Hackathorn repeated many times about one drill or technique or another during our class "Is this dangerous? YES. Is it unsafe? No. Not if you do it right." Shooting alone case in point. I mostly shoot alone too. And I almost exclusively hunt alone to and that's probably more dangerous than shooting alone. But what ya gonna do? Give up driving too?
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
Just another guy to add to list of those who prefer to shoot alone or with select others who are foulup resistant.
Shooting on your own is at LEAST as safe as shooting at a public range amongst the throngs of Fudds and Mall Ninjas.
Alone or with shooters I know. If I walk down range on a rifle range it is with a rifle and the other guns locked in the car.
Think for yourself. Question authority.
I usually shoot alone. When it don't, it's typically with just one of a few guys I trust. I spent a good chunk of my youth wandering alone in the woods with guns so being alone with them doesn't scare me. However, annoying people make me went to bash them in the head with a rock.
This depends on the configuration of your range facilities, but I always go to a private bay that I can pull right up to, so this has become my ritual: I've taken to backing in, leaving the keys in the ignition, and the drivers window rolled down (so they can't be locked in by accident). Aside from freeing up the pocket usually full of keys to hold some empty mags or something, I figure if I were to have an accident and need to drag my bleeding carcass at least to the range gate, I won't have to mess with finding, retrieving, or fumbling with keys. And even though it can be distracting/annoying for people to call, I keep my phone on me an accessible, just in case. With the range gate usually locked, being able to meet an ambulance at the gate would be helpful. Also, I try to at least keep the gun loaded or a mag loaded just in case I was to need to defend myself. There have been plenty of cases of people getting robbed of guns while at the range and unaware.
--Josh
“Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.” - Tacitus.
I long ago gave up shooting at 'public' ranges full of idiots. But lacking any land of my own, that means I have to go out into the desert, and it's not unknown to have rip-off crews looking for shooters to rob a la Platt & Matix. Thus, I never go shooting alone, or as the sole 'switched-on' shooter (for example, if I'm bringing a new shooter out). I prefer to have a minimum of two dialed-in friends with me, if only so that one guy can concentrate on a drill, one on the timer, and one on situational awareness.
I always keep at least one loaded SD blaster on hand, and a magazine of defensive ammo for my carbine in a back pocket. Better safe than sorry.
Hmm, this is good. Now I have an excuse to buy the Howard Leights right awayI guess I should look at my shooting alone routine. I shoot at an isolated club-owned outdoor range. People have to have a key to get in, and now (due to some damage) there are game cameras. (I'm pretty sure I gave one of them some pretty good plumber's crack yesterday, too.) But the fact that there has been vandalism shows that the area isn't perfectly secured, so I need to be more careful.
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