and during fire season they sometimes close it to shooting.

[Lang]

Has anyone been to http://www.aplacetoshoot.net/ to shoot clays? Their prices seem cheap enough. I will probably try them in Feb after hunting season unless someone has horrible stories about them.

I have been there although its been a while. They have different places/ranges setup for everything. Its not expensive and is well run. Only real drawback is its all on dirt, as in dirt road=dust.

[pete]

Seems odd they would designate shooting areas to somewhere that allowed open shooting everywhere.

Went up to the forest last weekend and talked to the visitor center guy on the 33. He told me that anywhere but cherry creek would be fine, exactly what the ranger for the district told me. Go up to a common rec area called Rose Valley, and theres a big sign saying no shooting for the public safety (not outrageous as it is a popular place to go), go up the road a little more and see the small road that leads down to a trailhead and again theres a no shooting sign, go up the 33 some more and decide to just park and go shooting off in a small flatter area across a creek, no problems at all there. We shot for about 3 hours and cleaned everything up that we could. So I guess the ranger and the visitor center poeple either didn't know that there are restricted shooting areas (doesnt make any sense), or there out dated and no longer in effect exept maybe Rose Valley.

[tawnoper]

Rose Valley used to be THE place to go shoot. All that roadside once you pull off 33 was a shooting area. During the 80's it was an absolute zoo. Actually it was dangerous cause so many bozos would show up there. Once all the roadside areas filled up with cars you'd have people parking in very questionable spots that would then proceed to start shooting. We once had someone park behind us, on the opposite side of the road and begin shooting between myself and the other person parked next to us...I couldn't believe it. That guy ended up with some lumps on his head (the guy parked next to us beat us to him). They closed the area to shooting not long after because too many people felt that since it was a shooting area no common sense to where they shot was required.JFYI...I have seen people get cited before that just pulled off somewhere and started shooting. Recently saw someone shooting just the other side of Cherrycreek, just down from one of the popular hiking trails. I'd imagine as hikers were walking back to their cars they were diving for cover. If you are going to be just pulling over somewhere to shoot (because everywhere is legal) you better make damn sure whats just out of sight.

[pete]

Yeah we walked around for bit to see what was around and were'nt shooting that far(only like 25-30 yards). Every time we go hiking up in Rose Valley you can see all the glass on the side of the road from bottles being shot.