Welcome to Bullet Points, our news & events email!
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Clarification: Spring thrower |
In response to the request we received to provide clarification about this, here are two photos demonstrating the uncocked (spring is untensioned) and cocked (spring is tensioned) positions. When cocked, pulling on the lanyard connected to the thrower will cause the arm to flip around with force (this is how the clay pigeons are thrown).
Leaving the thrower in the uncocked position leaves things in a state where the next person coming along cannot become injured.
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Reminder: Membership cards must be displayed |
As a reminder, every member is required to have their membership card on display while on the property. They must also provide it for inspection if requested by another member.
When you make these requests and when you comply with them, for the good of your continued membership with us, ensure that you do so courteously (yes, that's strong phrasing, and it's deliberate). Do not be a jerk when asking to see someone's card; do not be a jerk when responding to a request from someone else to see yours. We regularly hear about disagreeable behaviour on either end of these interactions and this is simply unacceptable.
Where do I get my membership card?
Membership cards can be self-printed from your member portal in the website (see below), then either displayed on your person or placed at your shooting bench. Alternatively, plastic cards can be purchased via your membership portal and will be sent to you from the office (see below).
Why is this happening?
We have heard your concerns that non-members have been using using our ranges and that some of the safety situations are due to the lack of awareness of these individuals of our safety rules. As such, in the very near future we will be resuming the practice by club representatives of spot-checks at random intervals for display of membership cards.
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Reminder: Purchase of range guest passes is required |
Your guests are welcome to join you on any amenity on the facility - we want you to be able to share our wonderful property with them.
However, shooting by your guests on our ranges requires the additional step of purchasing a guest pass. This is an absolute requirement. Our supervised range guest policy can be viewed in full here (and can also be found on the Facility Rules page). This an insurance thing, a cost-recovery thing (covers wear and tear on range facilities), as well as keeping a record of who is using our ranges.
How do I buy a guest pass?
Guest passes are purchased through via your membership portal (see below). Your purchase receipt is your guest pass and must be displayed upon request by another member.
Why is this happening?
You have contacted us with concerns about safety rule violations on our ranges, some of which appears to be by individuals unaware of the facility rules. As a result, in the very near future we will be instituting spot-checks by club representatives of guest passes at random intervals.
We would like to remind everyone that any member is empowered to request to see the guest pass for another member hosting guests on our ranges (i.e. enforcement is a shared responsibility and isn't solely performed by club representatives). As discussed in the previous section though, it is very important that making and complying with these requests is done courteously.
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Property Updates and Improvements |
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The past few months have been very busy with reviewing the property and its amenities and planning for many much-needed improvements and upgrades. You may have noticed some of these happening already, and there are more coming over the next several months. A brief summary of this work follows below. |
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The Hiking trails and Black Powder trail have been receiving some much-needed attention.
RedAce Bobcat and Excavating, the contractor we have used for a number of projects on the property this year, has installed culverts in areas of the red, yellow and blue hiking trails where the trail washes out, and one on the back side of the Black Powder Trail.
The purpose of this is two-fold: to allow the movement of water (and beavers) and prevent trail damage, while maintaining a continuous trail surface for member use and ease of trail maintenance.
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You may have noticed new garbage cans throughout the property. The familiar Hid-A-Bag design seen in parks, these units offer several desirable features:
- self-closing
- prevent entry of rainwater and snow
- ADA compliant (i.e. wheelchair accessible)
- resist entry by wildlife
- reduced insects
- less smell
- easier maintenance
Additionally, these units facilitate the segregation of waste streams and enable recycling, a need not met by our previous garbage cans. As a conservation organization, this is something always top-of-mind for us. Paper and flattened cardboard goes in the wide slot on the left side, trash goes in the lidded compartment, and bottles and cans go into the blue compartment on the right of triple units.
Triple units can be found at the Big Bore range, the Handgun range, the Shotgun range, and at the clubhouse. The remainder of these throughout the property are dual recycling/trash units.
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One of the points clearly communicated in the 2019 Member Engagement Survey (see page 16 here for the details of this survey ) was how unacceptable the outhouses on the property are. You told us they are dark, that they smell, and as a result of their construction, that they're very difficult to clean. It was this last part - keeping them clean - that prompted us to bring in portapotties and a regular cleaning contract when the pandemic hit.
We've kept the portapotties since that time, but with the recognition that they were a stopgap. Considering long-term solutions, we quickly appreciated that the required steps would need to go much further than cosmetic tweaks like just adding venting or a coat of paint. The tanks the outhouses sat on simply did not have the required capacity to serve our needs. Moreover, the outhouses themselves overhung past the edges of the tank tops, creating voids for access by animals and insects and allowing the entry of sewer gasses into the outhouse interior. Last, but certainly not least, none of our current outhouses are ADA compliant (i.e. not wheelchair-accessible), a fact brought forward by mobility challenged members.
The need to replace the existing units became clear during our review. As a result, next spring we will be installing new outhouses throughout the property. These will have skylights; be whirlybird vented for health, safety, and comfort; be more easily cleaned; and will be situated on new, much larger, environmentally-friendly storage tanks. The majority of these will be double units, with one side being wheelchair-accessible, allowing us to serve all of our members irrespective of their level of mobility.
Locations for the new outhouses will be as follows:
Campground - double unit
Rifle ranges - double unit
Next to garage - double unit
Shotgun range - double unit
The outhouses at the clubhouse will not be replaced, as improvements to the clubhouse will render them unnecessary (see the next section for details on clubhouse updates).
In preparation for the project, the old tanks have been emptied and the outhouses decommissioned and removed. We will continue with use of the portapotties until the new outhouses are installed and ready for use.
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Our clubhouse is an excellent amenity, but being unheated limits its usability during the colder months of the year.
We're planning a fairly substantial increase in program content for 2023 and having the clubhouse capable of year-round use will be essential to support that. Additionally, with mandatory orientations for members renewing for 2023, a heated indoor space will be needed for in-person sessions for members unable to do an online orientation.
Following extensive discussions with contractors, we've determined the updates required to make the clubhouse suitable for use twelve months of the year, including running water, fully functioning kitchen, and flush toilets through all four seasons.
The main bulk of the upgrading has already begun and will progress over the coming weeks. Over the next few months and into the new year, updates to the flooring, renovations to the kitchen for electrical code compliance, and updates to the interior design will continue.
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Other work throughout the property |
Maintenance has been done on a number of problem spots on the roads throughout the property.
Fresh gravel has been added to the roads, including the campground loop.
Fresh gravel has been added to campsite pads and several sites regraded to deal with water tending to pool in campsites 1, 2 and 5.
An ongoing plumbing issue outside the clubhouse has been resolved.
A metal recycler will be coming to pick up the various piles of scrap metal that have built up in our maintenance area, as well as removing the old garbage barrels.
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One of our long-term conservation projects is our tree swallow birdhouses. (The backstory on the need for songbird conservation can be found on page 13 here.) In 2020 and 2021, we engaged in a major project to update, expand, and GPS map our inventory of more than 200 birdhouses. (The story of this project can be found on page 15 here and page 15 here. An online interactive map of our houses can be found on the website here.)
Each year, after the tree swallows have gone south, each birdhouse needs to be opened and nesting material removed to make it ready for the next year's occupants. This year, SPFGA members Jacqui Hayes and Greg Hayward generously volunteered a Sunday afternoon to come out and assist with this work. Our sincere thanks go out to Jacqui and Greg for the generosity of their time - thanks guys!
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Wild game processing & sausage making course |
Interested in learning how to process your own game meat and make sausage?
The NAIT Continuing Education department is offering a course on basic meat cutting where you will learn to separate quarters of sides of pork into primal, sub-primal and subsequent retail cuts. You will also learn to masterfully prepare your own handmade fresh and smoked sausages.
Course topics include:
- Basic meat cutting techniques and skills
- Seasoning & spices
- Curing and smoking
- Sanitization and cleaning
- Operating equipment including sausage stuffer, meat grinder, and portable smoker
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'What's Your Thought?' is a regularly-running poll where you're able to share your thoughts with us.
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This What's Your Thought? polls your interest in participating in the Alberta Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) project, aimed at instructing hunters on how to collect and submit tissue samples for CWD testing from their own harvests. (For background information on CWD and what it is, see page 17 here.)
Have you submitted a deer head for CWD testing and been frustrated with the time it takes to receive results? In recent years, the Alberta CWD surveillance program has seen an overwhelming increase in demand, placing significant pressure on infrastructure. As a result, testing turn-around times have become quite lengthy.
The Alberta CWD surveillance program would like to gauge the level of interest among SPFGA members to participate in this pilot program for the 2022-2023 season. Volunteers in this pilot would receive sample submission kits and instruction on how to collect tissue samples. They will be able to submit samples from any WMU for which they have a tag.
If there is a sufficient level of interest in this pilot, Dr. Mark Ball of the Government of Alberta's Environment and Sustainable Resources Department has offered to hold training sessions on collecting your own sample at the clubhouse.
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Would you be interested in participating in the CWD sample self-submission pilot?
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No, this does not interest me.
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These Did You Know? articles were suggested by members as a source of quick reminders, highlight specific rules & briefly explain their reasoning.
Did you know that there are helpful instructions in the Facility Rules for hang fires or malfunctions? The instructions there are:
HANG FIRE / MISFIRES
In the event of a hang fire/misfire, the action must remain closed for a minimum of one minute, the firearm remaining under control and the muzzle being maintained in a safe downrange direction.
Cartridges that fail to go off should be disposed of in the provided disposal containers at each range.
MALFUNCTIONS
In the event that a firearm malfunction occurs when a cease fire is called – such as a bolt unable to close on a tight case which is now stuck, or a muzzleloader that won’t fire – make reasonable efforts to resolve the situation. Should a reasonable effort prove fruitless, render the firearm as safe as possible and ensure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction. The firearm may be inspected further when live fire is declared.
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Facebook
Discussion Group
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Please come and join our members-only Facebook discussion group, The Ketchamoot Discourse, a place where SPFGA members can talk with each other or the Board.
Head on over and take a look. See you there!
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Looking for the Acknowledgement button? There isn't one on Bullet Points - it's Safe and Sound, our facility safety and system message stream, that has those.
Having trouble viewing or think you might have missed some issues of Bullet Points? Please contact the office. To see all past issues of Bullet Points, visit the archive on the website.
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