Paintball: good, bad, or ugly?

[woodjin]

Paintball in the pines. Harmless fun or littering/vandalism? Is it a question of responsible hobbists vs. the irresponsible? Don't play it myself, just wondering what everyone's opinion is. My vote goes for ugly, but if there are people cleaning up after themselves and if the paint is bio-degradable I probably wouldn't know it.

Jeff

 

[RMICKLE]

Paintball in the pines. Harmless fun or littering/vandalism?
Jeff

I say ugly. Paint balls and the paint are supposed to be biodegradable. I’ve seen paint ball remains in the pines and have gone back a year or so later and they were gone. Paper is biodegradable too but I don’t go around throwing it out the window of my truck because it will be gone in a few months so I say it’s littering also.

Roy

 

[LARGO]

Should just stick to areas & parks designated for them.
Disrupts the environment.
( this coming from a quad guy ? )

 

[MuckSavage]

Agree with Largo....stick to designated areas. Paint stays around for awhile, but the biggie is when people build "bunkers" throughout their play area.

 

[LARGO]

I have seen many of these "bunkers" & "forts" in the woods.
Some I think very close to me, almost across the street from REDNECK350.
An excuse to bring more crap into the woods.
Even seen signs of booze & fire.

 

[RednekF350]

I was tempted to run a lead ball through a paintballer last year during a late winter hunt. I was in my stand for about an hour.
It was prime time, about 45 minutes till dark and some A-hole paintballer drove into the woods and stops his truck.
He got out and proceeded to walk up and down the road shooting trees. I couldn't see him but I could see his truck. I later saw all the shot trees.
He must have fired 300 rounds from the sound of it and finally I yelled "Hey A-hole what the *&$# are you doing?"
All I got was silence and then the spinning of tires on dirt.
Stick to the paintball facilities and if you really want to hurt somebody join the military.
Scott

 

[Boyd]

Yeah.... my vote is for both "bad" AND "ugly"...

 

[BEHR655]

There was a spot last year just off of Carrenza Rd where they had set up forts and bunkers. Pasintballs all over the place, spent and un-spent. What a mess! It got cleand up about a month or so later, I'm sure by the state and not the paintballers. If they had just used branches ang logs to make their forts it would not be so bad but they brought in old pieces of plywood and such.

Steve

 

[uuglypher]

Paintball in the pines. Harmless fun or littering/vandalism? Is it a question of responsible hobbists vs. the irresponsible? Don't play it myself, just wondering what everyone's opinion is. My vote goes for ugly, but if there are people cleaning up after themselves and if the paint is bio-degradable I probably wouldn't know it.

Jeff

Yeah; paintball paint is water-soluble and bio-degradable - even the stuff made to shoot when it's well below freezing. My son and a bunch of his high-school pals - guys as well as girls - are paint-ballers. Almost all are rural kids and they each host a paintball war once - rarely twice - a year. Our windbreak / woodlot is one of the sites and the warriors know that if the place is left with any mess just once, they won't be back. So far, after three years of paintball wars, they are still welcome back. Which gets to the point of the question.

In my opinion they should be limited to a specific, discrete, well-delimited locale for their battles. If they learn to take some sense of pride and responsibility for "their" paintball grounds, they'll be better taken care of than if the paintballers are just allowed the run of any patch of woodland that strikes their fancy on any given day.

Just a suggestion if you are or become a "paintball parent". One common bone of contention among the participants is that some shooters have the power of their guns set too high. Before any paintball war at our place I stop that crap right off the bat by requiring each participant to hand me his or her gun, step off 15 paces, and present their flank (just below the ribs on one side or the other) for a shot from their own gun. You never saw so many kids "just making sure" of their power setting before handing over their guns for my target practice. Also, any kid caught in the battlefield not wearing his or her helmet and face shield does not come back.

Dave

 

[Stu]

Some of the places I've been to have been shot up pretty badly by paintballers, so I say it's "ugly".
However, as someone mentioned earlier, when they start building their hidey holes and bringing more crap into the woods, knocking trees down, and littering....it's just bad then.
Paintball is a sport....I guess....and as with any sport you should be responsible with your equipment, yourself, and the area.