need advice on shooting on my property

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TonyB

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
2,150
Location
Schodack NY
I live in the woods,although I do have neighbors.I shoot alot in my back woods.My one neighbor is a judge and a shooter and has no problem w/ it,and the lady on the other side is OK w/ it too.Here's my problem,my daughter goes to shcool w/ a girl from like 1/4 of mile away and she says her mom is bothered by "the shooting around here" sometimes.Not neccesarily a safety issue but a loudness and I'm taking a nap issue.
For the record I'm always safe and have a hill for a backstop,as well as 6 1/2 achres.I usually shoot on weekends,never too early or too late.Sometimes I do have friends over,but usually it's by myself.The longest I shoot is like 2 hours.
Now I'm NOT going to stop shooting on my propety,as it is my right and legal in my Town.But should I say something ot this woman or just let it be?
No one has ever called the cops or anything,and I always hear others shooting,almost every weekend...what would you do?:cool:
 
Assumming it is not legally restricted in your area, I'd let it go. To be a good neighbor, I wouldn't shoot early in the morning or late at night - besides, if it's dark safety becomes an issue.

I guess if you constantly had a bunch of friends over & you all were shooting full auto it might become a little bothersome for close neighbors too.....

It might be that she works shifts & is trying to sleep when you are shooting. But honestly, she has to deal with that. The world is not going to stop because she is trying to sleep during the day.

I have a neighbor whose wife used to work shifts. She used to send him out when I was mowing my grass & ask me to do it at another time because she was trying to sleep - this was at maybe 5:00PM during the week.

I tried to accommodate the best I could, but the best solution was their's. The put in whole house AC. You could make that suggestion...
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't worry about it until she calls the cops, if ever. It sounds like you won't be alone, anyway. Besides, most noise ordinances have decibel levels specified, usu. at the boundary of the property in question. At 1/4 mile, depending on what you bang away with, you might be ok even in that event.

Another solution is to build a shack to shoot from, oriented so that escaping sound goes away from the home in question, but again, I'd wait until it's really a problem. Unless you think that an ounce of prevention really is better than a pound of cure.
 
id use it as an excuse to get a suppressor for each of my guns :D

I ditto on the shack thing...that would really cut down on the noise if you shot from inside a box...heck i would even line it with egg crate...it is your right to shoot on your property, but you also dont want to make any enemies.
 
Sounds to me you are exercising due care and courtesy. The lady just needs to get over the fact that when you live in the country, you hear gunfire a lot.
 
The "shoot-inside-the-box idea is a good one, IMO. Lining it with egg cartons even better.

When I was reading this I was thinking about short sections of culvert (or smaller diam. tubing) lined the same way. Any way you go, watch out for unburnt powder accumulating in the insulation and creating a fire hazard. There was a terrible fire in some California gun store some years back when their basement range caught fire because a muzzle flash ingited the residue. It killed a couple of people.

Whatever you do to supress the sound, perhaps it would be a good idea, after it's implemented, to visit the lady and ask if she's noticed a reduction. Hopefully she'll say yes. That's when you can make some Brownie points, even though you don't need to, by telling her that you heard her complaint and as a good neighbor and responsible gun owner, took steps to alleviate the problem. Might even ask her or her old man over for an afternoon's shoot.

It's a good start to nullify a situation like this ASAP - even better if you can get 'em on our side.
 
My neighbor use to have a problem with it because of her work hours. She was a dispatcher for the county sheriff department and worked the grave yard shift per her request. She came over one day, and in a blunt way, let me know about the noise I was making with my guns. What we worked out, is she would leave her work schedule in my mail box every couple of months because it would vary month to month. On the days she worked, she asked that I not shoot after 3-4 pm, that is when she went to bed. On the days she had off, there was no set time. What it pretty much worked out to be is that I could shoot past 3-4 pm twice a week on weekdays, and of course I could shoot every weekend. Some people told me that this sucked, and I should shoot anytime that I wanted, well I hope I don't ever end up with that type for my neighbors.
This worked for me and my neighbor, it seemed fair to me and I have zero problem with it.
So, maybe if you contact her it could head off a problem, and then if at a later date she called the law on you, at least you tried to head it off first.
 
I personally wouldn't do anything until she has the guts to confront you about the situation. Maybe she told her daughter to talk to yours...

The way I see it, if she was that concerned about it, she would contact you first, in person.

If you are interested in keeping a good relationship with her and her family then you could go over there...but it may lead to larger problems in the end.

Years of experience from living in Military Housing have caused me to be this way, since most military wives have nothing to do all day but whine about un-important issues.

I have gotten to where I care less what my neighbors think of me or what I do. But if they come to me with a problem, I will work it out like an adult, but not beforehand.

I once had an idiot neighbor leave a note on my car for parking on his side of the street, instead of my side... In the end I walked over to his house and explained that I would love to park on my side of the street, but it was illegal (posted no parking), and I would park in an area so as to leave him room to park his truck. I then explained that I would prefer he not leave notes on my vehicles, because to me it implies he is too weak or scared to speak up for himself. After our conversation we bacame better neighbors, but I still think of him as a loser.
 
My situation is quite similar.

One thing I do to minimize offending gun-shy neighbors is to do most of my shooting at times when most of them will not be bothered by gunshot noise.

I am retired, so I avoid shooting on weekends and during after-workday hours.

Also, I watch to see when the absence of automobiles in neighbors' driveways indicate they are away from the neighborhood. That's when I do most of my shooting.
 
Seems to me like you're being a pretty decent guy to be concerned about you neighbor's happiness. Finding a reasonable solution may pay dividends later.

If confronted, you might suggest that she locate an appliance that makes "white noise". I have an old box fan that has a soothing rumble. It also kills off road noise, barking dogs, even law mowers and such.

I also like the idea of the shooting shack to help muffle the noise.

Sounds like everyone agrees that it's your place and you have a right to shoot at reasonable hours. It's also true that folks who work odd hours best realize that the world doesn't stop for them specifically. IMHO, however, you would be showing that you are a good gun owner and that your actions may help create a more positive view of us all. The old win / win whenever possible.
 
I wouldn't worry about it unless she comes talkes to you. As long as you do it durring daylight hours there is no way you are expected to know her daily nap schedual.

If she does come talk to you I'd ask her when she takes her nap and if possible agree to not shoot durring that hour.
 
Heres something active you can do: make a stack of old tires on a makeshift stand that holds them tightly together. for a bench situation smaller diameter like airplane tires work best . 8 to 10 feet should do it. For pistols a regular car or truck tire stack higher and same length will work. The beads and chambers act like a baffle stack in suppressors. The rain water that will acumulate will eliminate the slight chance of fire if you shoot ALOT. She shouldnt be bothered by the sonic crack at 1/4 mile. All the nieghbors will love you. This limits pointing muzzle anywhere except at backstop so is safer. Couple hundred $ should make nice pistol and bench arrangements.:)
 
I wouldn't build a shack unless you want one. That could cause issues for your own hearing, although you probably are using hearing protection of some sort.
You could plant some fir/pine trees as a sort of boundary around your bench/shooting area. Whatever you can get cheap, plant them in rows close together to form a sort of boundary with one side open facing downrange.
They should absorb some sound and can provide some shade and act as a windbreak without the confines of a building.

If you don't like it you can always take up selling christmas trees ;)
 
Thanks for all the advice....for now it's not really an issue because there's 2 feet of snow in my yard!!!But I think I'll just wait and see if she ever comes to me and complains.I don't think I'd stop shooting just to be "good neighbor"...after all if the SHF they'll all be coming to me to protect them anyway.Maybe I'd try to let her know when I'd be more likly to shoot,or even warn her whenI have people over to shoot.
Thanks again.......THE LOUD NEIGHBOR:D
 
The Golden Rule always applies; "Do unto others..."

You seem to be making an effort to be considerate of others, no one has formally complained, and you're legal. So far, so good.

However, if you've got the time and resources, a little extra effort can ward of future complaints. The suggestions about a "shooting shack" seem reasonable. You might also consider building some baffle walls if the terrain is feasible.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top