How Much Land to Shoot On?

[Bazoo]

I have 18 acres, but i'd say only about 8 are the part that comprises my range and a bit of land behind it. I have a natural backstop. Behind my land, is more woods. If there were houses behind it, I wouldn't consider myself having a safe spot to shoot.

Though... If I had a round glance out and go 2 miles, it surely would have the chance to hit a house, but the immediate half mile or so is woods. I am careful about where I shoot so lessen the chances of a ricochet.

My buddy has 7 acres, and it's positioned in a way he can shoot, though he's shooting somewhat downhill towards a creek bottom.

If the lay of the land was right, I'd say 5 acres could provide safe shooting, but if the lay of the land was wrong, 50 acres wouldnt be sufficient without a manmade backstop.

 

[mope540]

You need a natural backstop as in a hill....

Very hilly here, but have a clear shot at 265 yds (with a drop of approx. 15 ft). Could go 300 yds if i clear some trees but 265 is plenty for me. A 25 yd handgun range is just outside the back door, and from that same point i can shoot 180 yds in a different direction. A 50 yd range is behind the garage.
As far as neighbors, they all shoot too...and one of them will light off some serious firecrackers when he feels like it. No complaints from anyone when I shoot.

 

[Otto]

It’s impossible to accurately answer the OP question given the lack of details that’s he’s presented.
And even if you’re legally permitted to shoot on your own land, that doesn’t exempt you from civil suits that can arise from unhappy neighbors.

 

[MarshallDodge]

40-50 acres is a good number.

I can shoot on my place, with cows on one side of me and about 800 yards to the next neighbor. With them in mind, I only shoot standard velocity 22 and pistol ammo. Rifles get taken to the shooting range.

 

[Jim Watson]

The old club range here was on about five acres. But it was well bermed - construction by the city parks and recreation division for use by club and PD - and faced out over the Tennessee river. Few complaints until we got pushed out by real estate developers in city government.

 

[armoredman]

While looking at land in East Texas I was told I can shoot on private land out in the hills as long as every round stays on my property. Makes sense.

 

[Jim Watson]

When I was working in Nevada, I carried along a .22. I asked at the local sporting goods store about a place to shoot. The dealer laughed and said "It's a desert, shoot anywhere you won't hit anybody." But there was a berm and a rickety bench set up on the edge of town.

 

[CapnMac]

As per above, it's going to be hugely regional.

A one acre lot that was 120 x 362 feet would allow for a 100 yard line a a 15 foot tall berm, with a 60 foot "alley" width, which many might consider quite safe.
Now, that tract would only be gun range and nothing else, which might not be an ideal for many folk.

A number of States will require from 150 to 300 feet of separation from structures (some limit to "habitable structures," but include tractor & hay sheds in that definition).

You have to be careful in just asking people, even those "in authority" as many conflate hunting acreage minima with "shooting range" minima. These are often vastly different (both ways). It can, though, be ponderous difficult to look up in State & County Codes just what those minima are.

 

[InTheField]

I have 20 acres in the rural Midwest. Fellow behind me has 60 (he does not live on it). There are hundreds of acres of various small hunting "holdings" behind him with no homes. On my other sides there are a very few homes not too far away. Everybody seems to shoot all the time, mostly with .22s, shotguns, and handguns, so there is really nobody to bother (noise wise). I have a 50 yard berm that I shoot .22s, handguns, and low power rifles (32-20, 38 specials in a lever gun, light handloaded 30-30s, etc) into. Seems like most of us limit the shooting of big boomers to pre-season sight-ins, killing deer, and very occasional other recreational events, just to be polite, I guess.

Our law enforcement (as well as local/state laws) are very gun friendly. Not sure I have heard of a Leo ever responding to a noise/recreational shooting complaint. I just am very sure bullets never leave my property and take some consideration into the times of day I shoot.

 

[buck460XVR]

What one always needs to remember, is that you are responsible for every and any bullet that leaves your property. So one's primary concern should always be, that no bullet ever leaves your property. Having a neighbor/neighbors with X amount of acres bordering yours, does not guarantee it is safe to allow any projectiles to leave your property. You never know when someone is mending fence, foraging for mushrooms, scouting, searching for sheds or just plain recreating. I am fortunate, my son owns property that is in a bowl shaped valley surrounded with some of the highest ridges in the county. One would have to purposely aim over them for a bullet to leave his property. Not only does this make it safe to hunt in, but to have our own private range.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I own 17 acres and I have a little over 250yds off my back deck to my property line. My 100yd targets have a natural slope behind them but I built a dirt mound back stop for my 200yd target. If there were houses behind me this wouldn't be enough but then there is 40 acres of pine woods belonging to my neighbor and then another couple hundred acres of hard woods belonging to another farm. As a crow flies, the nearest homes in line with my range are about 1 mile away.
So a lot depends on the topography and timber on the land. 5 acres might be enough if you're against a mointain and there are no dwellings close by, but in a more populated area 40 acres might not be enough.

 

[CapnMac]

One of the arguments against larger tracts of land is that you are responsible for that land.

That responsibility takes several forms.

One of which is paying the property taxes per acre. Which can see a person needing to run livestock to get the "Ag Exemption" on those taxes (unless one is in a State with "Forestry Exemptions"--and the land is sufficiently wooded--).

Another is fencing that land.

Also, in some areas policing fire breaks. It in minding areas needing protection, like wildlife or wetlands areas.

All of that can mean you also need things like off-road 4x4 to get around the place. You may also need a tractor to pull a mower deck, or even a skid-steer to push a brush cutter. These things will need a shed to keep them out of the elements, beyond being a significant investment in and of themselves. You are going to also need a shed to store fencing repair items, too.

If there is water running through your property, you have some responsibilities there, too.

 

[Hugger-4641]

One of the arguments against larger tracts of land is that you are responsible for that land.

That responsibility takes several forms.

One of which is paying the property taxes per acre. Which can see a person needing to run livestock to get the "Ag Exemption" on those taxes (unless one is in a State with "Forestry Exemptions"--and the land is sufficiently wooded--).

Another is fencing that land.

Also, in some areas policing fire breaks. It in minding areas needing protection, like wildlife or wetlands areas.

All of that can mean you also need things like off-road 4x4 to get around the place. You may also need a tractor to pull a mower deck, or even a skid-steer to push a brush cutter. These things will need a shed to keep them out of the elements, beyond being a significant investment in and of themselves. You are going to also need a shed to store fencing repair items, too.

If there is water running through your property, you have some responsibilities there, too.

An atv or other vehicle capable of getting around is a must. Other equipment can be rented as needed more economically than owning unless you are like me and use that equipment enough to justify owning it.

 

[CapnMac]

Other equipment can be rented as needed more economically than owning unless you are like me and use that equipment enough to justify owning it.

That excellent point brings up another issue, distance from various other things. Like if it's a day's drive from a rental agency, this can complicate one's physical plant improvements (deciding if you want to go to Brownwood, Brady, or Llano to rent a backhoe or excavator you need for a few hours is a chore I've been through).

Which has an associated issue of grocery store, or drugstore, or even dentist office if you crack a tooth. There's a mindset that is wanted lest it become Green Acres for real.

 

[footwart]

I have nine acres with a natural berm backstop that was cut out of a much larger farm. I am surrounded by multiple farms and woods. There's not many houses around ,five on a mile long road, but they are about a thousand feet behind me when I shoot . I think my neighbors like living away from the city .None of them raise cattle or do any farming. I've never seen any of them anywhere in the woods around me. The one that I have that likes to shoot and hunt usually goes somewhere else.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

I live in the country on my little 80 acre farm. I built myself a skeet field and a rifle/ pistol range for my use and a couple of VERY close friends. I can shoot 24/7 if I want to. Closest neighbor is a deputy sheriff about 3575 yards away. He and his son shoot skeet in their yard from a mounted thrower.
Back in the day when we rented our land to farmers(before we put it in pines). When the farmer cut the soybeans behind my house I would drive my truck out into the field. AT NIGHT. I would place 1 gal. empty chorox jugs at different distances and sit on the ground with my back to the bumper and shoot them with my long barreled 44 mag pistol using the truck head lights.........NO ONE ever came to investigate. Years ago I registered my place as a shooting range noise area and put up signs on the road in dicatiing as such. S now no matter who moves close they can never shut me down.

 

[alsaqr]

. But again, he had a lot of land behind his backstop that he didn't own but was uninhabited.

Not even.

Any bullet that leaves your firing range is engraved with your name.

i tesified as an expert witness in a case where a lady walking in her woods was struck by a bullet fired from the range on an adjacent property.

 

[buck460XVR]

Not even.

Any bullet that leaves your firing range is engraved with your name.

i tesified as an expert witness in a case where a lady walking in her woods was struck by a bullet fired from the range on an adjacent property.

Pretty much what I was trying to impress upon folks with my first post. Yet, phrase's like " lots of vacant land" and "neighbor has X amount of empty acres behind me and doesn't care if I shoot" continue. If you do not own it and thus, have no control over it, you should not allow a bullet to enter it. Why is this so hard for so many to understand? Yes, while hunting, many folks shoot without having a solid backstop behind their target. But hunting by shooting a few random shots, is much different than hundreds to thousands of shots for no other reason than having fun. Even hunting, one of the primary rules is to make sure of your target and everything behind it. While hunting, hitting someone by accident, there must be hard proof you engaged in some form of reckless conduct for a first degree reckless homicide/reckless injury. Shooting recreationally, on a poorly designed personal range that allows projectiles to endanger others, makes that pretty easy.

 

[docwharden1881]

We are set up in an empty field/lot that belongs to the family. never measured but it is quite large. no neighbors for miles in any direction nor any shops. just flat open land. There are backstops just in case but never had an issue. It's a bit of drive but worth it. Like the others have stated, I'd check local laws or talk to leos. they can be quite knowlegable and insightful i find. I tell you what. Have fun and be safe.

 

[tark]

I live on five acres of land in rural Illinois. What I shoot depends on what time of the year it is and what kind of crops are in. I am in the center of "flatland, USA" Corn, and to a lesser extant soybeans, are an excellent deterrent to ricochets. In the warm months, when the crops are in, I can shoot high powered stuff. In the winter , when the crops are gone and the ground frozen, I stick to pistol calibers and 22s.

 

[bassjam]

Pretty much what I was trying to impress upon folks with my first post. Yet, phrase's like " lots of vacant land" and "neighbor has X amount of empty acres behind me and doesn't care if I shoot" continue. If you do not own it and thus, have no control over it, you should not allow a bullet to enter it. Why is this so hard for so many to understand? Yes, while hunting, many folks shoot without having a solid backstop behind their target. But hunting by shooting a few random shots, is much different than hundreds to thousands of shots for no other reason than having fun. Even hunting, one of the primary rules is to make sure of your target and everything behind it. While hunting, hitting someone by accident, there must be hard proof you engaged in some form of reckless conduct for a first degree reckless homicide/reckless injury. Shooting recreationally, on a poorly designed personal range that allows projectiles to endanger others, makes that pretty easy.

Not even.

Any bullet that leaves your firing range is engraved with your name.

i tesified as an expert witness in a case where a lady walking in her woods was struck by a bullet fired from the range on an adjacent property.

I made such statements that I had a good backstop AND uninhabited land behind me. Same with my uncle. It's an extra level of safety, even if the land isn't mine.