Irresponsible target shooters....

Just wondering if this is a widespread issue or just more of a local issue for us. We have 65 acres on which my MIL resides on and we have a Christmas tree farm and tree nursery business. Her 65 acres is surrounded on 3 sides by homeowners with 10 acres in general. 3 of those homeowners routinely target shoot, more or less in their glorified backyards. They can legally do so if they have 10 acres or more. I had to call the sheriff's office after we found a bullet sticking out of the metal siding on one of our buildings last summer, we had routinely heard ricochets when they were shooting. Today after listening to someone shoot 100s of rounds of pistol and high-powered rifle with a number of ricochets I had had enough an called the sheriff's dept again. The shooting stopped not long after, which I assume was concurrent with the deputy arriving to the property. Is this a result of no kids taking hunter safety classes anymore or just a lack of I dont give a Nope by the general gun owning public. Obviously, I am all in on gun ownership, hunting and target shooting within reason.

Maybe some target shooting in the OTHER direction is in order.

Brainless people.

Some folks just don't know all there is that should be known regarding exterior ballistics and have no clue as to what that projectile is capable of.
Could be fools ... or ones that were never taught very well.
Many have little to no respect for the gun and its potential danger in the wrong hands.
Many NEW gun owners now with no prior family gun lessons handed down.

added around 40 million new gun owners in the last few years

some people need to be shown the effects and told how to avoid it

they may well not have ever taken Hunters ed because they may not be hunters

bringing them over to see the bullet and damage may get their attention the proof and not aw those neighbors are just complaining about the noise.

it isn't hard to put in a decent back stop , just a big pile of dirt more than likely they shoot a bunch of steel , rocks , garbage to get that many ricochets.

Yea one of my relatives suggested that! "Just start shooting back with something bigger!"

I will say that we have come to a general understanding with 2 of those target shooters, we politely ask them (have both of their cell numbers now) to refrain from shooting like its WWIII the 2 weekends we are open for Christmas tree sales and as long as we dont hear ricochets those other 359 days of the year they wont hear us complain. They both seem to understand that now. The shooter's today were a group on property I didn't have a means to contact.

No doubt they probably arent hunters. I offered to build a berm/ backstop for the one neighbor that "accidentally' hit our building with a round if he would pay for the diesel if I used our tractor. At the time he said yea that sounded like a good idea. As of yet he hasnt taken me up on that offer.

Try a Conservation Officer, or Game Warden.
Don't know about yours, but in many states they have a lot of pull in these type of situations.
Plinking or hunting makes no difference when its a safety / negligence issue.
Good luck.

I hope you talked to the neighbors before calling the law on them?

They are uneducated on a proper backstop and or don't care

You have a car ? If they are close enough to hear the shots just drive over and talk to them. Or if you don’t feel safe in that call the law on them . You already have the other group .

Education is key I agree. So is talking to your neighbors as soon as it happens just once!

They were raised different then we were. When we were kids guns were on display in glass fronted cabinets and we were told not to touch, and we did not touch or get you but wacked and lost privilege's. Now Kids only see guns on TV shows as toys.....jk

Did you ever once walk over there to inquire how they were shooting, what their backstop was or did you just straight call the cops? Sounds to me that you are more annoyed at them shooting than all the "ricochets" by mentioning they have to have 10 acres to legally target shoot. In my opinion, my advice would be to man up and go over there and ask questions to see what the issue may be and offer them some advice. Ask about their guns, ask them if they trap, show them how its done. Thats the problem today, everybody wants to just call the sheriff instead of going to talk to people. Just saying.

And this is what you get for asking a simple question.

I'm one of those guys what now lives on 10 acres. Assessed the situation early on.....a full 360 degree circle......and concluded there is no place here where a rifle could be fired that does not have a house, shed, horse, cow or public road downrange of a bullet's line of travel. Actually, there might be one place to shoot a big bore.......but that would mean firing 100 feet from neighbor's front door. Not only do they have a right to not have bullets whizzing past them, they should not have to listen to gunshots outside their living room window either. Am also one of those guys that thinks my right to do what I want to do on my place ends at my property line. So when I do load development, that gets shot elsewhere. Just common sense.

Couple years back, nephew bought an AR and brought it to the farm to sight it in and fire it for first time. BIL asked if it would be OK? Sure! Took him out behind the barn, pointed him North to an open field.......good backstop and nothing beyond for miles. So next day.....after I left....he gets his piece out........they setup a target in front of the house......shooting South thru some trees......no backstop and neighbor's house in line of fire. Barely gets started and phone rings......it's neighbor......also distant relative and good friends of family.......yelling at them to stop the shooting. Bullets whizzing past his house and overhead........which would also be past and over a Federal highway. Both BIL and nephew ex-military and should have known better. Worse, BIL seemed a bit put out by getting yelled at....and that kid didn't get to do much with his weapon. "Well.....that's why I had him to setup shooting to the North". Only then did the light come on.

Those warnings on ammo boxes are real. About 40 years ago, guy we knew shot at a rabbit in his garden.......uphill shot with no backstop. Dinky little 22. He missed high.....and bullet kept going.......over I-70 and when it came down, it parked itself in brain pan of a lady standing in her driveway talking to friends. Dropped her dead where she stood. Took a long time for investigator's to piece it all out, but in the end, he was convicted of manslaughter and went to prison.

DNR and Sherrif

Both told me Twice on a Pitbull incident

" Quit going over telling the neighbors to do anything "
" you're just warning them....And- if anything goes wrong You are now the Scapegoat ie: target for their Retribution anger.

" just take care of the problem " or call us.

Very few Neighbor s say...Oh Ok- sorry/ we'll change our habbits

YIP.

I wouldn't be timid with them, there's no excuse for shooting towards someone's residence!

That's what I was thinking.A discussion may have resulted in a safer shooting direction or putting up a back stop.

More likely to get them bent out of shape and cause more problems. 330 has it right

It would likely be an act of futility attempting to introduce common sense to someone that ignorant ..... without creating friction.

Daughter is on the edge of town. At the back of her back yard(outside city limits) is an old RR right of way. Has a berm about 8 feet tall, over grown in brush and trees, rails and ties long gone. Timber then a cow pasture. Me and one of her neighbors (berm in his back yard too) Have shot using this berm as a backstop for more than two decades. I can shoot about 75 yards. So sometimes hi power playing with loads but usually pistols or muzzle loader. Anyway SIL was telling me somebody was complaining and I had to quit. So I asked who and what. Turns out it was just face book. Had a new neighbor call the sheriff a few years ago. That went no where and a few months later his rooster began flogging his kid. He shot the rooster in his yard here inside town limits. Anyway we all get along now. Still dont know who was whining on face book but they quit after a few people told them about the RR berm back stop.

If bullets were hitting my buildings I would confront the shooter(s).

Reckless discharge of a firearm.

Save your breath. Let the law take care of it. Report each instance, and ask LE to check it out. The next stray bullet could be any
where.

Unless you are on very friendly terms with these neighbors, a visit will only make matters worse. My life and that of my family is worth a lot more than the appearance of being a tolerant neighbor.

Wow, some of y'all must have some really bad neighbors.
In the handful of stray bullet related situations I have had around here a simple conversation resolved the problem and has even lead to friendships in a couple of cases. I believe in a friendly visit before becoming the neighborhood Karen, though it is likely to late for that now that you have called the law and became the Karen. Heck, I opened this thread thinking it would be about someone shooting up road signs or using someone else's property without permission for target practice, not someone shooting on their own place. Yes ricochets can be a problem, but freak things happen even on the best of ranges. The old dirt pile backstop is one of the nastiest as a slower velocity round can do some crazy stuff off of a dirt clod, but a lot of folks consider that dirt pile a safe backstop.

I agree. Unless you already know them, I would either call the law or return fire.

If you know them and they are civil and rational people, a talk may not hurt.

Don't blame the kids. They learn from their parents.

Karen complains to the manager about a mismarked skirt. Responsible citizens report a good chance of negligent homicide to police. I don't see the difference in a drunk driver and an idiot out shooting without knowing where his bullet is going. Neither is out looking to hurt anyone...until it is too late. Report it!

Spot on !

I'm really glad a lot of you aren't my neighbors.

In that case, that makes two of us.

This kinda remind me of the chick that was shooting at drones in the air with a .22lr

I can promise that would be true if you were bouncing bullets by my home. You would be praying the cops would show up first.

I have zero tolerance for ignorance or danger to my family. Maybe you would be ok with a friendly talk. Bounce a round or two near my family and there will be zero talking. But I bet you have not had someone's simple mistake result in the death of one of your kids. I have.


My cousin was shot while putting a roof on his lake house shelter. Som good old boys were blasting away out in the mines. The bullet went in at his trap on the left side and is still in behind his shoulder blade. He was bent over when it hit him. Dr said 1/4" over it would have cut an artery and he would not have made it off the roof.

Funny how those that seem to think it's no big deal have never had a personal loss or near personal loss. But I'm sure that's to be expected from the culture that knows what's best for everyone else.

Myself I take it as personal as if they intentionally aimed their gun at me. They bear the same responsibility and will get the same reaction from me.

Yep. We don't know the whole story and only have the information the OP gave. He found a bullet in a building from a past experience that may or may not have come from the folks shooting this time. These people shot hundreds of rounds and he heard a couple of ricochets. How many of you folks have been in the field and hit that twig in front of the game you was aiming at and missed, that bullet sure didn't continue in the direction you was aiming or where you intended. How many of y'all have been shooting targets and heard that zing, that bullet sure didn't keep going in the direction you was aiming or intended it. Heck what if your shot hit your intended target (be it a critter or target) and tumbled in a direction unknown after a pass through.
There are no perfect people among us even if you think you are. Most of us try and do our best to limit the chances of an issue, but no one that shoots any quantity of rounds can account for the final destination of every round fired unless you limit yourself to one of them indoor ranges with a huge trap at the end and even then the bullet don't always hit the trap where you thought it should have, even paper deflects a bullet some. The neighbor may indeed be a worthless slob and being a richard is in order, but that is not the way to start off trying to resolve the problem. IMO

OP, I see you are in Kansas. My recollection is that Kansas is about as flat as a pool table. In many cases I could see where 10 acres would be large enough to safely shoot on if you have a decent size hill for a good natural backstop. However, if your neighborhood is as flat as I am imagining then I would be nervous too.

If you are target shooting on a range, there shouldn't be any twigs to hit. He never said a couple of ricochet, he said a number of them, on more than one occasion. If you only have 10 acres, with surrounding neighbors, you dang well need to be aware of what you are doing.

^^^^^^
I just got to thinking about my reply above.
I was right in my assumption, Kansas really is flat; scientifically/mathematically flatter than a pancake. But not the flattest.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/58976/kansas-really-flatter-pancake

No, I didnt have time to waste during one of the busiest days of the year trying to track them down yesterday.

The 2 other neighbors shoot on a regular basis and I could really care less if they are being safe about it. The folks yesterday were shooting in a large pasture. They chose to pick a spot in that pasture that sounded like it was 100 yards away from my mother-in-laws house. We have a Christmas tree farm, lots of families were present during the long period of time they were shooting. At 1st I chose to ignore it, but as the number of ricochets increased, I called it in. Not my responsibility to become someone's friend (the target shooters), but it is my responsibility to look out for the safety and wellbeing of those on my property. Your right I should have dropped everything I was doing to go talk to a group that obviously didnt give a (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) about what they were doing. This group that was shooting yesterday was a group I had never dealt with before, not one of the others we have developed a line of communication with.

The group I called in yesterday was not the individual that accidentally put a round into our building. I have a good line of communication now with that individual. He came over an apologized immediately after the deputy contacted him about that incident. I told him then and I have told him multiple times since then I am not opposed to him shooting and even told him I would be willing to help him make a better backstop. Funny how some of you glassed over those details, to make it sound as if multiple ricochets from a group shooting hundreds of rounds was no big deal, and how I should have just been a friendly neighbor. I appreciate those of you who understood the seriousness of the situation and felt like letting the proper personal deal with the situation was the right course of action.

Johnson County? Douglas county?

Likewise.

Is there any kind of regulations on the type of backstop that is needed?

My backstop is 7 railroad ties high and 5 ties deep. I have been shooting into it or yrs and have yet to hit the 4th tie in. I am talking 1000's of rounds of centerfire rifle plus 1000's of rounds from pistol and rimfire

Jefferson

Not to my knowledge.

Had/have a single guy that lives a little over a mile down the road from me. He and a buddy for a while were setting up a bench in the single guys back lawn to play with their 308's. Using a thin hedgerow as a backstop. They were stapling their targets on cardboard boxes and blasting away over flat ground, real flat ground. A fella about a half mile or so away was mowing his back lawn and caught one in the guts. Sherriffs, state troopers, fire dept, the whole nine yards. Cops took a while to get to the guy because the yoyo's kept shooting. Not much happened to the shooters other than appearance tickets for shooting less than 500 feet of an occupied building without permission. I think they also lost their rifles. The guy that got shot survived and DID NOT press charges. Funny thing is the shooters house nearly burned down about a year later. Karma?

Civil suit should have been initiated. You are responsible for your bullets....after they are fired and the damage they do.

As a GW, I responded to a few of these type calls. I always told the shooters that they're likely to get sued for any damages their bullets do. I also told the complainant that if they incur damage...go hire a lawyer. Never had to respond to same place twice.