Legally Shooting on Unoccupied Land

[Kind of Blued]

I recently moved to Arvada, west of Denver, and there is a lot of open land out here. I assume laws regarding shooting on unoccupied land are different state to state, considering "unoccupied" is about as vague as it gets, but I am looking for a little insight.

Also, who decides the laws for each state? BLM? I don't know anything on this topic as I haven't had any que for curiosity until now.

 

[Regolith]

BLM only decides the rules for BLM held land, and most states except in the west have very little BLM land.

Generally, you can shoot on BLM land, though. I did it all the time when I lived in Nevada. Wasn't till I moved to Oregon, where BLM land is much less abundant, that I joined a range.

 

[manicmarauder]

The first thing you might want to do is define "unoccupied" for the area you're looking at shooting at. If you don't know who owns it, then it would be difficult to advise you properly. City limits is one boundary. County/BLM lands are another. Private property is another again.

What can be legal on one side of a fence might put you in jail on the other side of it, depending on who's involved.

 

[Kind of Blued]

The first thing you might want to do is define "unoccupied" for the area you're looking at shooting at.

Unoccupied as in an area where you could shoot a gun without hitting something you didn't want to hit, a la a house or a person. Pretty basic requirement for being able to shoot a gun somewhere (not trying to be sarcastic, just trying to be simple and clear).

If you don't know who owns it, then it would be difficult to advise you properly. City limits is one boundary. County/BLM lands are another. Private property is another again.

The problem is, I don't know how to find out who owns a huge unmarked plot of land that is uninhabited by humans or dwellings. A fence or a "No Trespassing" sign is all I need really.

What can be legal on one side of a fence might put you in jail on the other side of it, depending on who's involved.

Which is why I have not stopped my car on the side of the road on my daily commute to work to pick off any of the prairie dogs that sit, fat and happy, literally 30 feet off of the road. So tempting...

So I come across a giant open field; how am I supposed to know who it belongs to? Get the GPS coordinates and call somebody? I have no idea.

 

[manicmarauder]

Sorry, poor phrasing on my part. The first two sentences should have just been combined to say you need to find out who owns it before the question can be answered, which you already know.

A lot of the topo / trail map books for a state will show the BLM land in a certain shade. You could try one of them first, and they're really handy anyway if you don't already have one.

There might be some rules about being on the side of the highway though, or even if their isn't the local LEO might suggest a different spot. ... actually, the local sheriff might just happen to know who's land it is if you ask.

If it's not BLM land, you might look for a ranch house somewhere in the area and just drive up and ask if they own it or know who does.

Short of that, you might have to go to the county courthouse and ask where the records are for tracts of land like that. GPS coordinates aren't a bad suggestion, but depending on the records it might be easier to reference "land west of mile marker 147 on hwy 17". The court clerk might be able to help there too.

The good news is, if you can find out who owns it they're almost guaranteed to say yes if you offer to help them with their rodent problem.

Heh, hopefully someone else will have some better land research suggestions for you

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

To find out who owns it go to http://archie.co.jefferson.co.us/website/aspin/disclaimer.htm

which is the Jefferson county GIS parcel information database. Not only can you find who owns it but how much they paid, taxes etc.... Every county where I've had in interest in real estate has had one of these databases that are accessable through the internet.