Yeah- it is far. That's the biggest downside and not an insignificant one. I'm wracking my brain for something more central in San Diego and coming up empty. All of the larger areas I can think of are either government owned, military, airports or park/preserves that have hikers etc.
I figure at least initially we'll have a hodge-podge of targets. I'd like to work up to real FT matches at some point but at least off the bat I just want to get everybody's opinion on the site, shoot for fun etc. So yeah, any and all targets are welcome. Had I known this might work I would have thought seriously about all the targets that the club in Texas was selling off a while back.
Regarding the venue itself, in the interest of full disclosure it is the Pine Valley Bible Conference Center. Eric and I met with the guy who calls the shots and he had no issue with us using the area whatsoever and in fact related stories of having to hunt rabbits for food with his pellet rifle back in the day. So he knows what the guns are about and has no problem.
The only stipulations regarding any kind of behavior are on foul language and no smoking. We will be away from the main camp area but they ask that we respect that those rules. I don't have a problem with that and I figured most attendees would be OK too. If you must curse or smoke the main town is about a 2-3 minute drive :-)
And don't worry, this will not be evangelism or church in the guise of target shooting. I wanted to let you know what the place is so nobody felt like there was a hidden agenda of any sort. I just thought of it since I attended a retreat there a couple years back and figured it was worth a shot since they just started running paintball in the last year or so.
Some other nice things about the camp is that they have a cafeteria and coffee shop on site. They said especially if large groups are present during shoots that it would be no trouble having extra meals without any advance notice. It would be about $5-$7 for what I think is all you can eat. Immediately adjacent to the field is a picnic area on a little rise and they are installing outhouse bathroom right next to it as well. They are also finishing up some campsites right next door too if a multi-day event every happened. They also have regular hotel/lodge type rooms available depending on the size and number of groups at the camp at any given time.
Anyway, as soon as I get a confirmed date I'll let the group know and then I'll figure out if any paperwork etc is needed. And you are right Steve - with the available shooting areas and elevations we could have all kinds of challenges :-) Who knows, a mountain lion may even cross our path!
Casey