Where can I shoot?

[TURAMBAR]

I have tried to answer my own question by doing research but I keep coming up empty on an answer. I wish to shoot a .22 cal rifle in a back yard of a family member of mine. They live in unincorporated DuPage county. Their property backs up to a 100+ acre cornfield with a grave yard behind that. Can anyone point me to where I can find out what the law is regarding shooting on private property? I'm not so interested in what the police may or may not do if they show up. I just want to know what the actual law is so I know what is and is not allowed.

 

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[anonymous too]

You won't find any laws. You need permission from the landowner and you have that I assume. You'd want a backstop. You're responsible for the projectiles you let loose. Noise shouldn't be an issue with a .22, but could be with other firearms. Think about how close any neighbors are.

 

Shooting ranges have zoning issues. You're shooting on someone's private property. It's not a shooting range so zoning is not an issue.

 

As long as you're acting in a safe manner, you won't have any problems.

 

The wildlife code has distance restrictions with respect to "occupied dwellings" whether they are on the property you are hunting on or not. Target shooting is not covered by the wildlife code.

 

Just for your information, without permission you must be 100 yards away from an occupied dwelling when hunting with a shotgun with shotshells and also using a bow. When hunting with a shotgun with slugs or sabots or a rifle or pistol you must be 300 yards away from an occupied dwelling. With permission, you can be as close as they allow.

 

There's a few places I'd like to bow hunt from an upstairs bedroom if they let me!

[TURAMBAR]

You won't find any laws. You need permission from the landowner and you have that I assume. You'd want a backstop. You're responsible for the projectiles you let loose. Noise shouldn't be an issue with a .22, but could be with other firearms. Think about how close any neighbors are.

 

Shooting ranges have zoning issues. You're shooting on someone's private property. It's not a shooting range so zoning is not an issue.

 

As long as you're acting in a safe manner, you won't have any problems.

 

The wildlife code has distance restrictions with respect to "occupied dwellings" whether they are on the property you are hunting on or not. Target shooting is not covered by the wildlife code.

 

Just for your information, without permission you must be 100 yards away from an occupied dwelling when hunting with a shotgun with shotshells and also using a bow. When hunting with a shotgun with slugs or sabots or a rifle or pistol you must be 300 yards away from an occupied dwelling. With permission, you can be as close as they allow.

 

There's a few places I'd like to bow hunt from an upstairs bedroom if they let me!

 

 

Thanks for the reply. So if I call state or local police they wont provide me with what the law or requlations are? I'd hate to start shooting and get arrested for it. Most of my friends seem to think discharging a firearm even on personal property is illeagal. Somehow I just couldn't see how that could be true. Is it just a noise ordanance that could be an issue? I agree a .22 doesn't kick up a lot of noise, shouldn't be a problem in that regard. Is there any other way I can verify this

[anonymous too]

Most of my friends seem to think discharging a firearm even on personal property is illeagal.

 

Within city limits it would be unless you're at a range or in self-defense. The Aurora Sportsman's Club is in the city limits of Sugar Grove. The club has a special use permit from the city. Naperville Sportsman's Club would be another example.

 

Call the sheriff's office to make sure you're in an unincorporated area if you're unsure.

[Air Commando]

If someone down by St Clair county knows a place to shoot rifle I would like to know. I don't want to do any major shooting, I just want to zero the scope for my 03A3 once I get it. I just miss having a 400yd range accessible whenever we wanted it.

[TURAMBAR]

I called the Sheriff's department and got basically the same answers your gave me St Kent. He said as long as I was using a backstop, and was at least 1000 feet from any school, that I was ok to shoot on my land. He said it depended on my neighbors in regards to the noise problem. But in regards to what caliber I could shoot there were no restrictions. Just a lot of emphasis on the noise and being responsible for all bullets which leave my rifle. Basically (as I thought) it is not illegal to shoot on one's property (unincorporated - I didn't inquire about corporated townships). This is great news! No more paying $20 an hour at an indoor range to shoot a rifle!

 

All I need now is to build a suitable backstop. I was thinking of just stacking up a few sand bags. Any suggestions on a backstop?

[Jeff Johnson]

If just shooting .22 rimfire, sandbags will suffice. If you want more, you can drive a couple posts to support a square piece of steel plate with the top tipped toward you. Bullets will strike the plate and be directed downward into the ground.

On our private range we built a backstop for any caliber up to .50bmg.

We started by setting 2 railroad ties in 3' deep post holes 7 feet apart. stacked RR ties 4' high against the posts- 2 layers front and 1 layer on the back side. Drove spikes into the ends of the ties and wired them tight- front to back. Then filled the space created by the posts with sand and nailed a scrap 4x8 plywood to the front for target hanging.

IOW, a shot entering the front (between the upright posts) will pierce 1/2" plywood, 2 layers of RR tie, 10" of sand, and another RR tie. Then, just because we had the loader there, we backed it all up with some dirt.

It has stood up for 10 years with only occaisional replacing of the plywood facing and a few buckets of sand to refill the boxed center.

 

top view

back

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ -RR tie

[ ]xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[ ] -posts outside and sand filled middle

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ -RR tie

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ -RR tie

----------------------------------- -plywood

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