r/canadaguns • u/GrouchyRestaurant197 • Mar 22 '26
Misc Do better people
My fiancée and I headed out to ghost PLUZ to plink around this morning. We spent more time cleaning up other people’s mess. We wound up with a bag of shells/brass, a large bag of garbage, a bag of cans and bunch of cardboard and metal. We would’ve taken more but that’s all that we could fit in the box. It’s absolutely disgusting that people think this is okay.
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u/therowdyirishman Mar 22 '26
Good job bro! Thank you for taking the time to do that. Even the most knuckle dragging moron can understand that legal firearm owners don't need any bad PR right now. Littering is a great way to make all of us look bad. I can understand if the odd 22LR casing gets lost in the snow but there is absolutely ZERO excuse for shotgun shells. It's easy to set up a tarp to catch your shells as well.
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u/Spydude84 Mar 23 '26
Pretty much my philosophy is to pick up more than you shot. It's impossible to get everything, but if you try to leave the place better than you found it, that goes a long way. Shotgun hulls are very easy to spot, .22lr is a lot harder heh
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u/HappyCan7250 Mar 23 '26
That's what I do too. I've been shooting at the same spot on crown land for the last 6 months and the spot still looks almost the exact same as when I started. Leaving garbage all over is how we lose access to crown land.
One of the other spots near me has been trashed with stolen cars, dumped garbage, poaching, people living illegally in RVs all over the place, and they just announced they will be closing the area and gating it. Another nice area to explore and shoot gone for good. Such a shame.
I hate the RVs out there, there is definitely drug dealing and use going on, and they've just trashed the area dumping their garbage all over the place. A few bad apples ruin it for all of us sadly.
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u/Apprehensive_Help838 Mar 22 '26
this is what ruins it for everyone. it's awesome you cleaned it up.
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u/Florida_Man42069 Mar 22 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/s/bCUiREZHRh
Literally did the same thing as you guys in the same spot.
People leave targets, brass and shit out there all the time. I’m praying they don’t shut it down as I don’t have access to private property and have nowhere else to shoot. Good on you for cleaning up.
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u/Next_Chicken9739 Mar 22 '26
Can't even get ahead of it there now.
Usually fill two garbage bags and within a few weeks it's back to what it was. I'm surprised it made it this long. This issue is definitely on the radar at the government level.
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u/redditorial_comment Mar 22 '26
when i go out for a hunt i always take time to pick up any shells i find and dispose of them properly. and i always police my own empties.
its sad some people dont.
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u/Misophoniakiel Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
The first time I went shooting, it was on a friend's land and we did a bit of plinking then left. The day after, my wife's friend told us that her husband spent 2h cleaning the mess.
I'll be honest, I did not know better back then, when she told me that, I started plinking with a 50'*50' tarp on the ground so I would never ever leave shells or brass behind littering.
That was 15 years ago and every time I go out shooting my guns I think about it.
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u/Paint_Spare Mar 26 '26
Ohhhhh this is smart. I might copy the tarp idea. I'm feeling so guilty leaving my brass the last range day I had
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u/Spacemanspiff1998 on Mar 22 '26
as with camping; "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" should be your motto. Me and my friends always bring garbage bags and empty boxes for shells and trash when we shoot on crown land. it's just the right thing to do
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u/Imaginary-Leading-49 Mar 22 '26
I bring a rake, and at least 2 garbage bags. Only once have I ever come home without filling them up…
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u/stokedon Mar 22 '26
Buddy and I took a rake out and raked a spot out in the ghost in the fall. Its insane how many people dont pick up their shells and brass. Its not hard to keep stuff tidy
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u/Salty-Western-2115 Mar 22 '26
I feel spoiled, i shoot on crown land and theres a guy that comes and takes the brass every couple weeks. The one time he showed up while we were shooting and was being weird, asked him if we could help him and he tokd us why he was there so we let him take our brass from under our feet. Was like a kid on Christmas lmao
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u/IPSC_Canuck Mar 23 '26
Man drives m nuts. I’ve spent thousands of hours supporting peoples rights to own firearms in this country. Those efforts are erased by dumbassery like this in a heartbeat.
Thanks for pulling it together and cleaning up. A few minutes of hard work translates to many “good vibes”, or at least reduced bad vibes down the road.
The unfortunate part is that most of these people don’t care about the rest of us until it’s too late.
Just keep doing what you’re doing, and know that you have the thanks of the Canadian gun community at large.
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u/adamotactico Mar 23 '26
Thank you for doing that man , it’s a lot of work to do but we must keep our shooting spots clean
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u/Livid-Basket-9193 Mar 23 '26
This is always the way after winter. People just lose them in the snow and then it piles up and then the snow melts and it looks like a mess. Have a range clean up day it should be everybody's job
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u/Runningoutofideas_81 Mar 23 '26
I hate litterbugs! Might be worse than thieves lol. Thanks for cleaning up!
So, I am nowhere near being into reloading yet, just got my PAL…I’ve been saving my brass and shells anyways, what goes in the garbage? What is worth trying to give away to someone who does reload?
Is there such thing as no brass recycling?
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u/-Carlos-Slim- Mar 22 '26
Thanks for picking that up OP. Stuff like that reflects badly on everyone else, i thought the staff at the range cleaned up though. Was this at a range or crown land?
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u/therowdyirishman Mar 22 '26
It depends on the range. It seems like many outdoors ranges expect the shooter to clean up their own brass.
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u/OkBurner777 Mar 22 '26
I figured guys running two-tone wheels on their truck were the ones leaving the shells behind haha
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u/Fine-Tie2651 Mar 22 '26
Isn’t there a shooting ban in Ghost PLUZ? And if so why are you there shooting?
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u/GrouchyRestaurant197 Mar 22 '26
Only certain areas, mostly along the transalta and the PRA’s. Everywhere is it’s still allowed.
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u/CumminsTurbo Mar 22 '26
Only in one section unless it’s changed, most of it is still open I believe
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u/Pertram Mar 22 '26
I want to go do this where I like to shoot, but do you just trash the old shells? Like is there a way to recycle them? I dont mean reload but just, all that plastic Ive kept pretty much every shell I've shot but bags starting to get heavy
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u/22GageEnthusiast Mar 23 '26
Whenever I go out hunting I always pick up my shells and I even pick up other people's shells a lot of the time. To be fair I don't take that many shots though.
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u/JumpinJacker081 Mar 23 '26
Thats how my place looks with the shells, but its my place, and my kids love to collect them up and play with them in the barnyard lol
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u/Gnarwhal_YYC Mar 23 '26
Great job! I’d always take a rake, shovel and some buckets when shooting on public land. An extra 10 minute clean up keeps those spots open, and doesn’t make the community look like a bunch of slobs.
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u/Large_Excitement69 Mar 23 '26
Dude I went out not this past weekend but the weekend before. It was the same situation. I only had a couple hours of free time, and needed to zero my SKS. Spent most of the time cleaning up others' mess (including alcohol containers . . .). People are begging to get shooting banned.
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u/black_covfefe_please Mar 23 '26
It would be cool to fundraise a bit of money to have signs put up there. Unfortunately, I am fairly sure they would be shot to hell in about 8 days.
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u/hardkn0cks Mar 23 '26
Yeah I don't think signs are the answer. Last time I was there we parked on the shoulder and walked our gear in becasue the trail was marked as closed, no vechiles past this point. Then some guy drives past the numerous signs, parks and basically walks into our line of fire. We had a tidy line of 6 of us shooting in a safe direction. We all unloaded and put the guns down. This guy was fucking oblivious to everything he then asked if he could join. Hard no. Clearly to stupid to play with guns.
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u/SuspiciousName653 Mar 23 '26
Man I wish I could stumble on piles of spent shells and casings lol. People are going backwards it seems when it comes to the environment
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u/Silver_Ad_6166 Mar 25 '26
Where in the PLUZ is this? I would be all for organizing a good fun BBQ/Shoot/Clean up day!
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u/Future-Willow3124 Mar 27 '26
is this a designated shooting range? id assume it is and a public one.. yeah absolutely should clean up more than you bring, people leaving more less garbage out there also that they filled full of holes for fun... my preference for the situation would be private ranges that are low cost, say 40-60dollars a year, and they can make picking up brass optional, alot of people wont even notice brass on the ground at a range, and would much prefer to spend a few dollars for permission to leave it there.. running around trying to pick up 300 individual case's everytime you shoot sounds miserable, a once or twice a year mandatory attendance for cleaning and repair is a much better system where brass could be picked up with a rake and shovel by the bucket full very efficiently
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Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
careful everyone, we got a hero.
edit: guys, I'm making a Spiderman reference.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/carefully-hes-a-hero
I'm actually applauding OP for cleaning up a mess that isnt his. I wasnt being sarcastic.
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u/ThePoeticJester Mar 22 '26
Thank you for taking the time to clean up!
Stave lake mountain was like that too and they ended up banning shooting there because of the garbage and shells