Trad Gang

ScottM and I each drove a couple of hours to meet up at the August A Busch Wildlife Area Archery Range. I called Gray Buffalo and he too his feee time to drive over and shoot with us.

The last time we were there Scott and I both agreed that it was a really nice place with a nice static range and a couple of walk thru's as well.

What I found upon my arrival was shocking to say the least.
 (http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/archery%20range/DSC00803.jpg)
 (http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/archery%20range/DSC00802.jpg)
 (http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/archery%20range/DSC00801.jpg)
 (http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/archery%20range/DSC00800.jpg)

It was totally disgusting. All of the tax money that was spent building something that nice and it's all wasted.

God bless,Mudd

What the heck?  Who would tear up an archery range???

That makes me sick. Forget the fact it is a archery range but what kind of people do we live among these days. It hurts to see this lack of respect for people or property. The people responsible clearly lack responsibility. I hope it will be up and running soon and I hope those who are responsible are caught and dealt with soon.

What a waste. Thats just not right.

Somebody needs a good old country @#*whoopin.    :mad:

That's horrible!!!  There are definately some really stupid people out there.  I used to work fr the WVDNR and maintained a public rifle range so I know all too well what stupid people will do.  It only takes one or two to ruin it for all of us who care.

tree huggers?

Mongrels.

What comes around goes around. Don't worry thier time will come!

:dunno:  Don't it make you want to  :deadhorse:  
Theivin idiots!

Robhood23-Absolutely!

My bet is kids had a hand in that idiocy....and they cant keep their mouths shut. I would imagine a confession and some cummunity service comes about sooner than later.

Time to put a camera on the range like I do on my stands!!!

No good at all mate ... must be both heartbreaking and aggrevating !

QuoteOriginally posted by PEARL DRUMS:
My bet is kids had a hand in that idiocy....and they cant keep their mouths shut. I would imagine a confession and some cummunity service comes about sooner than later.

That is what I am thinking.

Nothing worse than a thief...except perhaps a vandal. Those pics make my blood boil!   :mad:

:mad:  It just plain "Pi$$ me off" When I seen it I wanted to hurt some one   :banghead:

That make me want to hide out there over night with a can of pepper spray and a bamboo cane.

There is a total lack of respect now a days.  Kids, which is what I'm guessing too, just aren't held accountable for their actions, and/or their parents lack morals or are apathetic to it all.  It sickens me to see something like that.  Everything that is nice and decent must be tarnished and destroyed for some sort of sick amusement.

At first I thought damage from some high winds, then I saw  the pics of the shooting platform.  This is very unfortunate and I hope the vandals are caught.  Holding them accountable will be tough.  I, too, find this sickening if it is vandalism.

How would ya like to just catch those guys in the act. My guess is kids also.

QuoteOriginally posted by HATCHCHASER:
Somebody needs a good old country @#*whoopin.     :mad:  

yip

Dang Mudd,

That hurts!!! I spent about 6 years in O'fallon. My two best friends and I used to shoot that range a couple times every week. Seein it tore up like that hurts even from 1000 miles away.... Bummer...  :(    :mad:

Ron

This is just plain wrong. There seems to be more and more of this type of thing going on now days. It just shows how ignorant and just plain stupid some people are.

Unfortunately the damage is done. Not much more to do but make the best of it  Best work together stand the targets back up and make a day out of it.     :readit:

I am very disappointed in my generation!

That's just not right. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this. Somebody won't be able to keep their mouth shut. It will all come out sooner or later.

I was the District Wildlife Supervisor for that part of Missouri from 1992-1995 and stationed at the Busch Wildlife Area. In fact, I lived on the area.  The original archery range was in a very nice woodlot and was built by Earl Hoyt's archery club many decades ago.  It looks like the static range in this picture is relatively new.  One thing about the Busch area, it is only 26 miles from St. Louis.  There are a lot of fine folks and too many not so fine folks from St. Louis who visit Busch.  During my stay at Busch two murders and a couple of suicides occurred on or near the area.  

MDC is a top-notch organization and I'm sure they will make the necessary repairs. Of course the vandals may return. I'd bet, sorry to say, the vandalism was done by the usual drunken teens and early 20's crowd.

just wrong   :mad:    :mad:    :mad:    :banghead:    :nono:

Decline in our society's moral ethics is bleeding over to more visible destruction.

How sad

How Futile

How Disheartening

May there be mercy and the restoration of good in our society.

Dont know if they were teens or not, to be honest, the teens I know seem to be better behaved than the ones of my era..including me. Doesnt matter the age they are idiots with no respect for others property. My guess would be antis.

Wow thats just terrible! I shot there last year when we were staying close by for one on my kids baseball tournaments. Hopefully it will be repaired.

I have very little patience for such things. It's going to get me into trouble one of these days. I would slap the hell out of them if I caught them.(not kids) Then off to jail. But probably worth it.

I guess I should be saying that I'm surprised, thing of it is, I'm not.

Here's hoping that Mr. Karma is paying as much attention to the idiots who did this as Mr. Murphy always seems to for everything else....

C'mon folks, lets leave the conjecture where it belongs- unvented.
Guessing is an activity best left to gambling.


It could have been anyone. It is exactly what we used to do when I was an early teen and ran with a bad crowd and before I learned to respect others.  

It does not look like it had much thought put into it either.

I don't know who did it. I do know its not worth   losing our perspective or our enthusiasm for the sport or society in general.

Its been proven when a neighborhood fixes this kind of damage right away the message is "not in our town" and vandals either go elsewhere or come around to respecting the place they live or travel through.
Keep the faith...

Joshua

Not surprising at all. Was a law enforcement for over 30 years. Yes. alot of sorry people on this earth..Yes, I said SORRY.  :(

thats a dam shame! ive shot there also. years ago.

Not sure that would be kids, unless they are liberal hippy PETA type nuts. Most of the kids when I was in HS (Lafayette) and kids that I knew in Pacific were very pro hunting/fishing.

That's disgusting to say the least! Facilities at our city parks here get vandilized almost on a nightly basis. I hope the quilty party gets the max when they are caught.

Charlie those targets weren't just turned over. The targets were on 4x4 treated posts and all the posts were broken off.

I'm guessing they had to have used a vehicle and some kind of strap or chain to pull them until they broke.

I was totally disgusted. The park employees weren't very happy either.

The man who seemed to be in charge said they wouldn't be able to get it fixed until maybe Dec or Jan.

God bless,Mudd

Thats terrible.

They come ready to destroy. Slag hammer, and some big people. Those 4"X4" were in the ground around 3' and broken off and the stairs was 2"X12" and you can see what they did to them. I feel it was planed.

I did have a nice day with ScottM and Mudd despite the range being trashed.

Instead of all the negativity, the damage is done and that sucks I know but lets try and be positive and make good things come of it. Lets try this:

I just made $10.00 selling feathers in an effort to save up for a Hog hunt at Rays in January. I know, its only 10 bucks but its a start. I'll even add another 5.00 of my lunch Money.

That's $15.00.  Could buy a 4x4.

Let me start the donation ball rolling and send it to whoever is in charge of finding new materials.

Someone just PM me the address to sent it to    :)    .  I just want people to be able to shoot when they want to shoot.

I had a great time shooting with both Mudd and Gray Buffalo.It really sucks what some people will do to ruin others good time!But despite there best efforts we still had a fun day!Good friends and a stump to shoot at is all you really need.

Hey Mudd sorry to see that! I had a very bad day today also (must be mondays) someone stole my Double Bull ground blind. This kind of crap really burns my a@#. I don't know what the world is coming to? I hope you catch the scum bags.Glen

Money won't be the issue for MDC. It will be a matter of time and priorities.

what a bunch of wankers  :mad:

That is very disappointing and even more so being so close to home.

I lived in St Charles from 1979 to 1992 and shot at this range several times per week. I did a lot of repairs myself to the old excellisior (spelling) bales on the 3 courses. I loved that place and still miss it today. I use to go out there on Mondays after a big 3d (compound) tourny and I look for lost arrows. I found over 30 one Monday. Back in those days almost all were 2216 or 2117.
Anyhow, good luck on getting it back in shape.

You guys ought to try to get a news crew out there and have a story done about the vandalism.  Sometimes all it takes is someone seeing it on TV that may have overheard something somewhere to get these people caught.  Maybe even a small reward.  Money talks!  Just a thought.

Aaron

QuoteOriginally posted by Mudd:
Charlie those targets weren't just turned over. The targets were on 4x4 treated posts and all the posts were broken off.

I'm guessing they had to have used a vehicle and some kind of strap or chain to pull them until they broke.

I was totally disgusted. The park employees weren't very happy either.

The man who seemed to be in charge said they wouldn't be able to get it fixed until maybe Dec or Jan.

God bless,Mudd

This information eliminates kids IMO, more likely it was simply a group of young adults with a case of beer and a pickup.
No "anti's", no kids, this has alcohol induced mob-mentality written all over it.

Some kids will tear up anything, just to have torn something up.  Destructive nature.

God Bless,
Nathan

Their community service should be helping to rebuild it if they get caught.

Man I hate seeing things such as this.. I know my son would give a whole summers allowance to have a facility such as that available..

What a same--

It did hit the st. Louis news on chanle 5

Now there's a good use for a trail camera!  Set one up for security.  Post a sign about video surveillance... end of problem.

If I worked there I'd put up a sign to saying it was under surveillance whether I had a camera or not..lol

God bless, Mudd

When i here or see this stuff it really pisses me off.Those responsabul need to be given a "BLANKET PARTY".Sorry for those that dont know what a"BLANKET PARTY" is ask someone who has been in the military.Very sorry for you.

Same thing happenned at my archery club years ago. We put out some 3D targets and they all were broken in peices. We tracked them from the snow to there houses and let the parents know that if it happenned again we would press charges and sue. Since then we haven't had a problem. Totally senseless destruction.

I don't agree with some here.  I say it was kids old enough to drive and they need the crap beat out of them.

That is both horrible and typical at the same time.  Ive lived in several midwestern states and have seen this sort of vandalism and disrespect of public facilities far too often.  Shame is Ive even been questioned by other outdoor enthusiast when theyve seen me picking up trash at a boat landing or at the rifle range.  Why bother seems to be the the most often spoken comment.  Its not just the people who do this sort of vandalism but the people who turn an apethectic eye towards it that bother me.  These are OUR areas and if we enjoy them we need to be better care takers.  The first bit of trash seems quite harmless, the first bullet hole in the dumpster seems insignificant but with every new piece of trash or bullet hole or pushed over post the place loses its value.  People come and assume no one cares for these areas, they reason that it doesnt hurt anyone in particular as no single person owns this equipment.  The real shame is eventually it becomes impossible to justify cleaning it back up, rebuilding broken equipement, replacing things that are willfully destroyed and the final answer is always the same... We just had to close it down.  

Ive seen all sorts at these kinds of public facilities, you just never know who is the disrespectful nimrod who doesnt give a rip about having a nice range or picnic spot.  Ive seen guys shoot the poles holding targets at a gun range till I approached them.  It didnt make me popular by any means but at least I felt I had done something and if they continued at least I could call the law.  I have long since quit questioning who might have done things like throwing a picnic table in the lake or why all the trash cans and tables are chained to trees in a park, I just do what I can when I visit to make it a better place and hope that other people will do the same.

It is truly shameful what some people will do to OUR property.

Nothing worse than a vandal and a thief!! They are nothing but a waste of flesh! We have had problems on our ranges here and it is just sad to see it when it happens.

That's terrible.  It even happens here in Hawaii!  Our targets get stolen, thrown in ditches, spray painted and set on fire.  Toilets get smashed, signs get damaged and much of our equiptment get stolen. Disgusting to say the least!  We've caught high school kids in there a buch of times, but nothing gets done.  At most a slap on the wrist.  

pinko, commi, thumb sucking, bedd wetters.

We built a nice range at Patoka Lake in
Southern Indiana back in the the late 80's. We didn't have vandalism but a few excelsior bales were stolen from the warm-up range. Turns out someone spied these bales in a young man's yard. A conservation officer visited the fellow (late teens) and he confessed. The bales were returned. The only thing we required of the fellow was to work at our next 3-D tournament.  When he saw about 80 people show up to shoot he realized what he had done -- that he had stole from so many nice folks. Very few at the shoot (only a couple of us officers) knew why he was there.

I think he learned a good lesson.  Both he and we were lucky.

Everyone who uses the Busch Wildlife Area just needs to be aware that there are some really bad people mixed upon the hundreds of thousands of great ones who visit the area.  My first night on this property my young family and I heard a women screaming for help.  I looked and looked and couldn't find anyone.

I have taught ethics to high school students for the last 36 years and to college students for the last 24 years. The effects of a relativistic individualism approach (i.e. a position that there are no universals or absolutes everything is relative to time place and individual) to truth and values are a loss of basic respect and a limited if any sense of social responsibility. This is not just a problem of youth but a growing problem for our whole society.

Seeing that makes me want to cry, why would others want to destroy anything  like the archery range or anything that is for recreation especially if it's on public property where all can enjoy.  :(

QuoteOriginally posted by MikeM:
I have taught ethics to high school students for the last 36 years and to college students for the last 24 years. The effects of a relativistic individualism approach (i.e. a position that there are no universals or absolutes everything is relative to time place and individual) to truth and values are a loss of basic respect and a limited if any sense of social responsibility. This is not just a problem of youth but a growing problem for our whole society.

Good post!

Mudd-sorry to see such destruction as it sure was done by some real boneheads. Please keep us posted and let us know when they are caught!

QuoteOriginally posted by Al Dente:
There is a total lack of respect now a days.  Kids, which is what I'm guessing too, just aren't held accountable for their actions, and/or their parents lack morals or are apathetic to it all.  It sickens me to see something like that.  Everything that is nice and decent must be tarnished and destroyed for some sort of sick amusement.

Well said,
Dan

Whats the matter with people????????

anti's at work.kids would most likely find that a cool place to hang out and smoke cigs...never underestimate what an animal activist will do to stop people from hunting.they will go to just about any length to stop you.time to start kickin some tree huggin arse.  :readit:

That just turns my stomach, I hope some one brags and gets caught for this.