Shooting on your property?

[chasekerion4]

Hey everyone..

Since I'm not too familiar with the laws regarding this in Indiana (being from Florida), I thought I'd ask you all...

We have about 8 acres of land, 6 of which is wooded.

I'm in the country, but there's a little "apartment" complex (I guess you'd call it that - maybe 20 units) just to the north of the house. To the south, I have a neighbor as well, but I own the land pretty much all the way to his house.

Directly behind the house (west) is the bulk of the land, with a large creek running through it. On the other side of the creek is the wooded area.

I was thinking about going back there and clearing some room out and making my own little shooting range.

I have been told outside of the city limits I can pretty much shoot whatever/whenever/wherever. Does anyone know of any laws or rules?

Obviously common sense prevails; go back towards the back of the property, but there is already a HUGE bank back there for a backstop. It boils down to just clearing the room and spraying/killing the weeds for an area to call the "home range"

I'll probably call the sheriff and get something in writing so I know I'm good, just wanted to see what you guys think;

Thoughts?


Just to the left of this creek is all the wooded area:

And here is a picture of the wooded area:

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g195/chasekerion4/100_1977.jpg

 

[melensdad]

If you are OUTSIDE of the city limits then you should be able to do pretty much whatever you want. Double checking with the sheriff is probably wise, county laws MAY vary with regard to land use. As for getting something in writing from the sheriff that is unlikely to happen but you can always write down the name/badge number of the officer you spoke to, along with a synopsis of what he said.

We specifically moved outside of city limits so we could shoot on our property. Its worked out well for us. But just because you are legally able to shoot does not mean that there will not be complaints and visits from the sheriff. Use common sense.

 

[RogerB]

yeah I seem to recall something about there needing to be a minimum of 150 yards from your range to any dwelling.

Definitely get the LEO's word on it and document it as Melensdad has stated.

 

[dice dealer]

We used to do alot of shooting on a farm a buddy was renting here in harrison county ,4 to 6 guys each with an AR and or an AK amongst other weapons . and of course the neighbors would call telling the local sherrifs dept. we were out shooting fully auto guns , so we kinda got to know the local authorities pretty well ,.
The sherrifs dept of harrison county told us ,(mind you this is this county not yours ) as long as we had a backstop (mound of dirt ) 5 to 6 feet high and atleast 10 feet wide that we were shooting into we were fine .

after the firts 3 or 4 times the sherrifs dept came out they ask us to do them a favor before we shoot give them a call and let them know we were going to do it and tell the dispatcher or whomever answered the phone that they have been there before and checked out were we shoot ,
so they could for lack of better words tell whomever called in on us to F@CK off


only thing the officers didn't like about us was the fact that we generally out gunned them and had much nicer stuff than they did..
but the deputey kinda enjoyed shooting my AK ...lol

as i said not your county so dont quote me but i hope it helps none the same

 

[PointBlank]

Where approx do you live at? I'm sure different county laws vary.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Doesn't everyone in C-ville, who owns land outside the city, shoot on it?

I've shot at Darlington plenty of times... And there have been houses quite close. Not once has any LEO stopped by.

But if I were you...I'd see if I couldn't wrangle a bobcat or something and build a berm. It's ALWAYS fun to play with a bobcat.

-J-

 

[cce1302]

I'll be there in the morning.

 

[Root]

.

 

[Coach]

Your Land

It is your land, and as long as you are safe and keep the bullets all on your property you are fine. This does not mean your neighbors will like it.

 

[Dr Falken]

I was thinking that my reason to get a silencer was so that when I was shooting I wouldn't disturb the neighbors, but for the most part, everyone shoots. There are a couple people who get worked up about it and call sometimes, but I've not had a problem. Our property is about 200' wide and 6 acres, a creek runs through it, and the back stop is the ridge on the other side, about 40-50' tall.

I'm in Monroe County, outside Bloomington City limits, I didn't investigate real hard, but like I said, I've not had a problem, just try not to shoot hours on end, and not at midnight...but if I had that silencer it really wouldn't matter!

 

[Boilers]

So, can anyone (LEO?) advise as to what the law is for Marion County?

 

[redneckmedic]

Easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for premission.

 

[lovemywoods]

We live in Brown County. Nobody is alarmed about gunfire. It's fairly common around here. We have a small pistol range where we shoot into the dam for the pond.

We try to keep most shooting during afternoon to evening hours. I've never had a LEO come out about the noise.

The only time I've ever called the neighbors was last summer before NFA day. I did alert the closest neighbors that they would be hearing more than the usual sounds...including automatic weapons!

 

[Jack Ryan]

It's your land. It's no one else's business what you do on it. Abiding your neighbors and cutting them a break if they are having an outside party or something is just a common curtousy, so long as no bullets leave your property. That's as far as I'd take it. I wouldn't call the law and ask them and I sure am not going to call the local law and "get permission", check in with them or any thing else. If they have a nuisance caller they need to deal with the nosey busy body not nag me.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

I live on our family farm here in Madison county. I've never had a problem here. No one has ever complained. Even when I come home at 2 am and find a possum or raccoon around my house and shoot it with whatever I've got on me. (normally my G30, lol). The only time anything was ever said to me was by a neighbor boy at church the next sunday. He was asking if I was shooting a couple of days ago. I said yeah, i had a bad day at work and was blowing off a little steam. lol. Most everyone around there knows gunshots from our farm are a normal occurance. And I hear them from others nearby too. I just normally try to not shoot too late unless something is outside that I don't want there, lol

 

[techres]

We live in Brown County. Nobody is alarmed about gunfire. It's fairly common around here. We have a small pistol range where we shoot into the dam for the pond.

We try to keep most shooting during afternoon to evening hours. I've never had a LEO come out about the noise.

The only time I've ever called the neighbors was last summer before NFA day. I did alert the closest neighbors that they would be hearing more than the usual sounds...including automatic weapons!

No calls on tannerite tuesdays?

And, I have to say that I have always imagined esrice digging too far with a firearm and having to run over and plug it with his thumb!

 

[chasekerion4]

It's your land. It's no one else's business what you do on it. Abiding your neighbors and cutting them a break if they are having an outside party or something is just a common curtousy, so long as no bullets leave your property. That's as far as I'd take it. I wouldn't call the law and ask them and I sure am not going to call the local law and "get permission", check in with them or any thing else. If they have a nuisance caller they need to deal with the nosey busy body not nag me.

`

I don't foresee myself just shooting away like it's no one's business.

If someone calls and complains, LEO's are funny about MAKING it their business.

I'm lucky enough to have a pretty good rapport with the sheriff here, as he had to directly help me with my LTCH (being a 6 month IN/FL resident). I'm quite sure he will tell it to me straight and not give me any of the "I'd prefer you not" stuff. I know he's a pro-gun guy, so if it's A-O-K, he'll tell me. But I see no reason to test the waters without hearing that it's okay from the one in charge of the ones who will be coming out to check on me

I'm not concerned with the neighbors. Just want to be able to enjoy my land and my guns... and every dollar I save by not going to the range is more ammo for the guns! And that's a good thing because if I have a range on my property, I'm gonna be spending a LOT more on ammo!

 

[mike8170]

Don't worry too much about the neighbors, maybe they will leave and you can buy their ground also, that way you can make a bigger range.

Unless there is a specific county ordinate, shoot away, and don't worry about anyone else.

BTW, if you have a 2000 round session, and a small airplane marked "PATROL" flies over, let me know, since this happened to me twice last month!

 

[Benny]

As long as you are outside of city limits and are safe about it (obviously) then you are AYE-OK.

I have a buddy that is outside of city limits and has a house on both sides of him and a wooded area behind him and we shoot out there w/ no problems, as long as it isn't past bedtime.

As a matter of fact, I wasn't there but the cops were called once and once they realized nothing fishy was going on they left w/o a problem.

 

[Benny]

We live in Brown County. Nobody is alarmed about gunfire. It's fairly common around here. We have a small pistol range where we shoot into the dam for the pond.

We try to keep most shooting during afternoon to evening hours. I've never had a LEO come out about the noise.

The only time I've ever called the neighbors was last summer before NFA day. I did alert the closest neighbors that they would be hearing more than the usual sounds...including automatic weapons!

You have no idea how jealous I am right now.