Shooting on Private Land

[sonofsammo]

I might be able to get permission to shoot in a field near my house - so I've got something at a decent distance for testing my sniper rifles.

My question is - When I'm shooting, can I be in sight of the public? The BBs won't leave the boundary of the field, so that's not an issue, but I'm wondering if being seen is?
I seem to recall that you can shoot in your garden, but not if you can be seen from a public right of way.
I've come to realise this is a bit bonkers, because there's peeps round here in fields using shotguns, hunting rabbits etc.
And that's ok, even though they can be seen from the road.
So I'm a little baffled.
If anyone could shed some light, I'd much appreciate it.
TIA 😄 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

the issue with being seen is when someone sees a guy with a gun and decides to call the police just to be sure, especially given *most* airsoft guns don't look the part of hunting shotgun.

 

when it's a real gun you're gonna have your papers with you and permission from the landowner to deal with any awkward questions. whilst the police seem to have a pretty good grasp of the whole concept of airsoft you might still get that one jobsworth.

 

i've shot plenty on private land but always made sure nothing's visible.

[Jedi_Master]

Just wear your bush Wookie suit so that you cannot be seen...

 

Are you able to screen your firing position and guns from general view?

[EDcase]

People might call the police because 'that gun doesn't make any sound'  😆

 

While its better not to be seen, trying to stay hidden may look more suspicious if you are spotted.

If there is no way to avoid being seen then just stay in the open and act like you belong there.

If you've got a UKARA card then don't worry about it.

 

[Tommikka]

My attitude to ‘shooting on private land’ and ‘playing on private land’ differs:

 

Playing comes with so many more issues.  I’ll ignore that as you’re asking about testing / target shooting etc

 

Legally you have a problem if a BB leaves the boundary and/or crosses a public right of way.

Cover that by being realistic about the direction you shoot and make an allowance for a BB going a freakishly long distance.  Ensure that there is a form a barrier preventing them going any further than intended

 

That also contributes to being green, even bio degradable takes time and doesn’t degrade in the wrong conditions 

See if you can ‘trap’ any strays, such as putting up netting or a gazebo plus a tarp on the ground under the target area

 

 

Being responsible is a balance between not being overly visible to the public and not being suspicious

The response you get can be different - you don’t want armed response swooping down on you, and can more easily deal with bobbies in a car.  Even better if that can be pre-empted such as the local village Bobby being aware.  
My local Bobby knows that I have quite an armoury - twofold, if someone notices me with a wrapped up AK47 coming from or going to the car, or in case there is a surge of burglaries etc

 

Bear in mind that there are different kinds of ‘private land’

A farm is private land, but is also a business with a number of other businesses coming in and out (milk lorries etc)

There may be public rights of way, or also trespassers. 
Make sure that none of the above could result in an accident (stepping across your target) or being spotted and reported.

Mark boundaries if necessary and add some signs, even if that’s just printed paper strung up while you’re there

 

1 hour ago, Jedi_Master said:

Just wear your bush Wookie suit so that you cannot be seen...

 

Are you able to screen your firing position and guns from general view?

You may be joking, but at one of our early events a ghillied sniper got lost crawling around people searching out targets.

He crawled through different zones (including drowning in the sea if he hadn’t found a prop giving him the ability to swim), past the normal site boundary, out to the farmers wider boundary and came to an end at a fence.

Totally lost he followed the fence, hopped over when it was impassable and found himself walking along the road with a traffic jam until he came into the car park and would have got away with it if my buddy hadn’t stepped out of a portaloo at the wrong moment 

 

That was about a decade ago, we still regularly ensure he doesn’t forget

 

[padraigthesniper]

Its a airsoft toy replica so as long as people dont feel threatened or see you doing something that makes you look dangerous you should be good. Maybe wear a pink t shirt and put some pink tape on the airsoft gun to make it look safe, then make a big cardboard sign pointing at where the public may see you and write on it "Pink Toy Replica Range". Then make sure youre wearing a minecraft hat and some pink gloves as well. Play some music when you shooting not too loud something like "im a barbie girl" or the thomas the tank engine theme song on loop.  For your targets get some big pink fluffy unicorns off amazon and put rainbow paper targets on them. If you can get some with pressure sensors you can get them to light up and make noise when you shoot dead centre mass. Then get a 10kg box of glitter and pour it over yourself and the ground around you then you should be good to go.

 

Anyone who walks past that will know you no danger to anyone on your toy replica range. Have some cakes on hand to eat in between practice while you watch the latest episode of my little pony on the ipad at 4k HDR...

 

(this is a joke btw but would probably work)

 

Good luck man.

[Tommikka]

34 minutes ago, padraigthesniper said:

Its a airsoft toy replica so as long as people dont feel threatened or see you doing something that makes you look dangerous you should be good. Maybe wear a pink t shirt and put some pink tape on the airsoft gun to make it look safe, then make a big cardboard sign pointing at where the public may see you and write on it "Pink Toy Replica Range". Then make sure youre wearing a minecraft hat and some pink gloves as well. Play some music when you shooting not too loud something like "im a barbie girl" or the thomas the tank engine theme song on loop.  For your targets get some big pink fluffy unicorns off amazon and put rainbow paper targets on them. If you can get some with pressure sensors you can get them to light up and make noise when you shoot dead centre mass. Then get a 10kg box of glitter and pour it over yourself and the ground around you then you should be good to go.

 

Anyone who walks past that will know you no danger to anyone on your toy replica range. Have some cakes on hand to eat in between practice while you watch the latest episode of my little pony on the ipad at 4k HDR...

 

(this is a joke btw but would probably work)

 

Good luck man.

If I encountered that then I’d be afraid, very afraid 

[Adolf Hamster]

19 minutes ago, Tommikka said:

If I encountered that then I’d be afraid, very afraid 

 

Same, i wouldnt be calling the police i'd be calling the local asylum....