Box Elder Wildlife Federation

[bewforg]

A member phone caller asked how he could know if someone else is a member. Seems he was entering Mantua Range and a truck drove up behind, asked him to leave the lock open so he could follow through. He didn't feel comfortable asking to see the guy's membership card, and besides there were two other people with him anyway.

A good question. At least he is a thinking member.

It's difficult for members to know who else is a member. In fact, it's difficult for most of us to remember the other 120 names on the membership list without looking them up.

If you are at either range, you could ask the "follower" what the combination is. If he knows it, then he's probably a member. At the Tremonton Range all you have to be is a member.

If you are at the Mantua Range, there are different requirements, and you have to either be a rangemaster or have a rangemaster accompany you. In that case, if the person has a "yellow Rangemaster cap", he is probably a rangemaster member. If he has no yellow Rangemaster cap, you might ask him a question to see how he answers. Something along the line of "can we use both the pistol and rifle range at the same time?". If he answers a flat "no", he's probably a rangemaster. If he says you can switch ranges after an hour's notice, he's probably a rangemaster. If he hasn't signed in, he's either a sloppy member, or not a member, because the "first" thing you have to do according to the Mantua Range Rules is sign in, your name, membership card number, vehicle license number, time arrived should be listed. Sign out when you are done shooting.

Yes, there are both pistol and rifle positions at Mantua. Some day we may be able to tidy up the range with proper placements, proper target supports, a berm of some kind between the upper and lower positions, or perhaps move them both together with two ranges for each; 25 yds for pistol with a 100 yd behind, or something well designed that could accomodate more shooters or both pistol and rifle at the same time.

One range I use in Montana requires each member pledge 8-hrs of labor for range maintanance each year. Anyone who refuses is not granted membership. This range is an actual showplace, and draws a lot of shooters all year long.

There are about a half-dozen Wildlifers who are doing all the work for BEWF. In fact, at the annual BBQ I wonder where all the bodies came from because you never see them at meetings or at cleanup. In fact, at the annual BOD dinner, there are about double the number of people you see at any given monthly meeting. At least one "board member" hasn't been to a meeting in two years at least, has never paid a membership fee, and still he's on the roll. Maybe it's time we required a bit of personal commitment, like Montana does, from each member besides the paltry annual membership fee, or some non-functioning board position. Maybe they would keep the place a little cleaner than they do now.