I have 2.2 acres here in rural Ga., and we do target shooting regularly in my back yard. The land is hilly and heavily forested. The only issue we ever had was a neighbor about a mile behind us heard all the shooting one day during deer season and thought someone was hunting on his property. He called the sheriff and a deputy came out, checked out my range, and said "Y'all be careful", and left.

I couldn't stop starring at the pumpkin in the tree behind him

I was dissappointed when the random tree pumpkin did not meet it's gruesome end lol

A rare predatory tree roosting pumpkin can be spotted at 12seconds in, they rely on ambush tactics to survive.

I'm kind of lucky, I guess. I only own an acre of land, but I'm bordered on all sides by a thousand acres of state forrest. I walk out my back door to my small shooting range, and just beyond that is a hiking traill that leads me into the forest where I hunt deer, turkeys, and other game. So I have the benefit of all that land, but only pay taxes on my little plot. And in my little corner of Taxachusetts it's still too much! All in all, life is goo!

I like that hickok45 dresses like an average joe, almost every gun channel has a guy running around in cammo they bought at bassproshop this guy here keeps it realistic and honest, i hope to set up a range as well if you want to be extra safe you can set up a dirt wall out of top soil or gravel but that is pricey and wont look so pretty in the back yard.

Kept waiting for you to turn and shoot the pumpkin "laying" in the tree branch.

Used to have 3 1/3 acres. It wasn't a ton of land, but how it was set up (combined with our neighbors land) we had a wonderful shooting area. Our land was at the bottom of a hill so we were able to shoot down into the giant field at the bottom.

Retiring to Tennessee Oct. of 2015 , bought land with shooting safety as my main concern.

This is a great question, one I have been pondering lately. I am outgrowing ranges (especially indoor ones) and been thinking that my next investment should be some land out of the city. I would love to just walk out my house and be able to plink and practice at my leisure. Guess I will also need a land-layer=)

this is why i love hickok

I used to have a very sweet multi part target setup on my 5ac place in the Ozarks. Depending on which way I was facing in the same location I had a 25yd pistol range, a 50yd shotgun and a 200yd rifle range. Just had to move around a wire spool Thai I had built up as a bench rest/ shooting table. The only problem was the garden was in the middle of the rifle range half of the year but the good thing was the deer and coyotes used to come in that same field to feed or hunt. Talk about having the target dialed in from your livingroom window.

I am glad you finally addressed this question!. I have a 1/3 acre here in CA that we use for airguns only. Sweet (and legal, we asked our neighbor cop) and pretty fun for plinking. As for our firearms there is always the ranges and public land near us.

nice.

Great question!!! I don't have quite as many steel targets as you........ YET!!! But I was lucky enough to find 10 acres that has a layout,good enough for a range of my own. I often look to your vids,for ideas for target layout,and such. Thanks hickok45!!!

Love your vids and info ypu give out. I have learned so much from you thank you and keep up the good work.

The range we see on the videos is great, I like it very much; long and narrow, a valley in the middle, every shot has a ground stop behind it. Perfect.

Straight and to the point I love it !

I kept expecting you to pop that pumpkin in the tree. Lol.

That pumpkin is currently appearing on all kinds of talk shows, talking about its near-death experience.

My house sits on 7.5 acres, but it slopes downhill and there is nothing but swamps behind my house for over 4 miles. I'm working on clearing my 200yrd range as we speak! My cousin owns 20 acres at the top of a hill with houses all around and he can't shoot more than pistols/shotguns. It's all about location and topography.

LOL.... I was distracted by the pumpkin in the tree.

Also think to the future. If your land might be overtaken by a nearby fast growing city, your range could start causing you legal troubles as your new neighbors start passing noise ordinances and such.

Thank you for your videos! Happy New Year!

Great video. I've always wondered this! Thank you!

You didn't even shoot the pumpkin sniper in the trees, you're slipping sir LOL

I'm going to go with 'lies" or 'lying" since hickok first said "....how the land lies...." and he is a retired English teacher.

excellent advice as always

I took a class in Camden Tenn.with a young fellow who said he used to be a student of yours and he had shot at your place a time or two..He said you were a great man..

Rural East TX here. 8 acres appx 200' wide by 1600' long. My land from the road rises the 1st 200' then flat for 200' where the house sits (no flooding ever) then falls and ends at a rise and a mile of hayfield. I have neighbors on both sides, we have talked and they like guns and put up with the occasional 100 rds popped off. The tree line on both sides abate the noise in season, winter when the trees are bare, not so much. It is so nice to be able to step on the back porch and pop rounds.

To answer your grammar question: The land lies. The land cannot lay, but only lie. "Lays" would require a recipient object. Thanks for that! Also thanks for the great answer to this question

Pumpkins really do grow on trees!

A friend and I built a shooting range on the 3 acres we lived on. The southern property line was the best spot, 178yrds long with woods and a hill behind it. We had to elevate the platform about 7 feet in order to be in line with the 178yrd target, we also had a movable target set up at 100yrds and a pistol at 25yrds.

I know this is an old video but I'm new to the channel and I just wanted to add my 2 cents. Brief background, I do range safety for a living, everything from 9mm up to AC130 gunships. As hickok45 said, lay...lie....we'll just say terrain. Surrounding terrain is very important. Always have a good backstop to fire into if you don't have positive control of the area beyond the target. Just for some basic data: A standard .308 ball round (M80) has the capacity to travel 4,100 meters downrange (Distance X) from the firing point. That is taking into consideration a 15°-18° shot elevation and skipping off of earth, water, steel, or concrete. Lateral ricochet (Distance W) can reach 1,461 meters for earth or water and 861 meters for steel or concrete and that extends almost to the end of the downrange distance. Bump that up to a hotter round like most of us fire, Black Hills, Hornady Superformance, etc... and the Distance X increases to 5,288 meters, Distance W increases to 1,542 earth or water, 990 steel or concrete. There is also a vertical ricochet to consider. the old M80 ball has a vertical hazard around 700 meters for earth or water and 450 steel or concrete. Hotter rounds, 750 for earth or water and 500 for steel or concrete. That's far above any of the standard earth berms I've seen at public firing ranges. As anyone who has been on a machinegun range at night can verify, those tracers go really high and far after they go through a target and hit the ground. Slower velocity rounds will usually increase in lateral ricochet distance after striking harder impact media. For comparison, 9mm ball rounds carry an 1800 meter Distance X regardless of impact media. Distance W is 158 meters for earth and water but increases to 400 meters for steel or concrete. Vertical for 9mm ball is 93 meters for earth or water, increases to 250 for steel or concrete. Long post, I know but I just wanted to give a little information for everybody's reference. More than once I've had people hunting on bordering property that think if they shoot out of a tree stand those bullets stop as soon as they hit the ground, and more than once I've had to jump out of a tree and find cover while rounds whizzed past me. (followed soon after by me chewing on somebody's backside with promises to return fire next time) BE SAFE and remember "Life IS Good"

If you don't have a hill a ramp down into the ground makes a great bulletstop and you see them from time to time out in the country as makeshift ranges. Or even piles of sand. That's where I've enjoyed much of my shooting.

Im on 55 acres, building a 100 yrd range atm doesnt take up much room at all ive got a hill on the back side but no neighbors for miles past that. Im sure someone with atleast an acre could build a 50yrd maybe even 100yrd range with the right layout maybe even some man made enbankments at all sides for extra protection if needed. Ranges= practice and practice makes a better shooter every firearm enthusiast should practice as pften as possible imho

Hickok45 - I love your videos and your willingness to give everything a fair shot. I have been watching your videos for years and actually started collecting after I realized life is not all about tactical shooting. Keep up the Excellent work. I am really curious to see your whole private collection. What is actually yours and not on loan or barrowed. Please make a video on your collection.

Land is a good thing to have. I bought 20 acres last year and I love it.

I have 4 acres (pretty much a giant square) but I have neighbors relatively close on all sides. Trying to work out a way in my head to make it happen while keeping everyone safe and not pissing anyone off.

It also depends on what one wants to shoot also. Some of the pellet guns on the market today allow some fun shooting with a safe backstop on small areas

Still remember it from grade school, Hick, and I'm retired now. "We lay our heads down when we lie down." The land lies before us. ;-)

"That's all I have to say about that." - Forrest Gump

Great video Hickok,I have looked at land and 5 to 10 acres is enough from what I have seen which was straight back basically an open field.

yeaaaaa.hickok rocking that spyderco!

And it depends of what kink of neighbour you got. I have one lot 850 ft by 1 mile. And if the people hears the shooting, they phone the police because they don't want to hear it. So when you buy a lot, you have to check everything.

hickok45 range is great as it is a gully so that makes it a perfect range and back stop without needing to do much where as if your on flat land you need to have dirt beams as back stop or a huge area behind for the rounds to drop. And over here in Australia if your a shooter you can buy land in the country fairly cheap especially if it is hilly with valleys which does not make it any good for farming or grazing animals so which tends to be cheaper as you can't do much with it.

Short and to the point.

The 8.5 acre piece I live on is all uphill. Makes it easy. 15-200 yards, no issues. Need to put the 100 yard range I measured out years back into order. A big windstorm created some new obstacles..

i have 7 acres outside of city limits in ohio,the property is surrounded by houses but one half is all hillside that i shoot into. cops have come out a couple times but they are friendly and remind us it IS legal and that they are just required to come out if there is a call. with ohio being so hilly around here i can hear gunfire all weekend long from all around me on even less property. so YMMV.

Looks like that pumpkin in the tree was waiting for the perfect time to strike and bring revenge.

Relaxing as usual with a pumpkin ready to pounce from above like a cougar at rest.

Man, 40 acres would be so awesome to own! Here in the UK land is really expensive, is it cheaper in the US because you have so much of it?

Here in NC we are allowed to shoot anywhere that is 300 yards from the nearest occupied structure. This includes on the water and any public land. But not on the beach as it is considered a roadway.

Anyone else notice theres a pumpkin in the tree behind him?

I have 178 acres and plenty of trees to stop bullets. I have a nice range in my back yard.

Nice spread hickok.

Careful hickok! It looks like there was an attack pumpkin lurking in the trees behind you!

Here in Georgia you have to be shooting at least 150 feet from any public road and outside of city limits.

In Oregon you have to be outside the city limits, or the urban growth boundary. And you have to not be in a residential area(it isnt very specific), with a safe backdrop.

I acre and 100s of acres of farm fields around it. Slight rise in elevation down range and only shoot when the crops are out and no field work is going on. Closest neighbors a quarter mile away in a direction we don't shoot.

Looks like I'm lucky that I live in Texas, I only live on 4 acres of land in a semi-rural area, but I shot my Mosin several times on my land and didn't receive any complaints. I live in a valley between two hills and I hear gunshots basically every other week, and since a lot of us have deer feeders on our properties, the sound of gunshots echoing in the valley is much more common in deer season.

In Florida you must own 5 acres of land outside city limits. You must also be 1500 yards from any occupied dwelling.

3/4 ace 50 yd range neighbors don't complain always a solid backstop

Over 1000 acres on the home place :D the range that I've set up goes out to about 500 yards, and that's just cause of where I put it for safety reasons for the cattle.

It's December and you have shorts on? SWEET!

Hello: Another thumbs up.

It depends, in my state for example, you can't shoot a within the range of 500 ft from any house dwelling, or any building containing livestock. If it's over 500 ft and you have backstop to shoot at, you're good.

You just reminded me of the movie O Brother where art thou, the horse eat'n Hogwallop : )

The correct saying is how the land lays, the ground doesn't lie often, unless you talk to it and it's Bad land

In my area, you have to be 100 feet from the road and your neighbors property. Also you have to be out of city limits of course. Backdrop should ALWAYS be considered.

Nice Spyderco 👍🏽

Yep, just moved down from the pacific northwet, trying to find the perfect property in marshall or maury county with a nice sloping hill to shoot into and have some space for critters

Very good sir. A natural backstop is great. I own 5 1/2 acres with a natural backstop against a bluff. We can shoot 50 caliber machine guns here if we want :)

I always get the best advice from people who have pumpkins in their trees. Just kidding. I always enjoy your videos, Keep posting them!

I'm quite jelous of those in the US who can shoot like this. I'm from a British overseas territory with laws similar to England, although hanguns can still be bought and owned after a great deal of hassle. Ammunition is only handed out by a designated person at the range and all brass counted back in. First you have to become a member of the only shooting club on the island which is not very open to new members if you don't already know an existing member. Then police checks and a home visit to check your gun safe storage. There is also a medical disclosure you need to go through. If you've ever suffered from depression, you'll be refused a licence. Only after all this can you buy a pistol or rifle. I am just happy I can buy and use my airguns in my back garden without any difficult restrictions. Only have 30 yards by about 8 wide which is enough. I enjoy shooting metal spinners, small sweets, matches and paper targets, coins and the like.

I think "lies" is correct, because it is the reflexive verb. Like "I lie down." "The cat lies on the sofa." If I lay something down, that isn't reflexive. That is me doing something to an object. "The land lies" is reflexive.

Hikok look out for the pumpkin in the tree!!

Hickok45, I'm looking at my little gun safe here next to me, and I thought "wow his must be three connexes' welded together in a bunker under the house! Probably has a bathroom too. :)

I could NOT take my eyes off that damned Pumpkin! It could have attacked him!

Depends on how the land lies. Depends on the lay of the land.

Yep.

my parents have 2.2 acers and its perfect the back of the yard buts right up against several hundred acers of park land that goes up a steep hill so they ave an amazing back stop while I have 18 acers but its an L with 3 small half acer lots giving it that L shape, a farm along the longest portion of my yard and a creek that the back side of the yard buts up to its horrible for a range so I had to build a massive back stop using rail road ties, dirt I still feel its not perfect but to keep the half acre neighbors happy they are free to use my range.

there is a sneaky looking pumpkin in the tree behind Hichock

where i live in southeast mi you have to be outside city limits and have a minimum range of at least 7 acres and have proper backstops and in some cases signed permission from neighbors, which i assume is about noise levels or something

is that a pumpkin in that tree

PUMPKIN IN DA TREE!!!

One of the things I was looking for when I bought my property was to be able to shoot from my house with any caliber firearm which I did but the bonus is I have a Prairie Dog Town on one corner....100-400 yards out. Then I became friends with my neighbors that own 1000,s of acres around me to hunt Coyotes

I shoot on 3.5 acres, back yard slopes down into a ditch, then back up. We always shoot down into the ditch.

I thought for sure that pumpkin in the tree was gonna eat that knife.

Got a Bersa Thunder 380 CC yesterday. Turns out you uploaded that video on my birthday. Kinda weird, huh?

Lay of the land or lie of the land? - that is the question 😂 But it is the terrain and hill country that you have that makes your property special for shooting sports, and not so much the total acreage. Thanks for this FAQ video.

We live in a very rural area as far as MA goes. There's a giant, natural backstop that will catch ANY ordinance. All the neighbors hunt - that's a big plus, so shooting in the yard is not an issue. Up here it only takes one anti-gun neighbor within an earshot of your land to ruin your day. If I'm going to be stuck in the communist Northeast, I'm one of the luckiest guys on the planet to live where I live.

I really enjoy your videos! We have 2 acres. We shoot only pistol and .22 here and there is a mile of flat ground behind it. Anything over a pistol or .22 rifle, we go to our local gun range. Either way...can't get enough!

Its all about the back stop.

I want to design my own shooting range but I also want to design and ride awesome bike trails. Hopefully I get to impressively accomplish those goals of mine because I want Muay Thai to be a priority of mine too. Life is good!!

Pumpkin got scared and ran up the tree!

In suburbia some towns are taking the law into their own hands and banning firearm discharge regardless of the amount of land or distances. I guess you can make the argument where there is almost no open space and houses everywhere.

lucky for me i have miles of straight power lines going right though the back of my yard .surrounded by woods and fields.

Wow this clip is 9 years old. I have 5 acres in the suburbs but there's hundreds of homes in a subdivision behind my place to serve as a backstop.

Lays I believe.