JackofAllTrades and Hawkmoon have the best-detailed advice in my opinion, but everyone who's advised you to check the legal ownership (etc.) is right. And as much as you may not like it, there's some validity in the statement by Taliv
that's because you're hearing ONE side of a story, from an 18 yr old who started a thread titled "Very Angry" with a self-described rant.
Not to nitpick, but none of that is inaccurate; the fact that you're 18 is not dismissive, but by your own admission you lack the experience to know how to proceed. "Very Angry" and "self-described rant" (though it may have been, admittedly, tongue-in-cheek) were your own descriptions of your state of mind, and most likely reflects your handling of the two-way screaming.
In any case, from the link you posted about the Scouts cutting trails, etc., that news report claims that the land is a "200-acre-plus town forest". That doesn't make it clear to me that you have a right to shoot there. It's critical to establish who owns the land; newspapers screw things up all the time, but I wouldn't normally expect that "public" land with cut trails through it, is qualified for indiscriminate informal target shooting. Most lands that have trails are usually posted, aren't they?? That is to say, shooting areas in such lands are defined within the acreage in most cases. Your family may have moved in 20 years ago, but that doesn't give you any more legal right to shoot on the land if you don't own it, unless it is truly public land that
you can shoot on. BigFatKen makes another excellent point--some hunting lands are not shooting lands. She may have never complained before (as far as you know) because all the previous gunfire may have been sporadic from folks who're strictly hunting.
Your first task is to find the bureaucracy that can tell you who owns the land. Deeds of Title are what you're looking for; down here, and in all the counties I've ever lived in, the county/chauncery clerk has those records and corresponding maps. Once ownership is established, as so many have advised, you'll need the landowner's written permission (stipulating no end date).
At least by this point, I'd check in with the local PD or Sheriff's Dept.
When I bought my property, I wanted land I could shoot on; I researched ownerships on all the properties around mine, contacted the owners in writing (and all but one responded--there were only 3), confirmed the legalities of local ordinances to be sure of my ability to shoot on the land, and then checked with the Sheriff's Dept before I bought the property. Here, too, the limit is a minimum of 300 feet to the nearest property boundary.
However, even though one has the
legal right, common sense and the Sheriff's Dept can deny your right to shoot if it is deemed unsafe because of 1) direction, 2) LOS (line-of-sight) 3) privately owned building structures along the line of shooting (to include about a 60* angle swath depending on the Sheriff) in front of the target line. The Sheriff's decision is arbitrary. Some will now the geography and deny you outright for some geographical feature or limitation. Others will prohibit you if there's a tool shed in the line of sight. You're at the Sheriff's mercy there, so it behooves you to be rational, cooperative, (yet firm) and sure of your legal ground.
You've got a lot to overcome, but it's not that daunting. It could take as long as several days of legwork depending on the efficiency of the local bureaucracy; and then you "should" contact the PD/Sheriffs. Borrowedtime69 ain't far off the mark either with his suggestion that you contact her in the manner he prescribes, but I wouln't do that until (as he infers,) you've got all your ducks lined up, and she's the last obstacle you face.
