Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club

We have been notified that there is a lot of fresh horse pucky on the range again.  Again we have talked to the owner of the offending beasts about keeping his critters fenced up.

But, the real part of the problem is the breached fence just at the parking area by the high power pits.  Several years ago that fence was cut by someone who used the range as a 4-wheeler park.  We mended the fence, but it was breached again earlier in the fall and we got our first dose of horse pucky then.

Then, a week or so ago – another breach and more pucky.  We rolled the fence back and tied it, hoping to wait for warm weather, but, no luck.  We found it rolled back again this morning after folks told us about new deposits.  Once again the fence is tied back into place, but as can be seen from the pictures it isn’t horses that are opening the hole in the fence.  It is being rolled back and, although we are not expert trackers, there appear to be ATV tire prints near the road.

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are going to do a much more permanent repair in the next couple of days using some barbed wire we have in the Wiedeman building.

In the meantime, please be aware that there may be critters (four legged) loose on the range that may appear out of the brushy areas very unexpectedly.  And, keep an eye out for two-legged critters on 4-wheeled vehicles.  If you see any of the last kind – avoid confrontations, but get as much information about the critters and the vehicle as you can so we can investigate and notify me @ fwrrhpdirector@aol.com.

 

 

Members are allowed to have family and friends come out to the range as guests, but guests are not allowed on the range by themselves as unaccompanied visitors.  But, there are always some folks who don’t get the word.

Ryam Brammer sent these pictures along from a visit to the range last week.  We’ve seen deer, turkeys, rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, dogs and cats – but most of us believe that this is a first.

 

 

Isn’t there a rule somewhere about “No horseplay on the firing line…?”  (groan..)

Some time between Saturday, October 13th and Wednesday, October 17th, there was a break-in at the range.  Someone decided that there was something of interest in the target shed in the pits and then took a crowbar to the left hand door and pried it off its hinges.

 

 

The screws that held the hinges to the frame were ripped out and the aluminum facing was torn and bent.  One initial thought was that wind had grabbed the door some way or another, but when we looked at the edge of the door, it was clear that someone had used a crowbar or similar tool to rip the hinges off the frame.

 

 

The place that the crowbar was anchored shows very plainly in the picture.

Temporary repairs have been made and new screws and additional hinges will be added.  It only took two engineers to try to fix it and a schoolteacher to oversee the work.

Members are asked to keep an eye out for things like this.  Check the locks on buildings and storage sheds to make sure that someone isn’t shopping the range.  We can only assume that someone thought that there was something worth stealing in the shed – since there was nothing missing, I assume they were disappointed!

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING – SAY SOMETHING

After that was finished we went up to the new white building and looked at the heater to figure out why we had no heat.  A spider had set up housekeeping in the combustion tubes for the heater – once he was evicted, everything works well again.

Thanks to Mike and Glenna and Beard for taking time to fix up things like this.