Thread: St Arnaud sighting in area.

For many years there has be an informal sighting-in area on DoC land near St Arnaud.
Just recently there has been some work done on the range and with it changes in the conditions of its use. For those familiar with the area and who have, or are likely to use it in the future here are the new requirements. This is from the local DoC Operations Manager.

Teetotal Sighting-In Range
There has been a lot of work done to make the
Teetotal Sighting-In Range ready to meet the
requirements under the new regulations under the
Arms Act 1983. This includes a gravelled access
road, a fenced and gated range boundary, new
terracing and work on and around the bullet catcher
target area. We expect to install a small sign kiosk
and a red flag to raise when the range is in use this
coming week.
If you hold a current permit to use the range it will
become invalid later this week on June 30. From
1
st July (this coming Saturday) every use of the
range will be under the supervision of a nominated
‘Range Officer’ who will need to obtain a Teetotal
Sighting-In Range Permit in person from the visitor
centre and sign up to their responsibilities under the
Range Standing Orders. The appointed Range
Officer must also be a licenced firearms holder and
hold a standard DOC hunting permit. Be sure to bring
your fire arms licence and DOC hunting permit to be
sighted when you come to obtain a Teetotal SightingIn Range Permit.
I expect some may ask why you need a DOC hunting
permit just for sighting in. This is because the only
way we can currently approve the discharge of a
firearm on public conservation land is through the
hunting permit system of the Conservation Act 1987.
It is possible that the range permit (issued under the
police managed Arms Act) may be recognised as
permission on its own but this hasn’t happened yet.
It can’t be stated strongly enough how important it
is that the rules around the use of the range are
respected and fully observed. Individuals who
misuse the range will be committing a criminal act.
They will have their permits and potentially their
firearms licence revoked and will likely face
prosecution by the police. If this isn’t done well, the
range will need to be disestablished with all
improvements dismantled. Let’s all make this work.

I understand having a formal range/sighting-in area on DoC land is quite unique so this is a bit of a test case for future opportunities around the country so if you do plan on using it please abide by the rules.

Great to know.

Your local doc manager is a "keeper"

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Your local doc manager is a "keeper"

He is even better than that

Very well done.

We need more of this - a pro active approach to give the hunting/shooting fraternity somewhere to sight in their rifles, that is safe and controlled. Without having to find some spot up the local riverbed that may cause somebody to get their nickers in a twist about guns. Have been saying this for a number of years after the issues with shooters using the Lake Lyndon area, but unfortunately falling on deaf ears. Big ups to those who have made this happen, and big thank you to the local DoC manager for being forward thinking and realistic. If Im ever up that way, the beers will be on me.

Originally Posted by Husky1600#2

We need more of this - a pro active approach to give the hunting/shooting fraternity somewhere to sight in their rifles, that is safe and controlled. Without having to find some spot up the local riverbed that may cause somebody to get their nickers in a twist about guns. Have been saying this for a number of years after the issues with shooters using the Lake Lyndon area, but unfortunately falling on deaf ears. Big ups to those who have made this happen, and big thank you to the local DoC manager for being forward thinking and realistic. If Im ever up that way, the beers will be on me.

Yes, this is a great thing but I can't help thinking just that is done already by NZDA with the collection of shooting ranges ( now registered ) they have. If one of those is close enough to you would it not be worthwhile joining NZDA if not already a member ?

Originally Posted by 30.06king

Yes, this is a great thing but I can't help thinking just that is done already by NZDA with the collection of shooting ranges ( now registered ) they have. If one of those is close enough to you would it not be worthwhile joining NZDA if not already a member ?

DA ranges are great, but theres a lot of voids in the map, and a lot of Joe public that arent members, it is what it is. This range on public land, facilitated by DoC is all that is needed for the average guy to go check his rifle. There is so much public land out there and rather than talking of prosecuting someone for simply wanting to make sure his rifle is shooting straight, we have a guy that has seen the need and made it happen, within the law. I say bring it on, lets see more of them.

I am a member of the NZDA, but dont use the local branch range, simply cos I dont need to. And its a 3 hour round trip for me to get there. I encourage every hunter/shooter to join the DA as theres a whole heap of advantages in being a member, ranges being one of them.

Originally Posted by 30.06king

Yes, this is a great thing but I can't help thinking just that is done already by NZDA with the collection of shooting ranges ( now registered ) they have. If one of those is close enough to you would it not be worthwhile joining NZDA if not already a member ?

The DA ranges are great but to have this happen on public conservation land is, in my opinion, a huge step forward for hunters. It could leave the NZDA in a position to concentrate more on what their name suggest (and hunter advocacy) rather than target shooting.

Originally Posted by Shearer

The DA ranges are great but to have this happen on public conservation land is, in my opinion, a huge step forward for hunters. It could leave the NZDA in a position to concentrate more on what their name suggest (and hunter advocacy) rather than target shooting.

Members of the NZDA were instrumental in getting that range operational, DOC is the Range Operator (first in the country I understand)

We just renewed the licence agreement with DOC for the Murchison Community Range, NN NZDA is the Range Operator on DOC land, it is open to the Public just like the Teetotal range

IIRC these are the only two Community ranges in the country & caused some consternation & work arounds with the powers that be to keep them operational

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Members of the NZDA were instrumental in getting that range operational, DOC is the Range Operator (first in the country I understand)

We just renewed the licence agreement with DOC for the Murchison Community Range, NN NZDA is the Range Operator on DOC land, it is open to the Public just like the Teetotal range

IIRC these are the only two Community ranges in the country & caused some consternation & work arounds with the powers that be to keep them operational

The Teetotal sighting-in area had been "operating" for decades perfectly well before there was any involvement of NZDA.
Do you have any information on how to become the "range officer" to use the Murchison range?

Originally Posted by Shearer

The DA ranges are great but to have this happen on public conservation land is, in my opinion, a huge step forward for hunters. It could leave the NZDA in a position to concentrate more on what their name suggest (and hunter advocacy) rather than target shooting.

It seems you have a different perception of NZDA than I do.
Why shouldn't target/range shooting be part of what NZDA does?
Are you inferring NZDA won't need ranges if more ranges are built on DOC land?
Where is NZDA spending time on target shooting instead of "hunter advocacy"

Originally Posted by 19Badger

It seems you have a different perception of NZDA than I do.
Why shouldn't target/range shooting be part of what NZDA does?
Are you inferring NZDA won't need ranges if more ranges are built on DOC land?
Where is NZDA spending time on target shooting instead of "hunter advocacy"

In fact, from what I see via my own NZDA membership is that NZDA has substantially upped it's game to our ( Kiwi hunters ) benefit in recent years. A result of strong refocusing on the core task of hunter advocacy and bringing on board the necessary talent to get the push through. I appluad NZDA for it's new momentum. This is quite aside from any attention given to the ranges to keep them up to speed which I'm sure is quietly ongoing. All the more reason that more Kiwi hunters should be getting into and supporting NZDA, at a greater rate than the memberships current growth rate.
OK, this is getting a bit off-topic, sorry, so in relation to shooting ranges on DOC ( public ) land and re the now certified St. Arnaud range I think this: It's positive, a step forward and hopefully sets a useful precedent for potential future ranges. I believe we need more ranges in NZ than we currently have. One of the reasons many shooters don't use them is simply distance between where they live and ranges are located. Many existing ranges are on private land and I would think under present laws, regulations and circumstances it would be very difficult now to establish a new range from scratch on private land. Just too many hoops for a landowner to bother with for one, particularly farmers I presume. But there is an abundance of DOC ( public ) land around, suitably isolated but conveniently located that could be utilised with, I would guess, fewer obstacles. I think with enough pressure DOC would probably have to come to the party. After all they cater for other user groups like boaties, mountain bikers etc so could hardly justify excluding shooters despite any reservations.

Originally Posted by 19Badger

It seems you have a different perception of NZDA than I do.
Why shouldn't target/range shooting be part of what NZDA does?
Are you inferring NZDA won't need ranges if more ranges are built on DOC land?
Where is NZDA spending time on target shooting instead of "hunter advocacy"

Yes. It is quite possible I have a different perception and experience of the NZDA than you. And possibly different expectations.
No reason at all why target shooting shouldn't be part of what the NZDA does.
From my experience, a lot of deer stalkers aren't interested in organized target shooting or spending all day at a range. They simply want to put a couple of rounds through their deer stalking rifle to verify zero and then go deer stalking. My nearest NZDA range is over an hours drive away and is open only for very limited times. I know each local club is different but I just looked on my local clubs calendar for this month and the range is open today from 9-11am and there are two shooting competitions later in the month. No mention of any deer stalking going on.
As far as NZDA spending time on target shooting goes, each to their own, but the opportunity to have numerous small "sighting-in" areas scattered around the country on public land, for public use, is golden.

Got a fancy new bench at 100 left and right.