This is one day in my search for some land to turn into a small shooting range for myself. Looking at 2ish acres to set up IPDA and practical rifle type shooting. Just took a class on half an acre and it wasn’t awful so for what I want I can make do with this amount of land.

What do I need to take into consideration besides the obvious one of needing to build an appropriate sized berm? I believe most counties are unincorporated which means you can usually shoot on them but is there anything about time of day and if you can buy land just for that without a house on it etc? I’ll be looking for an area with minimal neighbors and out in the country but even if neighbors can hear it and as long as I’m shooting safely with the proper berm etc I can’t be shut down correct? I’ll be considerate and I’m not talking about 3am shooting events.

I don’t have the exact county picked out since that will vary based on land that’s available but it will be around central IL. I’m assuming most counties are very similar to each other in that regard besides the obvious one of Cook county being drastically different etc.

Any guidance will be appreciated

The only small bit of advice I can give is to find a parcel that won't be incorporated into a village or township any time in the foreseeable future.

Best wishes and I wait for your invitation.

Do you want cool targets? Need electricity. Distance to trauma care? Comms signals? Laws in case you want to build a small structure and/or park a camper in the future? Can you join the local town council or whatever to insulate your purchase? Can you bury stuff? Proximity to public water due to lead laws? If you find a place near a water source - bonus! If possible, proactively meet the neighbors and see if you would want to 'shelter' near them?

I realize my post kinda slid into 'preparedness' but if you can get it by asking smarter questions, why not.

ETA: it could be the perfect place for night shoots ... with quiet-ing devices. A separate address could be a good place to get your FFL (07 ??) to do this. Just sayin

I did exactly what you are describing in 2015 in North Western IL.  This is going to be a little long winded so take a seat and turn the bathroom vent on.  I will try to organize my thoughts and break this down into sections.

Land

You mentioned you are looking at 2 acres, this is exactly what I ended up with.  When it comes to land in downstate IL, if its flat its got corn or beans on it.  I would recommend looking for some timber, creek bed, an old homestead, strip mine, rock quarry etc.  If your lucky it will have a natural berm in the land scape.  I ended up with an old homestead.  Someone carved out 2 acres from farm ground many years ago and the house has since dilapidated and caved in.  I was left with just a brick foundation, but the land was legally 2 separate acres with a homestead.   Due to the house foundation and over growth, no one wanted it to plant, hunt, etc.  It was really just overlooked.  Additionally, with just 2 acres I wouldn’t try looking at for sale sites, auctions, realtors etc.  I would decide where you are considering and just drive the back roads looking for a for sale sign.

Purchase/Financing

If you can afford to pay cash, great.  If not, you will need to borrow money.  I had a hard time finding a bank willing to loan money for the purchase.  It was not a house, vehicle, debt consolidation, etc so most banks would not touch it.  I found that small farmer banks are more used to land purchases.  As for my bank they required 35% down as it was “raw” land. They were however willing to go 5, 10, 15 years without issue.  Without getting into details, my payment is $38mo for my own personal shooting range.

P.S. I hate to add this part, but when dealing with the bank, realtor, title company, local court house be sure to just say its for hunting, camping, building your future retirement home.  Sadly, not everyone is gun friendly.

Taxes

Your situation may vary.  Because my land was listed as a homestead, it did not qualify for any farm discounts etc.  Personally, I would stay away from doing a CRP as it may prevent you from being able to mow.

Clearing the land

If you find and purchase a nice flat piece of ground or an old rock quarry, good job.  I bought an old homestead with 40 years of over growth.  In may case I had many friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers join in and help clear the land.  We had 3 chains saws going and later 2 backhoes and an excavator.  We cleared a whole acre of trees in less than a week.  I did have to haul in rock to rebuild the road back to the property.  I had to pay for the rock, but everything else was free.  You may find, as I did, that people who own heavy equipment are happy to bring it out and knock over some trees just for grins and won’t charge you a dime.

I’ll add mowing to this section.  I can’t stress enough the importance of keeping it mowed to avoid ticks and potentially Lyme disease.

Berm or backstop

If you can find land with a natural berm, buy it.  If not you can look up all the possible and recommend berm ideas.  I priced old rail road ties to build a wall to push dirt against, but the cost was too high.  I ended up using concrete “bunker blocks” instead to build a retaining wall and then added lots dirt in front of them.   A bunker block is typically 4ft wide, 2ft deep, and 2ft high of solid concrete.  Any nearby concrete plant should have them.  They are poured from left overs and then stacked to sell later.  Around here they go for $20 each.  I would not pay much more.  They also can come in 6ft length and stack like Legos.  You will need some heavy equipment to transport and move them, be safe.

Targets and Range

I will leave out target design etc.  I will be happy to comment, if you want to know what I went with.  I will recommend however a picnic table and or shooting bench, burn barrel, and some kind of onsite storage.  I would stay away from a permanent structure for tax reasons, but a job box, garden shed, storage container, or any weather proof solution should let you store targets, paint, clay pigeons, etc on site so that you don’t have to load them up every time you want to go shooting.

Laws

I have heard 500ft or 1000ft from a residence.  As some have said above, make sure you are not in city limits or close enough to be incorporated later.  Also depending on the town, some have a buffer zone where they can dictate your use, even though you are technically not in the city limits.  I don’t know the legal term for this, but it is used to keep someone from building a hog confinement right outside town.

My best advice is keep your neighbors happy and don’t be a jackass.  As for myself, I don’t shoot after dark and don’t allow tanternite.  During deer archery season, I try to shoot right at noon or 1PM as most hunters are hunting sun up or sun down.  I also just stay away during deer shotgun season.  I have yet to have an issue, a lot of my neighbors will actually come to the sound of gun fire to say hello or ask to join in.  Honestly, all it takes is one asshole neighbor to get the city hall or county board to pass an ordinance and say bye bye to your range.

Things I would do differently

1)Buy land that is already setup to be a range.  I would love to have a long hill side, or just have an old rock quarry.

2)If you do need to cut down some trees, have someone who knows something check them out first.  You may have some hard woods that are worth some money.

3)Buy a bigger piece of land.  2 acres is fine for what I do, but I would like to have a longer range for rifles.

4)Build a bigger berm.  Currently my berm is fine for “aimed” shooting.  But I am wanting to go wider to allow for IDPA or 3 guns like target layouts.

@mods - this should be a sticky

Dirt/ backfill can be had for free depending what kind of construction work is going on in the area. Excavators are always looking for a free dump location. My $.02

Being self employed my first thought is always what liability am I exposing myself to.  If you are going to let people shoot on your property you're going to need a good insurance policy.

So the first thought is to form an S-corp (Bob's Range, Inc.)  Have the corp lease the land from you.  The lease should contain verbiage that the corp will Hold Harmless and Indemnify you.

Then find an insurance carrier that is willing to write a policy.  Next step would be to have a lawyer draft your Hold Harmless and Indemnify Waiver that your guests must sign.

If someone gets hurt you may / will get sued in hopes of a quick payout to avoid litigation.  Even if you were not negligent, prepare thy angus.

Proximity:  If I have to drive two hours to get to your range it better be worth my time.

Storage:  Steel targets, target stands, targets, spray paint, staples, staple guns, 5 gallon buckets, spikes to hold the target stands, heavy hammers to drive the spikes, big pry bar to help lift the spikes, rope, etc - need secure storage.

Electricity:  Is it available?  Monthly cost?

First Aid Kits should be easily accessible.

I could go on but these are the first hurdles I would tackle.  Plus, you are setting up shop in a very anti 2A state.  If the .gov passes any form of gun control this may impact people using your range.

The thought of owning my own range that has a pistol range(s) and a rifle range out to 1000yds sounds great in my head

+1

As I read the above, I realized my own 'just some land' plan needs to include space for a small conex bcuz I'm gonna need a UTV. Between all this stuff - that NO WAY I'm gonna transport every time - and going downrange to deal with targets - that NO WAY am I gonna sacrifice trigger time to walk - I need to rethink my own plan.

You cannot introduce noise from a new firearm range within 1,000 yards of an inhabited dwelling without being subject to civil action for Trespass.

If you are not building a range within 1,000 yards of an inhabited dwelling, the biggest considerations are adequate acreage for the distances you want to shoot and berm construction.  Other considerations are how to keep trespassers off the range when you are not using it, securing a good insurance policy to manage your liability and property upkeep.

Well that's going to be a problem

Its the same exact thing I've been looking for somewhere not too far from the Chicago Northwest Suburbs (Crystal Lake/McHenry County). Haven't taken time out to search for land yet as couldn't find any nearby plus chicago suburbs are heavily populated. If you find one, maybe we can be neighbors :).

Maybe Wisconsin might be a better idea

P.S. - I go to this outdoor range in Ottawa, IL 2 hours from my home, called Buffalo Range or something to sight in my hunting rifles (hunt out of state btw...) and its awesome. Should look for something like that. Although it is a huge property.

Please cite a source for this because I've been around a while and never heard it before.  While insurance is important, our agent took a look at my 200 yard range and wasn't concerned at all.  We're pretty much in the sticks, though, so the chance of someone wandering onto the range is nonexistent.

Maybe this?  Didnt read close enough to see anything about tresspass.  Not sure of relevance to private land too.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=074001300K5

(740 ILCS 130/5)

Sec. 5. Firearm ranges; liability.

(a) As used in this Section, "firearm range" means a rifle, pistol, silhaouette, skeet, trap, black powder, or other similar range in this State used for discharging firearms in a sporting event, for practice or instruction in the use of a firearm, or for the testing of a firearm. "Firearm range" also includes licensed shooting preserves and public hunting areas operated or licensed by the Department of Natural Resources

snip

(1) All areas from which a firearm may be properly discharged are at least 1,000 yards from any occupied permanent dwelling on adjacent property.

Learn something new every day.  My range (private; family only) was put into operation after 94 and my closest neighbor is 650 yards; all others are over 1,000.  Of course, that neighbor raises hogs so we'll call it even.  They've never complained and on a nice weekend it's common to hear 5 different folks shooting.  No one worries about noise in this area.

Interested Bystander is correct.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/074001300K5.htm

The new noise introduced would be considered civil trespass and subject to civil litigation.  A range constructed prior to Jan 1, 1994, would have a defense should someone file a lawsuit over the noise caused by gunfire.

While the OP will need to judge for himself, I wouldn't be too concerned about it downstate.  There are a lot of us that shoot down here with no problems with the neighbors.  If you're in a conservative area it's extremely likely that no one will care . . . let alone notice.  We have a lot of neighbors that shoot and no one fusses about it.

Which areas of downstate are those ? I would love buy something within 4 hours of driving distance from me here in McHenry County (NW Suburbs of Chitcago)

4hrs one way or 4hrs round trip?  If its 4hrs one way, you will be well into the land of corn and beans.

Just avoid the blue spots

4 hours one is fine by me. Might not seem practical but worth it having some open land, just for the heck of it, if I could get it cheap. Could make for a long drive for the kids and myself and have a fun family range time. Maybe invite you guys over as well :)

Another thing to consider might be to stay away from any incorporated areas , atleast here in IL. Lots of regulations and restrictions.

Where in IL are you btw OP? Chicago suburbs or somewhere downstate?

I'd probably look into Wisconsin since you're that far north.

Sounds like a good idea

Old thread bump but something I did not see mentioned. In Illinois it is illegal to shoot over "public" water. So make sure any property you buy for this purpose doesn't have a creek of something that runs across the range.

 Shooting over water was discussed in a prior post, but cant speak to its relevance

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Hometown/Legal-to-shoot-over-a-creek-/23-635570/

Haven't seen anyone here yet with a private or home range anywhere near the Northwest Shitcago suburbs (McHenry County, Richmond, Fox Lake, Spring Grove etc) or the Wisconsin border (which is actually more sensible and a better area with cheaper and bigger lots of land if available) areas like Randall, or near the Fox River, Gander mountains.

If anyone has a private range there, please post pics :)

I have a small private range just outside Woodstock city limits.  
McHenry county recently introduced a Nuisance Noise Ordinance though, so I haven't been using it as much.
So far MCSD haven't given me any grief, but its only a matter of time.

Dang! That’s a bummer. I guess that’s why you have to stay out of any incorporated limits.

Central, IL