Have any of you guys heard about HODGE ROAD?

[martinelliminimo]

Have any of you guys heard about HODGE ROAD? I hear that a lot of people shoot there and it's free. Is it not illegal? If not i want to head down there tomorrow.

[Napalm Bulldog]

this has been a debate for awhile. I called BLM and they told me it was private property. The owner stopped letting people shoot their because someone shot the repeator tower. The same day I found this out another member said he went shooting there and it was fine. So I think its a guess at best. I use to shoot their in the 80's but not lately.

[damndave]

Last time I went there was maybe a year ago? Seemed ok to shoot there. No "Do Not Shoot" signs anywhere that I saw

[bigstick61]

I've shot there. I like the area around Wild Wash Rd. better. Found a neat little canyon there that allowed for long range shots, but I can't figure out exactly where it is on Google maps.

[martinelliminimo]

bump

[railroader]

I've shot there. I like the area around Wild Wash Rd. better. Found a neat little canyon there that allowed for long range shots, but I can't figure out exactly where it is on Google maps.

Wild wash is "shotgun only" for sure. Hodge isn't legal but people still shoot there. It all changed when the cell phone tower went up. There use to be signs saying not to shoot by the small mountain where the tower is. They got spray painted over and shot up. Mark

[railroader]

I've shot there. I like the area around Wild Wash Rd. better. Found a neat little canyon there that allowed for long range shots, but I can't figure out exactly where it is on Google maps.

Wild wash is "shotgun only" for sure. Hodge isn't legal but people still shoot there. It all changed when the cell phone tower went up. There use to be signs saying not to shoot by the small mountain where the tower is. They got spray painted over and shot up. The area by hodge ia "BFO planning area"(Barstow Field Office). Now whatever that means. Mark

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/Barstow.Par.78735.File.dat/BFO_shotgunarea_8x11.pdf

Here is an old article from Desert Dispatch newspaper:

Tuesday, September 2, 2003
High Desert gun owners no longer can shoot at Hodge Road
BLM proposes to increase open shooting areas

By JAMES RAMAGE/Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE -- It used to be that if you owned a gun in the High Desert and didn't want to pay for target practice, you could go to an area just west of Interstate 15 between Victorville and Barstow and blast away to your heart's content.

Gun owners said the area, just off the Hodge Road exit, had been open for years as an informal, public shooting range.

Not anymore.

Dozens of signs scattered around the Hodge Road site greeted Dan Harley, a recreational shooter from Apple Valley, when he ventured there last month to do some shooting. The signs warn people not to shoot there and to stay off the land.

"Where's a legal place to shoot?" Harley asked in apparent frustration. "Over the past couple of years, we used to be able to go out into the desert and shoot guns. We traveled an hour total, out and back, to get there."

As far as legal shooting areas go, a San Bernardino County ordinance divides its land into areas where one can fire shotguns only, and areas where one can fire "solid" projectiles, such as bullets, according to Barry Nelson, chief ranger at the Bureau of Land Management's Barstow Field Office.

While shotguns expel a spray of pellet-sized projectiles no more than 100 yards, bullets can travel farther than a mile, Nelson said, making any errant shots dangerous.

Nelson said the Hodge Road site was public land up until several years ago, when Western American Services of Woodland Hills gained ownership of it in a land exchange with the BLM. The company left the land unchanged until a microwave communications tower was recently constructed nearby, Nelson said, and the warning signs quickly followed.

As a result, the BLM thought that it could do something about the dearth of open spaces for shooting.

"We felt that the existing no-projectile zone was too restrictive," Nelson said.

Working with the California Department of Fish and Game, and the County Fish and Game Commission, the BLM drew up a proposal in late July to reduce the size of the area covered by the county's shotgun-only ordinance.

Ultimately, the commission must approve the proposal, Nelson said.

The current shotgun-only ordinance's northernmost boundary is Highway 58, extending from Hinkley Road west to the Los Angeles County line, Nelson said. The proposed change would drop the boundary southwards to Shadow Mountain Road -- opening up miles of wide-open areas with safe backdrops for projectile-shooting weapons use.

But until a convenient new site becomes available, many who want to do some target shooting somewhere will have to pay to for it.

The Apple Valley Gun Club has already seen a profit from the Hodge Road site closing. They've reported an increase in business on weekends, when the club is open to non-members, and charges each adult shooter $7 a day, according to overseer Homer Keith.

"There's nothing around," he said. "A lot of people have joined up with us as a result of the closing."

[geeknow]

this has been a debate for awhile. I called BLM and they told me it was private property. The owner stopped letting people shoot their because someone shot the repeator tower. The same day I found this out another member said he went shooting there and it was fine. So I think its a guess at best. I use to shoot their in the 80's but not lately.

same for me here.

HAD been shooting there for years. Yes, I got conflicting info too.

I've been told YES, shooting is OK.
I've been told Shotgun only.
I've been told NO, shooting is not OK.

...all by the BLM guys that patrol the area...

so, who knows..?

The one thing that I do know is that, over the last 3-4 years, I have seen more and more motorcycles there (they used to stay on the other side of the 15).

The last (yes, it was and will be the last) time I went, a family came riding right through our area....scared the hell out of me...and them too.

That was the last time that I will shoot there.

Other than the area being shared by too many people for me to feel comfortable shooting there, it was a GREAT spot.

g

[Napalm Bulldog]

Wanted to mention there is areas out north by Ft Irwin you can shoot at. Nice and quite. I got a map from BLM asked for the Mulberry map. It costs if I remember correctly 5 dollars and it shows all the areas on the west side of the 15. Reason I got that map was at the time I didnt have a 4 wheel drive and all the spots East of the 15 are 4x4 recommended. Now that I have a 4x4 Im going to get the other map.

[JagerTroop]

Wanted to mention there is areas out north by Ft Irwin you can shoot at. Nice and quite. I got a map from BLM asked for the Mulberry map. It costs if I remember correctly 5 dollars and it shows all the areas on the west side of the 15. Reason I got that map was at the time I didnt have a 4 wheel drive and all the spots East of the 15 are 4x4 recommended. Now that I have a 4x4 Im going to get the other map.

This is true. People like to gamble, shooting at Hodge. Why? Just drive another few minutes up the road, and head up towards Ft. Irwin. It's legal.

[bigstick61]

I just go to Fremont Peak now. No one bothers us out there.

[Eckolaker]

I shot at Hodge Rd. around this time last year. There were several other people already there, very visible from the 15, but well off the road...Sheriff rolled through there, didn't bother anyone.

I have friends who have shot there since than, without any issues as well.

FYI, only the areas Fenced in around the towers are private property. Keep in mind that both sides of the 15 are used by OHV.

I have read plenty of threads on this board about Hodge rd. Maps have been posted, its legal to shoot there.

[tuna quesadilla]

Like JagerTroop said, why would you gamble shooting at Hodge when you can go up closer to Barstow/Ft. Irwin and be 100%, undeniably legal? There are lots of good, quiet places where you won't be bothered. Purchase a couple of the BLM land management maps for $3 a pop and you can see for yourself.

[ejsaenz]

Shooting is not allowed on Hodge road. Lots of people have joined the Apple Valley Gun Club because Hodge is closed to shooting. AVGC is no longer open to the public. Too many people doing dumb things on the range caused it to be members only now.

Here's some BLM links:

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/Barstow.Par.78735.File.dat/BFO_shotgunarea_8x11.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/barstow/stoddard.html

"SHOOTING IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE STODDARD VALLEY OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE AREA (except for shotguns during hunting season)."

[drifts1]

Hodge Rd has been a legal shooting area forever, I've shot there for decades. The company that put of the tower didn't buy all the land just a small area where the tower was put up. So you couldn't just pull over on the first hill and shooting anymore. But if you keep driving, at least 150+ yards further you can keep shooting legally. I haven't been to Hodge in some time because I have others spots but I thought I heard someone say the tower is no longer operating, the company gave up on fixing it. Too many people keep shooting it (illegally).