UPDATE
Click here to download the PDF Format of the Brochure which will be passed out to participants at the Camp.
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An idea was passed around by Jeff "jjrockbush" Jones of Cape Coral, Florida and once again we're going ahead w/ his proposition.  Though he doesn't like the title, he can deal with it.  This will be the first Florida / Georgia AR15.com Sleep & Shoot.  Possibly more in the future will be planned and it can even turn into a "once a year event" however that's too far ahead of us to even plan right now, so let's get this one out of the way.

We're planning a great weekend of camping, eating, shooting, and just plain fellowshipping w/ others who share the same interest as ourselves.  I haven't been to Osceola WMA but if it's anything like the surrounding area of northern Florida, being very beautiful, then everyone is in for a treat!  The previous weekend will be extremely busy w/ the Civil War Reenactment at the Olustee Battlefield Park and she said that the park clears out right after that so the weekend that this is planned is perfect!!!

All necessary information is below.
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When
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
February 24 - 26, 2006

Where (see directions below)
Osceola Wildlife Management Area
Ocean Pond Campsite
24874 US HWY 90
Olustee, FL  32072
(386) 752-2577

Camping Costs (per night per site)
$18 - Sites with Electricity and Water
Large sites, will fit a nice RV or Popup Camper
RV Dump Site

$12 - Sites with Water
Same size as above sites.

$8 - Primitive Sites w/ no water or electricity
5 persons per primitive site.

Note
There is also primitive camping allowed anywhere in the WMA as Hunting Season will be over and no one even needs to know that you're coming or going.  All fires need to kept above ground and contained responsibly.  No holes may be dug and as you can assume, there's absolutely no amenities available in the wild.  Deanna who had explained this to me over the phone reiterated this hardcore to which I replied with a clearing of my throat, "Ahem... We're Men!"  LOL  She got a good laugh out of that.  I'm still heading to the Ocean Pond Campsite however.  So those of you who want to "rough it", be my guest.
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Maps and Directions

Click here for a map using Google Maps.

Map of Osceola Wildlife Management Area.  Rifle Range is in the bottom left of the map (red dot).

Map of the Ocean Pond Campsite



Ocean Pond Campground is located on the north side of Ocean Pond, a 1760-acre natural lake. Sixty-seven campsites are available for tents, trailers, or motor homes. Many of these campsites are waterfront sites allowing guests to enjoy the water or fish right from their campsite. A beach area, boat ramp, drinking water, hot showers, and flush toilets are located in the campground. No sewer hookups are available; however, a sewage dump station is located near the campground entrance.

To camp at the Ocean Pond Campsite, all you do is setup camp at the site you want, and the camp ranger will drive around and pick up your money at your site. They will then ticket your post. There is NO reservations at this site. It's a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE campground.
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Directions To the Range
Any information and pictures from those who have shot here already would be helpful.

Brochure of the Lewis D. Whitacre Rifle Range at Osceola Wildlife Management Area

Range Contact Info
Off of Forest Road 278 near Lake City
in the Osceola National Forest
(386) 758-0525
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Plans for the Weekend
Everyone is responsible for their own meals.  If you want to plan something w/ your "personal" group of friends, then please feel more than free to do so.  Team Southwest Florida... Steaks Saturday night?  

Friday
12:00 PM - Show up and setup camp
6:00 PM - Tin Foil Dinners. Click here if you have no idea what this is.  LOL
8:00 PM - Smores and Gathering Around a Campfire
Turn in whenever you want.

Saturday
7:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM - Shooting at the Range
11:30 AM - Lunch & Range Time Continues (Hot Dogs & Hamburgers)
12:00 Noon - Group Picture w/ Rifles and Empty Mags at the Range
Afternoon Saturday - Personal Time.  Hiking, Fishing, visit Olustee Battlefield Park, clean your guns, go into town, whatever.  This time is for you to do what you want cuz basically I've run out of ideas to plan for the afternoon!  LOL  Do things alone, w/ your friends, family, or whatever.  Here's information on what you can do at Osceola WMA.  Enjoy!
5:00 PM - Return to camp to prepare for dinner
6:00 PM - Dinner
8:00 PM - Gather around the campfire and BS on how much you think your gun is better than mine or how you don't like this Team Member or how you're sick and tired of "this kind of thread" or "that thread" or just sit and shake your head in silence and think, "Why on earth am I here?"  

Sunday
8:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM - Range Time / Personal Time / Break Camp for those leaving
12:00 PM - Lunch
1:00 PM - Florida Defensive Carbon Club Match held at the Range.  Click here for more information on the FDCC.  If anyone knows how to get a hold of Neil, please do so and ask him to IM me.  I'm having a hard time getting a hold of him.
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I really do believe that this is going to be an awesome weekend.  So come along and meet your friends and finally put faces to those who post crap about you on these boards!  Please feel free to discuss ideas, questions, and additions to the schedule above.  No I'm not the one "in charge" of this whole hoopla so careful on the IM's that come my way.  

See You All There!!!

I posted this same thread over in Florida Hometown Board.

Isn't there a 200 yd rifle range there?

Hmm.   I'll TAG this thread.....

Tagadonkadonk

I am pretty sure there is a 200 yd line.

I went to FDCC a few months ago and the range was pretty crowded.  It was Class III friendly (actually I didnt check the regs but if it wasn't, there was a lot of folks breaking the rules).  

Update posted in initial thread.

I went to a shoot at this range a couple of years ago.  It's pretty nice and I do think there is a 200 yd range there.

Whoa... slipping down there a bit aren't we?

BTT

There is definately a 200 yard range.

There are 3 seperate ranges, the far left is 200 or 250, and the other 2 are 50 at least.

tag for pics

Just bought meself a tent.    'Bout time I owned one for myself.

I posted t his update in the initial thread about camping there.

To camp at the Ocean Pond Campsite, all you do is setup camp at the site you want, and the camp ranger will drive around and pick up your money at your site. They will then ticket your post. There is NO reservations at this site. It's a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE campground.

Oh and...

Since I will be going down that way 3 weeks later (going to Sebring), I don't know.  It would be great if it was on the weekend of March 11.

I could make it a racing and shooting week.

I am going to check out that calendar.  I might be able to drive down Saturday morning for a few hours.  I need to order some ammo too.

For anyone who's planning this as a whole weekend, please check out the Florida Thread for more information.  The current discussion is safety preparations, First Aid Kits, and a designated Safety Liason.  

I'm really looking forward to this activity.  I'm much in need of a "getaway" from "normal life".

Who's all ready for this?  Are there any people from the Georgia Hometown Board coming to this?  I will be bringing the Southwest Florida Banner along to put on my Tent so ppl don't have a problem finding some ARFCOMers.  We should all come up w/ some kind of distinctive marking for our campsites so we all know when we pass a site that they're part of our group.  

I will also be putting a packet together and will print many copies for distribution to attendee's and will also post a PDF for download for anyone who wants to print a copy for themself w/o having to wait for one at the camp.  It will contain Safety Information (emergency numbers, directions, etc.) the itinerary for the weekend, important Cell Phone Numbers of ARFCOMers that will be on site, and a bunch of other crap inside.

Can't wait for this to happen.  I'm so looking forward to camping since I haven't done it in such a long time.  Anyone else going to this?  I have a feeling that there are unregistered users to this website that have read this thread and will show up.  Why don't you register up, introduce yourself, and give us all a shout!

I haven't seen my partners respond in here and haven't checked the Fl. thread, so i'll go ahead and post. We will probably have about 4 adults and i think 2 children going with us. Is there anything we need to do in advance? I'll check the Fl thread to see if there is anything there, but i am posting this before i have read that one. Just wanted to throw it out there that we will be coming down.

Quoted: I haven't seen my partners respond in here and haven't checked the Fl. thread, so i'll go ahead and post. We will probably have about 4 adults and i think 2 children going with us. Is there anything we need to do in advance? I'll check the Fl thread to see if there is anything there, but i am posting this before i have read that one. Just wanted to throw it out there that we will be coming down.

Excellent.  Not a whole lot that you need to do.  Just be ready to camp, shoot, and enjoy yourselves.  Most meals are the responsibility of yourself except lunch on Saturday as we will be grilling up a lot of Hot Dogs and Hamburgers during the shoot.

Can't wait to see ya there!

Alright cool. Sounds like it's gonna be some fun. I'll see if we can get us a small banner or something for our little home away from home site, to let others know we are with the Ga group.  

PDF Document posted at the top of the initial post.  This will be printed and passed out en masse to participants, so if you want to wait to receive it when you arrive at the camp, that's fine.

Quoted: There is definately a 200 yard range. There are 3 seperate ranges, the far left is 200 or 250, and the other 2 are 50 at least.

The range has a 200 yd. line and two 50 yd. lines for shooting.  Shotguns are NOT allowed at all and the range is class 3 friendly, so if you have some rock-n-roll, please feel free to bring it out.  We will have to be considerate of the "public" shooters on Saturday and Sunday morning since we (FDCC) only have the far right range reserved on Sunday after 1 p.m.  Otherwise, let's have some fun and send out the wonderful sound of freedom!  

-White Horse

ONE MORE WEEKEND!!!

Posted this over at the Florida hometown forum, just repeating here.

My crew and I have been looking forward to this since we first read about it back in Jan. We will be there to represent Southwest GA and we will be 5-7 people strong. We are trying to make up some kind of banner to signify that we are ARFCOMMERS so ya'll will know who's who. That was a really good idea, BTW. One of our crew wanted me to ask, are there going to be any other Amateur Radio Operators at this thang. Two of us are HAMs and are planning on working a little QRP from camp and it would be cool to make some contacts via 2-meters while inbound and maybe get a little net going at the shoot. If any of you are HAMs email me or post your callsign for us to see. Mine is KI4NDK and my name is Kevin and I will be with KK4PQ, Dave. Also, does anyone know if there is a repeater that we can hit from there or an open frequency that we can use for simplex to communicate once inside the park?
That's about all and thanks for putting this together. It sounds like a blast.

BTW, I'm with docs89gta.

If there are any HAM RADIO OPERATORS in the group that are coming, please bring yours along!!!  Send an IM HoldenCaulfield (Kevin) or post here to coordinate w/ him!!!

Looking forward to meeting you and your crew Kevin!  This is going to be fun!!!

Sounds like a great time.  I won't be able to go, but I wanted to mention that you can have nylon banners made at Kinko's.  My daugther had a banner made for her online business for $25-30.  

Robert Morris

Never thought of that Robert.  Holy crap thank you for the suggestion!  Seriously!

SEE ALL OF YOU WHO ARE COMING THERE!