Harvard Sportsmens Club - Grounds work

[FrugalFannie]

Hey there,

any member of HSC who wants to help out with the grounds crew we will be meeting at the garage this Sunday March 18th at 9am. We have a number of projects to get started on and we can use all the help we get.

If you have a pickup truck we definitely have some tasks for you!

Come out, volunteer, meet some other members, have some fun, and make your club a better place!


If you are planning on coming or want to volunteer for future projects please email me.

debra@itspersonaltraining.net

Thanks,
Debra Grumbach
Grounds Committee Chair

 

[FrugalFannie]

If you have some time and want to help the club out here is a list of things you can do to help out. Just text, call or email me and let me know you were by the club and did something to help out. Even if you check these things and they are 'all set' let me know that too so I don't go there to check that item or ask someone else to do it. Message me for my cell number or you can find it on the HSC website under the Ground forum. My email is debra@itspersonaltraining.net.​

Tires - there are a number of tires that people have been dumping around the property. when you see 1 please pick it up and pile it behind the clubhouse. We have started a pile so we can consolidate andthen get rid of these. The pile isbehind the clubhouse, near where the railroad ties are. You really can't miss it.

Brush - we are consolidating the brush to the pile that is near the road to the action pits. The pile is on your right as you drive in from the main road. On the back roads (out to the tree farm, the old archery range, etc) the brush can be moved into the woods with the cut end facing into the woods. This pile will be geting burned by Greg Newman (thanks Greg).

50 Yard range - Carl Hansen does a great job of keeping this range ready for use but he has a hard time emptying the trash cans. If you are there and can drag them to the dumpster and empty them that would be a great help! This is one of the heaviest used ranges in the club and as the weather warms up we can use all the help we can get.

Thanks for helping out guys!

 

[Dench]

I was at Harvard on the 1st using the 100 yard, MG range and then plates.

The range looks great. I've never seen it so clean, actually.

Anyway, I would like to bring something up that was brought to my attention by a member of the ground crew who identified himself as the chair of the 65 yard range. A older guy walked over towards the 100 and approached me asking if I was the guy that was leaving clays on the 65 yard range. I said no. The reason he asked was we had about 10-15 unshot clays still on the berm, and he thought that we were leaving them there as trash. He told me that we were not allowed to use clay pigeons on the 100 yard range. He also implied that they were trash. I told him that the clays are biodegradable, plus I've been shooting clays off that berm for about 3 years without anyone saying anything about it.

The guy must of reread the range rules on the 100 yard range two or three times, I think he was trying to find something on it that would indicated that clays were not allowed. The 100 yard rules clearly say that plinking targets are allowed for use on that range. The clays were also placed at a safe height on the berm, about at the same level or slightly higher then the target stands. Anyway, the guy wasnt bad about it, but him and I definitely were not on the same page in regards to which targets were acceptable for use at that range.

Anyway, I have been getting a slight hint of FUDDery at Harvard in my past few visits, and I would hate for this type of thing to become common.

Also, whoever made the berm at the plate range next to the MG range made it ridiculously high. The berm in front of one target literally covered over 75% of the height of it, to the point where only the head was viewable from the firing line area. That range is getting a little wonky, unfortunately with how the berm is maintained, and how the silhouettes are not.

Either way, great job on the cleaning, it looked great. I just figured I'd bring this up as it was a person from the cleaning crew who came over and approached me about the clays.

 

[Dan Hurley]

Probably, this forum isn't the place where clubs discuss details of their policies and rules. But I'll do my best briefly. Follow-up discussion should perhaps be on the HSC forum, in person, or at the meeting this Thursday. This is not because it is a secret, but because the NES format is more beneficial to folks who are investigating various clubs.

A couple of the recent HSC e-mail messages referred to clays. HSC still does it's best to support "plinking" wherever possible; this includes the 25/50 Yard Range, the 100 Yard Range, and both Class III Ranges. Plinking targets include plastic jugs, tin cans, etc.; items that do not shatter, leave debris, or prevent the bullet from passing easily through and impacting the vertical berm. (But the 65 Yard Range is technically one of the Action Pits, and only paper targets are allowed in the Action Pits. )

Also, in response to my mis-statement regarding clays, the various Range Chairs clarified to me that clay targets belong only at the Shotgun Range. It is true that there are biodegradable clays, but the Shotgun Range crew can verify that they do not degrade in any practical time frame (the Shotgun Range crew rakes up thousands of biodegradable clays). Since the Range Chairs do a tremendous amount of work cleaning the berms, I respect their wishes.

Please bring this discussion to Thursdays meeting. If you think we are becoming too "FUDDly," we can discuss needed changes. But if you also note that you enjoy how clean the ranges are currently, we need to listen to those who clean them, and maybe lend a hand.

 

[Dench]

Well that solves that then.

I shoot at Harvard 3-4 times per year. I don't know anyone on the board. I'm not going to come into a meeting and tell you guys how to run your range. It would be a 3 hour total round trip for me.

If you guys don't want people to use clays on the berms, that's your choice. You guys maintain the range, I don't. I don't understand the reasoning at all, though.