Did something stupid/embarrassing at range today

[pedro_c111]

Well here it goes. I figure I might as well post this before I see a "stupid guy at range thread" come up about me. Well I went to the Yolo Sportsmen Assn today for the first time. I've been wanting to go for a while but hadnt had the time, well i show up sign in and all that, then i went to the pistol range all the way to the end and i notice that the other guy there is standing behind the line so I ask him if the range was clear yet because i didnt hear a whistle or anything, so he tells me that the other guy at the other end isn't shooting yet so it should be ok for me to go set up my targets. I'll admit its my first time at a range and i was a little nervous, so i start going to put up my targets and i hear someone shout from the other end and I immediately knew it was at me. It was the Range Officer, the guy with the long hair and I guess the guy at the other end was still sitting at the bench doing something to his gun and the range hadnt been called clear yet. Needless to say I felt so stupid and embarrassed, and the worst part of this was that he called me "little sun shine" in front of everyone including MY GRILFRIEND . And yes I know it was my fault for not paying attention. But I do have to say that apart from this I had a good time and did like the place, the young guy at the office was also very helpful and polite, I had a good time and will definitely go back.

[Alaric]

Well here it goes. I figure I might as well post this before I see a "stupid guy at range thread" come up about me. Well I went to the Yolo Sportsmen Assn today for the first time. I've been wanting to go for a while but hadnt had the time, well i show up sign in and all that, then i went to the pistol range all the way to the end and i notice that the other guy there is standing behind the line so I ask him if the range was clear yet because i didnt hear a whistle or anything, so he tells me that the other guy at the other end isn't shooting yet so it should be ok for me to go set up my targets. I'll admit its my first time at a range and i was a little nervous, so i start going to put up my targets and i hear someone shout from the other end and I immediately knew it was at me. It was the Range Officer, the guy with the long hair and I guess the guy at the other end was still sitting at the bench doing something to his gun and the range hadnt been called clear yet. Needless to say I felt so stupid and embarrassed, and the worst part of this was that he called me "little sun shine" in front of everyone including MY GRILFRIEND . And yes I know it was my fault for not paying attention. But I do have to say that apart from this I had a good time and did like the place, the young guy at the office was also very helpful and polite, I had a good time and will definitely go back.

I had something like this happen to me when I was but a wee tike at Boy Scout camp back in the day (read: the 90's). I think I may have been scarred for life by the experience when the RO said he was going to tell my Scoutmaster. IIRC I nearly shat maself.

Try not to take it too personally. RO's have to deal with all sorts a'dumnbarses.

[ohsmily]

Needless to say I felt so stupid and embarrassed, and the worst part of this was that he called me "little sun shine" in front of everyone including MY GRILFRIEND . And yes I know it was my fault for not paying attention. But I do have to say that apart from this I had a good time and did like the place, the young guy at the office was also very helpful and polite, I had a good time and will definitely go back.

Embarrassing you is not necessary. Yelling at you, maybe even a little swearing would be appropriate to ensure you don't breach safety protocol in the future. But calling you "little sunshine" or other things of that nature is uncalled for.

[strangerdude]

Sunshine, I would of told him to stick it where the sun don't shine. RO's are a-holes. Some RO at lytle creek threatened my dad that he would shoot him if some kid ran out after calling break because my dad continued to shoot after it was called, but my dad did not hear. That day they lost my business.

[JDay]

Well now you know not to do anything until you hear the RO clear it.

[bornInSD]

Embarrassing you is not necessary. Yelling at you, maybe even a little swearing would be appropriate to ensure you don't breach safety protocol in the future. But calling you "little sunshine" or other things of that nature is uncalled for.

+1 that was very unneccesary, but who knows maybe he just dealt with someone who was a pain in the *****. He could of also just had a really bad day.

[pedro_c111]

Yeah, I didn't get offended or take it personall, I know the guy was just doing his job and shouted because he was off at the other end, i guess that was just the first thing that came out. I should say that he wasnt beeing offensive or anything but its just embarrassing to do something stupid like that. But I do know that I will never do anything like that again.

[dfletcher]

Some of the range guys flunked charm school, but having shot next to a few groups of clowns who are careless I guess I don't blame them. So long as the lesson is learned I wouldn't sweat your experience. I grew up not shooting at a range and was very used to walking around 80 acres of sand pits, shooting however the heck I wanted. Takes a little time to be regimented.

[hoozaru]

it was clearly your fault. But the RO was definitely being a jerk by calling you "little sun shine", maybe purposely embarrassing you in front of your woman. Be more careful next time, and remember some ROs out there are just losers whose hourly rate is probably half of yours.

[Wizard99]

I'd rather be embaressed than shot.
Calling you "little sun shine" is a sure way to make sure you don't forget the experience.

[sorensen440]

bet ya wont do that again

I often feel ro's are a tad harsh esp with newb's
Yell to stop the danger but calm down and explain what and why after there is not a safety issue

[ohsmily]

To those who haven't been to the Yolo range, one RO runs 3 separate ranges and sometimes shooters call their own ceasefires and sometimes the RO doesn't like it. It is run pretty loosely. If you are going to call your own ceasefire when there are only one or two people on your range, you obviously need to ensure the other people are on the same page as you.

[Omega13device]

Yes hopefully the lesson you learned is that YOU have the final responsibility for your own safety. Don't rely on anyone else and make sure you're 100% certain of the status of the line before you go downrange. The place I shoot has good ROs and they're very good about safety but I still maintain my own awareness about what is going on.

[5968]

You got your ego bruised a little, but you are still alive. I am glad to hear that you still had a good time and hopefully it is a lesson learned.

[MikeR]

Little sun shine isn't so bad, he could have called you a rude, thoughtless little pig.