Has anyone else noticed how it's getting to be the only place you can go shooting is at a range. Is this some sort of subversive control? I remember when you could go to the swamp here in Florida(whole state is a swamp) and go plinking, don't even think about it now. I even heard you can't shoot in the desert in AZ. who has some oo the most lax gun laws. SUck it up folks we can have our guns but it's going to have to be shot where you can be observed and controlled. My 2 cents.

You can still go plinking here, just not right up next to a housing development. We have a lot of open desert here, very few of it is closed, so far. The local LEO's had to close off a few shooting sights a couple of months ago due to there proximity to housing developments, and some idiots who thought they could shoot right up next to somebody's house, but for the most part, you can still go out and have a good time just "plinking" around. Hell, I even have a place I go to where I can shoot out farther than my rangefinder can see!

I need to move.

Around here we used to go to the gravel pits to shoot or ride ATV's etc. and no one cared. Not anymore.

The ranges here near Phoenix are pretty open too. I agree with Kev hog. AZ is really a fabulous state, and you are among friends here. I moved here a year ago, and bumped into a guy that "did a little shooting, wanna come along", that got me into open sight, military rifle, 200 yd competition and .22 pistol league. I feel like a Polock that lived in Oklahoma all his life and then moved to Wisconsin, learned the accordian and how to eat cheese.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the ranges. Every time I go, there is always a class 3 weapon around, so going to the range is not a bad thing. We have so many ranges here, you can always find some kind of match to shoot in, so you'll never be bored.

here in so.cal there are a few places to go but getting scarce and still a dreiv.The best option for me is to drive to the desert it takes me about 1hr45min to get there but i can shoot my registered ar there legally.The closest range is about 40 min for me so the desert is my best bet.

hehe, I can go plinking right off my back deck with anything I own. The local Sheriff even said it was ok and said he encourages people to practice their shooting - and I live in Californistan! Of course I do have the good fortune to live on the edge of the El Dorado National forest. It's not unusual for me to come home from work and blow off some tension by shooting at the spinners or hanging 5 gal cans 25 yards from my deck.

I'm going plinking on public land tomorrow, in California even. I guess you should move.

Still lot's of plinking here while camping up in the mountains here in Cali, gun laws sure suck though

I've been going to a friends house in unincorporated Will County, within 2 miles of the Cook County line for 15 years. He's maybe 12 miles from the Chicago city limits. There are housing developments within a mile. Been out there with 3 or 4 guys, all with AR's, AK's, other rifles, handguns, ETC, with never a problem.
We've even seen cops drive by without slowing, while we're blasting away.
I imagine it would be different on public land.

I'm going plinking in the AZ desert today.

Anyone wanna go?

I too can shoot out in my yard.
I usually don't though because I enjoy watching the wildlife that comes by here frequently.
  So I just drive 10 minutes in any direction.

Moved onto 4.5 acres 2 years ago. One of the 1st things I did was "build" my own range. Just a couple of loads of dirt for a backstop, and yardage marked off with fenceposts, but at least it will be already "in place" when they start to develop the old dairy pasture next to me. When that begins, I'll start building a hog pen, close to the road.

here in so.cal there are a few places to go but getting scarce and still a dreiv.The best option for me is to drive to the desert it takes me about 1hr45min to get there but i can shoot my registered ar there legally.The closest range is about 40 min for me so the desert is my best bet.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a lot of plinking in L.A.?

Guess I am one of the lucky ones.  I can plink from by back door and often do.  I can also walk 1/2 mile away into a large gully and shoot anything I want.  

Here in VA, least where I live anyway, I can shoot pretty much where I want to.  The local sheriffs even gave me suggestions on what to do to make it more enjoyable.  Usually I just get a saw-horse and staple some paper targets to it.  My parents do have a kind of large back yard though, I literally live in the middle of a field with about 30 acres behind the house.

I've also been known to get shocked looks from my local gun shop owner when I got my dad to pick up more 22 WMR ammo, used over 150 rounds in about a hour with my bud and me shooting Coke cans.

Come to think of it, I don't know of any shooting ranges even around where I'm at.  Everybody just goes behind their house to plink.

Aaaah, rural life.

I envy you guys.
I use a wheelchair so just goijng shooting requires a lot of research. And most outdoor ranges only have dirt.  So have fun, blast away for me...

I can shoot on my own property, plinking or pest control. Killed two rattlers in my yard, one coming up on the front porch. I know a guy who sits at his dining table and shoots an O/U 20ga through an open patio door at ground squirrels. He has a 100 meter range I can use for centerfire. Open carry is legal and not uncommon, but some businesses make you unload  before entering. On a Sunday morning, it is unusual not to hear gunfire from some direction, some guy or gal out practicing.  

I'm quite lucky in that my father-in-law has 20 wooded acres out in the middle of nowhere in South Texas (a couple of hours from where I live).  Get the chance to shoot all my guns (as rapidly or as slow as I want to) without any interference from anyone.  Enjoy shooting cans, empty plastic jugs, targets, and spent shot gun shells.  Of course, I do have to pick up all the brass (except for .22) and the left over trash.  I often BBQ feral hog and other meats while out there.  Life is good!

Quoted: I'm going plinking in the AZ desert today. Anyone wanna go?

I can't!  I'm supposed to be working (right now!)[>Q]

Still tons of places to shoot around here.  

here in ar-kansas we kin shoot from any where we want as long as we are aiming in the general direction of oklahoma :)

seriously though, it actually isnt too difficult to find a place to plink around here.  the place i shoot is right across the river from the city where i live, about 15 minutes from my home.  i was directed to the location by a game and fish officer, so it is definitely cool with the Man.  only problem is that my honda gets extra muddy if it has rained within a few days.  no biggie though.  i think my accord has done more offroading than 90% of the so called sport utility vehicles on this planet.  nothing like parking a muddy-assed honda next to a row of waxed and polished excursions and land rovers.

C17, your problem is Florida.  I grew up there, and it was hard to find any area that wasn't populated or posted.  And it's all flat so there aren't natural backstops, which cut down on noise as well as stopping bullets.

Now I am in AZ and plinking is a 10-minute drive.

I have a friend whose deer stand is literally his family room. Every year at the beginning of the season he will pick a day and stay home from work. His backyard is 30acres butting up against a state wildlife preserve. He opens a window removes the screen and waits for sunrise and the deer that move along the treeline about 65yards out. His wife makes sure she isn't home because 1)she doesn't like doing house chores and waiting for a gun to go off. 2) She wants to make sure he is "deer" hunting in the house and not "Dear" hunting. Needless to say he does not spend a lot of money on cold-weather camo, ladder-chairs, hiking boots or blaze-orange. His hunting stories are always real funny like; "I was watching the end of Giligan's Island. Giligan had just screwed-up the Professor's coconut telephone when I saw the biggest buck out of the corner of my eye!..."

Back to the topic. Yeah, I remember when a kid shooting rotting grapefruit (I grew up in Florida) with a bolt-action .22 was not a reason to dispatch a patrol car.

Quoted: Around here we used to go to the gravel pits to shoot or ride ATV's etc. and no one cared. Not anymore.

ARChuck: where are you?  I still have found a number of spots that still work, though I remember the pit north of North Bend (Weyerheuser=NO SHOOTING) and the one on the east side of highway 18 (too close to the round=NO SHOOTING)that both closed down a number of years ago.

Around me (well, relatively) there is a pit up by Stossell Creek, one 4 miles up the road off Tinkham Road near I-90, and, of course, the infamous "Sportsmans Basin" near Sultan.  I started going to the Basin several years too late, as any places prior to the 8-mi mark were closed (two of which were excellent), but there are a number of places that work.

I don't think it's only proximity to housing that closes "plinking" areas down; some of these places get so damn trashed they become absolute dumps.  I love to shoot at cars, appliances, etc. as much as the next person, but as I'm getting older I question the bring-it/dump-it/shoot-it/leave-it mentality.  

The other problem with a lot of these isolated spots is the element it brings with it: people bringing illegal weapons or people who'd rather not have others know they have weapons.  My brother and I almost got shot once by some idiots who thought it would be a good idea to discharge a "leftover" round into the dirt right by us.

Others end up shooting up whatever they feel is fair game, including trees (that really have no backstop behind them) and into streams.

It's sad, as plinking is a dying pass-time in many places, but I've been pretty viligant about keeping an eye on my favorite spots to follow the status of their availability.

Here's a cool site on plinking:

www.singsingsing.com/has.html

My Dad decided to build me a small 60 yard range in an old pasture at his farm last year.  Since I live only 5 miles away, it is perfect for plinking.  He was telling me this weekend of the renovation plans he has for it, so it will soon be a hundred yard range.  

I keep asking him to go shooting with me, but he doesn't have much interest in it.  I think it's great that he is willing to put the time and effort into a shooting range that he has never used (though he is asked to go shooting every time I go over, which is just about once a week, twice during the summer).

Brad  

In CA there is lots of room for plinkin in BLM land some fun places to shoot near the border of mexico.

Guess that's why I love visiting the farm, 100-800 yards from the back porch.

Mike

I used to work with a guy named Dan, who grew up in Brooklyn, pre WWII.  He used to go rabbit hunting and plinking in the Brooklyn farmland.  

Not any more.

No problems in Nevada yet. Lots of desert out there. I usually go two miles for "my" shooting set up. Pretty nice.

Dude!!   They're right...   For shootin', come to Arizona...   We've got our own private 25/50/100yard range in a sand wash and have been there for years...   It's hard to spot and only 10 minutes from home and 4 minutes from the interstate..   Lots of possibilities here and "my" range is only 5 minutes from a monthly gun show...   Just clean up after yourself...