Minimum acreage for shooting (Wake CO, NC)

[Scott-NC]

I'd like to be able to walk out my back door and squeeze off a few rounds without creating a reportable offense. I live in Apex, NC on a .5 acre lot. I'm pretty sure if my mower backfires I'll be talking to the local constabulatory. Let alone the discharge of an actual firearm. So I'd like to know.... how much land would be a minimum for being able to shoot as you wish?

For example- how much land does it take for no one to hear you? 200 acres? 1,000 acres? On the other end- if you were to create a little firing lane with berms on 3 or 4 sides how little land would it take to muffle a few shots? Maybe 10 acres?

I know this question has at least two possible answers- legal and practicle. The legal is pretty straight forward- just look it up to see if it's legal in a particular area. I'm really looking for the answer to "How many acres does it take until noone notices or cares".

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[TAKtical]

Around here you need 2.5-3 acres. Check with zoning or call your local PD. we have to be 300 feet from the closest house (not including your own) to discharge a firearm and there are very specific guidelines about the backstop you use.

 

[allaroundhunter]

Well, I shoot on an 80 acre farm well away from neighbors. No one can see us when we are shooting, and we are typically shooting at the bottom of a dried up pond using the walls as berms. That means that we are standing 20 feet below ground level.

We have still had a neighbor call the police on us twice, even after he has been instructed that what we are doing is legal.

Last time he even said that we shot his house....we were shooting #8 shot at clay pigeons....and his house was 872 yards in the complete opposite direction that we were firing (we lasered it with a rangefinder for the Deputy that responded to the call).


People can hear the gunfire for quite a ways. Whether they notice and/or care is a personal thing that you have no control over.

 

[labhound]

Where I live in Virginia the requirement is no shooting within 100 yards of a road and 200 yards of an occupied dwelling including your own house. As far as noise, well it travels a long long way. Fortunately I live in a rural area where shooting is common.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I can hear my neighbor shoot trap about 1/4 mile away. There is mostly open field between us.

 

[Reloadron]

You are going to have to check your local and any state laws in NC that may apply. It also goes without saying you need an adequate backstop.

Real nice area around Apex NC. I have friends I visit once a year in Carey, NC.

Ron

 

[Bullz]

I live about 4 miles from my local range (which is in an old gravel quarry) and when the weather is right I can hear the shooting. Just saying that the sound can travel a long way.

 

[Hangingrock]

I’m approximately 2.5 hours drive west of you in a rural county. Dependent on the terrain and coverage sound carries over extended distances. I know the location of one range on leased land that is open from Friday at noon to Sunday sunset. Dependent on direction from the range I’ve heard firing from several miles distance.

 

[bhk]

In most of the east, you will never have property so remote that your neighbors won't hear you shoot. Sometimes you just luck into an area where lots of folks make 'rural noise,' so no one gets concerned about yours. I live on 20 acres and shoot a lot. No complaints 'cause my neighbors also shoot. The guy behind me rides dirt bikes. The noise does bother me, but he doesn't complain about my shooting and I won't complain about his bikes. When the weather is nice, I can hear others shoot 1/2 mile from here, 1 mile from here, 2 miles from here, etc. Lots of shooting going on.

You might not be so lucky in some places.

 

[Markus]

There's always someone shooting in my neighborhood. I've got 200 acres so I shoot all the time. My neighbors don't care. I don't even know what the law says about it here but I know you can always hear someone shooting. Gotta love country life.

 

[tubeshooter]

A lot depends on if you are in a modern-day subdivision or not. If you are not within city limits and it's not a subdivision, you might be okay if your neighbors aren't quick to dial 911 on you.

Depends on what you're shooting, too. A hunting round from a major caliber will be quite noticeable for at least a couple hundred yards. On the other end of the spectrum, you might not even hear a standard velocity .22 out of a long barrel rifle if you're inside looking at TV, unless you were next door.


Check your local regs (of course). Wake county is quite a bit more populated than it was 20 years ago. Apex is like a whole 'nother town compared to then. Due to the population change it is becoming more of an issue; I recall Johnston county (right next door) voting on this topic rather recently.

 

[Texan Scott]

In Texas, you can hunt on your own land outside city limits, unless the county restricts it; the county is not allowed to restrict hunting on private land over ten acres. What I need for me, then, is 10.01 acres (as taxed). As far as noise ordinances, they only apply at night and are practically unenforceable if the hearer would have to commit trespass to be within however many yards of the source. Of course, if no one SEES you shoot, all that can be said is that they heard a possible gunshot out in the countryside... and I'm not obligated to say anything to anyone or allow anyone onto the property to "have a look around". If the weenyish neighbors can't live with the occasional rifleshot in the distance, they can move back to San Antonio where all they'll hear are trunk bumping stereos and the occasional rattle of nine mil followed by screeching tires and screaming.

 

[allaroundhunter]

and I'm not obligated to say anything to anyone or allow anyone onto the property to "have a look around"

Game wardens do not have to have a warrant to come onto your land.

 

[22-rimfire]

The amount of land necessary for unobstructed shooting will vary with the terrain and how much a given area is built up with housing. Shooting on a 1/2 acre lot inside a subdivision is probably a no no. But shooting on the same 1/2 acre lot out in the country is probably just fine.

If I had to come up with a number, I would have to say 2 acres in a rural area and 5-10 acres outside the city limits, but still with neighbors.

Added: It also depends on what calibers you are shooting. What is acceptable for a 22 rifle may not be acceptable for a 22 handgun or acceptable for a rifle chambered in 223 or 30-06. Sound is going to carry outside your property line even if you own 200 acres.

 

[Texan Scott]

Well, all'round, I was thinking county sherrif's deputies answering a noise complaint. Of course, if a game warden has reason to suspect poaching in progress, I guess that'd be "exigent circumstances' (hot pursuit) just as if the sherrif's deputy had bona fide suspicion a murder or kidnapping was taking place. In the case of a weeny neighbor complaining of nuisance noise, the game warden isn't being called. If anyone, it's most likely to be a county constable.