Ok my backyard range has been there for over 10 years easily.

My property is on 10 acres and so is the one on the left of me (no problems with them). The property rises from the start of the target area to right around 10' at the property's end. It's a crest that then goes down the other direction. I can't even see my neighbors house behind me from the top of the crest as it's more diagonal to the right and a few hundred yards and probably 20' lower. They are one of the problem neighbors. The other problem neighbors are the ones to the right of me. The shooting line is raised about 5' and the target area is the lowest spot in the field. I'm always shooting down.

The neighbors directly behind me moved in there about a year ago and started calling the police every time I would shoot and the police would just say "it's the peoples right to shoot on their property". So one day I'm shooting a lot and the neighbors call the police and hear the same thing and with the same answer. So then they add "bullets are hitting our house".

Police come over casually and we talk. I show them the range and they said it's nice and in no way could bullets have hit the neighbors house like they said. It did not hurt that I had and accurized .308 with 1/4 inch groups on the targets and was wearing one of my old USMC unit shirts. My buddy shooting with me was also a former Marine who has a Wife on the next towns police department. Police just said that the new neighbors are "city folk" and will have to get used to country life.

Fast forward to this spring. The other neighbors on my right never liked me shooting and have been there just as long as my family. They "Teamed up" with the new neighbors and got them to open up there field they never used to "run their horses". They put a feeder directly in line with the range. If the feeder was 10' back I could not even see it as it slopes back the other direction.

So the other day I walked back so no one, checked the area and started to pistol shoot and kept hearing people get louder and louder (I have peltors on). I stop shooting and next think I know they are on horses directly in front of me. So now every time I try and shoot within a few minutes they bring the horses out and "run the field" even though they own around 50 acres of horse running areas they now use that new neighbors land.

pisses me off.


So I'm building a berm but not sure If I should put it right across the back of the range or right on the fence line?

My property is outlined in red, new neigbors is kinda outlined in green (they got an od shaped lot so their house is way to the right even more than the photo could ever show. to the right is the woods and fields of the horse people. I also showed a red down of the new horse feeder not yet on this sat image but it really is bright red.
Also for reference when I look back even from the top of the house I can't see past "feeder" in the green box as the Green/Red line is the crest.

any suggestions?

more tannerite! Lots more tannerite!

Can you put the berm on the right flank of your property so you are shooting towards the woods?

Send them a certified letter to inform them that you have used your property as a private shooting range for the past 10 years (as allowed by law) and that they chose to install their horse feeder directly at the end of your range a few weeks ago at their own risk.

Negative, the second a horse gets shot , by OP or anyone else, OP is fucked, "At their own risk" can be used as a thinly vailed threat.

Dont do anything but keep shooting. They can all be camped out a the end of their property all they way, as long as your rounds are withing your property, fuck em. I would NOT stop shooting just because their horses are on THEIR property.

A berm at the end of your range will provide better coverage than one at the end of your property (think angles, etc)

Sorry about your sucky neighbors. I'd imagine if you're shooting, the horses may not want to get near the feeder?

Two words.....claymore mines!

Arfcom standard answer.

nuke them from orbit!

SHIT head new neighbors and gun hating old neighbors

+1

The berm should be a good idea.

Maybe you could have a super high frequency speaker around 70-100kHz (above 20kHz that is the limit of human hearing) that annoy the horses away from the area.

+1 Keep the berm at the end of the range.

Invite the new neighbors and the popo over for a bbq/range day.

Change the angle of your rifle shooting to point more toward that wooded area. Put in some kind of berm to absorb rifle bullets.

Put in a berm on the left side of the photo so you can shoot pistol pointing that direction.

Try to screen the visibility of your shooting from the complaining neighbors so next time you are shooting and they start whining that your bullets are hitting their house, when the police show up at your place you'll have been shooting in a different direction.

Anticipate that they will continue to escalate the situation up to and including shooting one of their horses themselves, or shooting their own house, and claim it was one of your bullets. I would not be open with them or anyone about your shooting setup, direction, types of guns or ammo that you shoot, or anything as they will only use that information to try to pin something on you.