Desert or range?

The age old problem in Arizona. With desert all around us, why wouldn't you want to take a trip out into the desert, and shoot for free?

On the face of it, great idea, lots of space, you can do what you like, shot what you like, with what you like, take the family, and not be troubled by those pesky RO's, right?

Well lets think about that for a moment.Can you do what you like? Sort of is the obvious answer. For  parts of the year, the state, city, county close parts of the desert to shooters, with heavy penalties for those ignoring the restrictions, but do you know where to look to find out where you can and can't shoot? Safety can also be an issue in the desert when you are in locations that allow shooting.

Not withstanding the local fauna wishing to take a bite out of you if they get the chance (no I have yet to see a snake, and hope I never do, but they are out there!!) especially in rocky terrain that makes up a lot of shooting locations, do I want to come across one when placing/retrieving targets?

Targets, another consideration is of course targets. Can you just press a button and have your target run out 65 feet, and come back when you have shot a perfect 1" group, or is it time to send family members trudging over open group that others may shoot over?

But far more importantly, what is everyone around you doing? No matter how safely you behave, and how sensible your gun handling, do you know what everyone else is doing, and how they are going about handling their firearms? Have a look at this video, what you see is someone firing a .50 cal Barrett and yes, that is the bullet he firing that comes back. No matter how careful you are, do you know what others are doing?

With lane rental fees at only $15, is it REALLY worth the effort to drive miles out into the desert?