Looking for a place to shoot

[Stonkey]

Hey everyone! I recently picked up a .22 rifle, and I'm looking for a place to shoot it. I'm trying to do this on the cheap though, and most ranges and clubs charge more than it seems reasonable to pay to just go shoot a target (I have my own targets, glasses, ear protection, and everything).

Does anyone know a good place to go where I could fire off a couple rounds for free? Maybe a field or something? I live in Patterson, NY (not New Jersey), which is in northern Putnam County.

 

[Stonkey]

Bump.

Just to be clear, a reasonably priced range isn't out of the question. I just don't want a place that requires a $100+ membership.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[hoghunting]

Welcome to the forum. If you don't get an answer, you might want to bump it next week, as some people took vacation this week.

 

[Stonkey]

Thanks! And thanks for the heads up.

I am going to be looking into getting a handgun permit (for recreational use), so hopefully I'll find these forums useful. I'm not really much of a poster though. I prefer to just sort of cruise around reading.

 

[justgoto]

In Ohio we have public hunting areas and in some of those target practice is allowed. You might want to look for something like that in NY.

 

[sig228]

Try this:

www.wheretoshoot.org

LOTS of places within 30 miles of zip code 12563

BTW, welcome to THR.

 

[Stonkey]

That's a good site for me to keep in mind. I contacted a couple of the places, asking what I would need to do to shoot there. Unfortunately, most of those places are really out of my price range. I can't really warrant spending $50/month or $100/year for a membership that I won't get to use very often. I don't want to sound cheap, cause I know that shooting is a moderately expensive hobby, but it just doesn't make sense for how often I want to shoot (once every 2-3 months) at the moment. The rifle and the ammo were given to me for free, and I don't currently have the money to spend on a membership (I am currently looking for a job).

I guess the best option might be (if I wanna shoot at an official range) to find a friend who is already a member, and try to go with them as a guest.

I guess another option would be to just find a clear place in the woods and go shoot a bit. If someone here has a fuller knowledge of the rules, I'd welcome that info, but it's my understanding that you just have to be 500 ft. from buildings and take reasonable care that you won't hit someone.

 

[capbuster]

You might check with your local gun clubs and see what is required for you to particpate in a match using your 22 rifle. Our club has a match called a fun match. Usually there is a pre- match safety meeting and shooting for checking your sights. Practice is great anywhere you can find it. It will give you a chance to meet people with a common interest"shooting".

 

[effengee]

Welcome to THR

Talk to the gun-owners/gunshops/hunters/ in your area, chances are one of them has a backyard range or knows somebody who does that would be willing to plink with you... If I lived closer I wouldn't mind having you over, the more shooters, the merrier I always say!

Is there any national forest in your area?
Most areas have a ranger station you can contact and they can tell you where hunters go to sight in...
I'm not sure how this works in your area but here in Southern Vermont, we have several NF access areas where there are informal and improvised ranges for sport shooting purposes.

Near me is an access with an old gravel quarry and a good 100 yard shot into what's now a bowl shaped grass bank with the hood from a Ford truck stuffed into the base of the bank and supported by some old stumps to tape targets onto.

There's another one that's nothing more than a giant uprooted tree that lays onto a steep dirt bank about 50 yards across a swamp near the parking lot for the trail head, where people have shot off everything from .22 through 12 gauge during the pre-season and more than just a few handguns.

These areas are informal and as such need to be kept free of garbage and spent shells, so I always try as hard as I can to leave it better than I found it so that there won't be any reason for someone to complain.

Hopefully this helps...

Good luck

 

[Stonkey]

That will definitely help. I hadn't really thought about that. I know that we have some state parks around here. I don't know if we have any national parks nearby though. I also have a couple friends who go hunting (actually one of them has been out on a trip for the past week - which is why I haven't gotten to ask him where he practices) who I can talk to.