By KAY RUDDEROW
Staff Writer
HOPEWELL -- A letter sent to about 30 residents of the Orchard Crest development area on the western end of town advised of problems with paintball gunners that have been occurring in nearby properties, including privately owned wooded areas, but did not directly accuse any of them.

However, two of the residents who use those privately owned lands for game-playing with the paintball guns, questioned the township committee on the reason for the letter.

Mark Ford and John Schaffer, who told the committee they had permission from the landowners to conduct such activities, said they had "done all the legwork" necessary before going onto the lands.

This included obtaining permission, Ford said.

"We use water-soluble paints, which leave behind no traces within a day," Ford said.

"There is no litter. We do this to give our children something to do for fun, to keep them out of trouble.

Schaffer said the landowners had given them permission to use the land as long as they did not cause any destruction of the property.

Both men were concerned that they might have violated a township ordinance about the distance they had to stay from the boundary lines, and if so, would comply.

There are no ordinances for the play activity, but there are state rules to follow for hunters in the area, they were advised.

Dan Newkirk, who said he had permission to hunt on the adjacent lands, said the main concern was because the paintball shooters wear camouflage clothing and could be mistakenly shot by the bright-orange-wearing hunters during their season.

Bickings noted that the procedures Ford and Schaffer had followed in obtaining permission and obeying the rules was "commendable.

"This could be a model for other communities to follow as well," Bickings added.

Source: http://www.nj.com/news/bridgeton/loc...0066169020.xml

Please post your thoughts on this article.

to me, it sounds as if the pballers in question have the situation well in hand!
A few "well meaning" souls may not like what they are doing but,,,,,,,,


unknown

The only concern I can see is with the hunters on the near by land. The palyers may want devise a way to insure that no assidents happen.

Too true!
Wonder if "possible" hunters have pemission to be on the same land?
Coordination would be important.
Our "outlaw" field occassionaly has 4-wheelers come through. Everyone knows to just STOP,,,,,,,,,,, and wait till they ride through, and THEN we start shooting again. It really adds an interesting element to some of our games! :wink:


unknown

Why don't they just put up some boundary tape and make it real easy. Inside the tape is a paintball game, don't shoot at us! It's highly visible and obvious to everybody that someone else is in the area. Hunters can just as easliy be mistaken for a target. This way everyone is taken care of and they can share the land.
Or they could designate specific areas for paintball and keep it totally seperate from the hunted parts of the region.

Very true. Put up boundary tape around the field. This is what I do for my field and it works great. And I have it up chest heigh so that it can be seen from quite a distance.

I would like to comment on a couple things though…

"We use water-soluble paints, which leave behind no traces within a day," Ford said.

As a person who has gone to my share of fields as well as have my own, I can say that I know of NO paint that leaves behind no traces within a day. It is clear to anyone going through a place which had a paintball game (or even just target shooting) that paintball was done. The water-soluble paints we use often stain, and even when it doesn’t it takes a LONG time for mother nature to remove evidence of a game.

"There is no litter.”

Again, being a person who has my own field, I know that the biodegradable shells are very much a litter issue. In fact, after a good run of games, I often have to clean up the shells myself. This is not saying the sport is super messy, but that we should at least be honest about it.

Dan Newkirk, who said he had permission to hunt on the adjacent lands, said the main concern was because the paintball shooters wear camouflage clothing and could be mistakenly shot by the bright-orange-wearing hunters during their season.

Like posted above, marking tape could be used. Or paintball players could simply not play during hunting season.

I know up here in NH we have a huge problem with hunters mistaking paintball players with wildlife. It is not uncommon to run across a herd of deer shooting at each other with paintball markers, and thus the confusion can happen. And the rather distinctive pop pop pop of a paintball game can be confused with the mating calls of the ever elusive Gnubie Deer. :wink:

On a serious note, any hunter who does not IDENTIFY his target should have his license revoked as well as put in jail.