When boating on Lake Erie you can come across Yellow Cans with Markings A-Can through L-Can and you need to pay attention. The rectangle areas the Cans mark are a Danger Zone. Inside the area are many reefs such as Little Pickerel reef, Flat Rock Reef, Crib Reef, Toussaint Reef, Round Reef, Locust Point Reef, Turtle Reef, and Crane Reef but you would not want to be boating or fishing around these reefs inside the Danger Zone without paying close attention.

The Danger Zone marks the areas of Lake Erie that border Camp Perry Military Reservation. The marked buoys represent Camp Perry Range Cans. Each one has its’ own latitude and longitude clearly publish on all maps and guides for boating and fishing in Lake Erie. 

If you are going to Camp Perry for the first time to take in the National Rifle & Pistol Association Matches or just want to get information to browse around. There is a great site to help you: http://www.jarheadtop.com/article_campperry.html explores all of the possibilities.

The Camp Perry today is very different that my first experience in 1972. We were all loaded up in a convoy of military jeeps and trucks to drive from Akron, OH to Camp Perry. We arrived at night and it appeared to be much like entering a Prisoner of War Camp. Long bleak road with row after row of Huts sitting on concrete slabs fourteen feet by fourteen feet. When you reached your assigned Hut you were greeted with the noise of a banging single door and inside were four beds with only a single rail to hang a towel from. The hut had three windows one on each wall the door was not on. In the center of the hut was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. If yours did not work you stole one from another Hut before the next Battalion arrived to occupy it. Hey where was the bathroom? Don’t ask was the suggestion from others who had been there before. It was an experience that would leave a mark. Our Ohio National Guard Unit participated every year in a training exercise at Camp Perry to qualify ourselves with the weapons we were assigned. Every member was carefully screened and notations made as they had to fire at the range to stay qualified for their MOS. 

Today many people visit Camp Perry for the July 9th through August 17th National Rifle and Pistol Matches. This is considered the World Series of the Shooting Sports and has been held here since 1907. All of the local papers will announce the dates and many new faces will appear in the local towns as people will gather from all over to come and participate. This event will bring together the nation’s best civilian and military marksmen and women. The event dates show that this runs for five weeks of rifle and handgun competition. This is right up Fred Harteis’ alley. He loves to shoot and even loads his own ammunition. When Billy Florence, Orrin Woodward and I take in the action we will be looking to Fred to explain the protocols. The National Rifle Association Championships are held at the same time and the public is welcome and invited to watch at no charge. 

When you check out Camp Perry today, gone is the Mess Hall and in its place is The Club House. The Club House located on Camp Perry grounds can host a banquet from ten to five hundred. You can book a Conference for one day or a week or schedule a gathering of your Team like MMP, TOD, DCI, or Biznet.

Avoid the Danger Zone when boating and fishing. Race along with us throughout the Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie beautiful waters. 

~ Jody Victor