Shooting in the back yaaaard ISSUES?

[FIDI_G]

Does anyone that shoot in the back yard have a neighbor come over and question what your doing as your PCP sounds like a gun going off?

How do you deal with that ? What do you say? I looked at the local laws here in GA and it's totally legal to shoot a PCP rifle on your property. I explained that this is a pellet rifle and shooting targets. She still seemed concerned as her kids on occasion may walk through my back yard as it's easy access to the woods and creek crossing as I have a small bridge and makes it easy access. Honestly I dont mind. I dont want to stir up anything nor do I want to create any tension in the neighborhood. I didnt say anything to inflame the situation like hey keep your kids off my property or there trespassing or nothing at all. I do not want to stir stuff up. Regardless If I hear kids in the back I stop shooting and just call it a day. In this particular instance the kids were no where near my property or the back yard the parent still felt compelled to ring my door bell and question me as she heard me shooting.

I understand thier concern as I have kids too. Just looking to hear about what if anyone else out there has said or done in a similar situation.

The setting: I live on a flood plane so there are no houses close to me. My back yard is HUGE since its a flood plane there are no homes directly behind me for at least 500yds if not more. I have a house on each side they sit about 30 yds on one side and I have a vacant lot on the other and the next house is like 100yds away. I shoot from a window that faces out to the back of the house. It's all woods with a creek in the back. Kids from the neighborhood like to go back into the woods and play in the creek which runs behind my house.

NOTE: I added a picture of my back yard. For more context. I live at the End of a cul-de-sac which backs up to a wooded preserve (30-50 acre) flood plane. I see more dear and coytee back there than kids. BUT they do wander back there and I'm sure this summer when it warms up there will be more showings.

I have an old wheel barrel as a backstop to my zero targets. As you can see in the picture. Do i need to move it closer to the targets?

 

[orangeokie]

Sounds like you handled it right. Natural for Karen to be concerned about her children. You said you have kids too so you can tell her you "feel the same way she does" and that whenever your kids or other kids are playing behind your house you do not shoot. Also, her complaint that she can hear you shoot, even when you are inside your house, makes me think you might be able to add a moderator to reduce the sound by several decibels.

 

[Buckshutr]

If you are intent on letting them freely roam thru your back yard then you are short on options. Myself I would point out that her child would be perfectly safe if he stayed out of "my" yard. Good fences make good neighbors, both real and unseen but respected!

 

[JadedC]

I think you handled that well. Keep in mind that more often than not the sound of the projectile impacting is louder than the actual firing of a pcp. What kind of target/backstop are you using?

 

[FIDI_G]

Sounds like you handled it right. Natural for Karen to be concerned about her children. You said you have kids too so you can tell her you "feel the same way she does" and that whenever your kids or other kids are playing behind your house you do not shoot. Also, her complaint that she can hear you shoot, even when you are inside your house, makes me think you might be able to add a moderator to reduce the sound by several decibels.

Yeah that's probably what I'll wind up doing but still I'm kind of irritated about the whole situation. I really dont want to have this situation sway me into buying a moderator as I wasnt planning on it. But if she heard it the gun is probably too loud and I'm sure others would also be concerned. We do have a bunch of kids in the neigborhood. Wondering if the HOA is gonna do something. She's fairly new to the neighborhood and I dont personally know her. She seemed ok where we left off but I still think she's really concerned so I dont think it's over. I wouldnt be surprised if she calls the police. I probably need to check and see what the decibal limit is for noise and figure out if Im violating some sort of noise law.

 

[FIDI_G]

I think you handled that well. Keep in mind that more often than not the sound of the projectile impacting is louder than the actual firing of a pcp. What kind of target/backstop are you using?

Targets are 50 to 80yds in the back yard so even further away. The parent was on the street. I shoot spoon spinners and bells. The shot is definetly louder than the impact. I'm actually starting to put up little brass bells in the back yard which I nail to a tree with a huge gutter nail so it sits about 4" away from the tree. I can hear them better it sounds pretty good. You pretty much need a scope just to see the targets. I dont use a backstop. I also have a small paper target setup to zero my scope.

 

[cea1960]

Even with a 4' high by 8' long cement backstop, I never shoot if anyone is out in their yards. Except for the neighbor on my right. He knows of my shooting and I raise a red flag on a 6' pole when I'm shooting to alert him. I'd rather be safe and keep the opportunity to shoot in my yard, than press the issue.

 

[Mustardbisuit]

You guys are really making me feel bad, luckily all my neighbors shoot ,so if they come over they are just curious what I'm shooting today. Ive had my share of neighborly visits in the past. It normally didn't end well if I thought I was in the right. Sort of like "here's a bucket of sand go pound it. I think I'm a pretty neighborly, I shovel snow and repair most lawn equipment for anyone that can see my house. Just don't get on my bad side I'm the guy that would put 1,000 pink flamingos in my lawn just to piss you off. Im not moving again if they don't like what I'm doing they can move this time.

 

[PumaCarl]

I gave up on shooting anything that makes noise. I shoot mostly self sealing spinner type targets. People don't care or worry about what they don't know. I even only take headshots on starlings because body shots pop too much. Shooting bells or old frying pans is just asking for unwanted attention unless you live somewhere no one else but you can hear it. I personally love that my guns are quiet and that's the reason people can mostly still shoot them at home. Making noise on purpose is just making problems.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Targets are 50 to 80yds in the back yard so even further away. The parent was on the street. I shoot spoon spinners and bells. The shot is definetly louder than the impact. I'm actually starting to put up little brass bells in the back yard which I nail to a tree with a huge gutter nail so it sits about 4" away from the tree. I can hear them better it sounds pretty good. You pretty much need a scope just to see the targets. I dont use a backstop. I also have a small paper target setup to zero my scope.

If you can hear it, they can too.

 

[WorriedMan]

FIDI,
That's a tough one, best is not to alert Karen, at all. The only thing they hate worse than guns is to see a man be happy. WM

 

[MikeVV]

The law in my town, (in SoCal) says I cannot...shoot pellet or BB guns in the back yard.
So yeah, I have issues !

Mike

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

The law in my town, (in SoCal) says I cannot...shoot pellet or BB guns in the back yard.
So yeah, I have issues !

Mike

Same here

 

[beerthief]

Yeah that's probably what I'll wind up doing but still I'm kind of irritated about the whole situation. I really dont want to have this situation sway me into buying a moderator as I wasnt planning on it. But if she heard it the gun is probably too loud and I'm sure others would also be concerned. We do have a bunch of kids in the neigborhood. Wondering if the HOA is gonna do something. She's fairly new to the neighborhood and I dont personally know her. She seemed ok where we left off but I still think she's really concerned so I dont think it's over. I wouldnt be surprised if she calls the police. I probably need to check and see what the decibal limit is for noise and figure out if Im violating some sort of noise law.

Buck rail moderators . they work and like $30 i have two .177 and .22

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Buck rail moderators . they work and like $30 i have two .177 and .22

I'm guessing it's the target's noise that the neighbor is hearing. After the incident with my shirty neighbor, I asked my other neighbors about them hearing me. They said they only heard it when it was metal targets but they didn't care...
Otherwise no.

 

[GA_LeadHead]

Similar issue. I live on 2 acres with my neighbor's open field behind my back fence. Yet, I have another neighbor ( that shoots powder burners in their yard ) roll up on his golf cart and give me the spanish inquisition on what I'm shooting. I told him they were air rifles. He even took a metal detector and went all over behind my fence trying to find a "bullet". Then he constantly rides his golf cart over and just sits and stares into my backyard. Really creepy. I'm like OP, I don't want to inflame the situation, so I just ignore him. However I'm seriously considering the huge expense of putting up a wooden privacy fence now.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Similar issue. I live on 2 acres with my neighbor's open field behind my back fence. Yet, I have another neighbor ( that shoots powder burners in their yard ) roll up on his golf cart and give me the spanish inquisition on what I'm shooting. I told him they were air rifles. He even took a metal detector and went all over behind my fence trying to find a "bullet". Then he constantly rides his golf cart over and just sits and stares into my backyard. Really creepy. I'm like OP, I don't want to inflame the situation, so I just ignore him. However I'm seriously considering the huge expense of putting up a wooden privacy fence now.

Oh wow that's crazy neighbor stuff. Mine is just uhh... a..hole

 

[Franklink]

I have one neighbor. When we were first remodeling the house, prior to moving in I told him about my little airgun hobby. He's a horse breeder and has some crazy high dollar horses there on his property next to mine. I saw a flash of concern and I told him no horses or any other of his property will ever get a hole in it. That seemed to ease his concerns.

I'm able to shoot some rather loud airguns at times, surely they can hear it, and I have not heard a peep from them about it. BUT, If I see anybody outside next door I hold off my shooting, not b/c I'm concerned for their safety, but rather just common courtesy.

I do have a contingency plan though. He's got some stuff that isn't up to code, primarily some structures right on the property line. City requires 10 feet. He also has some cattle dogs that roam around at times, also not allowed in our jurisdiction. If he ever decides to make the airgun shooting a problem, he'll have a problem himself. Those two things irritate me, but I assume I'm also being irritating with the shooting noise, so figure we're square.

 

[Franklink]

Similar issue. I live on 2 acres with my neighbor's open field behind my back fence. Yet, I have another neighbor ( that shoots powder burners in their yard ) roll up on his golf cart and give me the spanish inquisition on what I'm shooting. I told him they were air rifles. He even took a metal detector and went all over behind my fence trying to find a "bullet". Then he constantly rides his golf cart over and just sits and stares into my backyard. Really creepy. I'm like OP, I don't want to inflame the situation, so I just ignore him. However I'm seriously considering the huge expense of putting up a wooden privacy fence now.

I put up a 6 foot wooden privacy fence all the way around the 0.55 acre lot at my last place. I shot all that I wanted within that yard, into a pellet trap of course. Only one of the neighbors at that place was affected by my shooting, being quite close to the pellet trap, so I told him what I was up to next door and it was never a problem. I knew he could hear the pellets slapping the cardboard so figured telling him was better than him deciding to investigate himself.

 

[JimD]

I have all my guns at 85db or less so they are not very loud. But still my neighbors hear me shooting. One friendly lady three houses away asked me what the "nailgun type sound" was. I told her I was shooting PCPs. She said her husband has a pump up he shoots sometimes. Nobody else has commented. She knows more neighbors than I do so she probably spread the word.

I did have one issue, however. I made a swinging target and was shooting it with my Avenger to see if my welds would hold up. I was about done when a fishing boat started moving down the cove towards the area behind my back yard. My scope had shifted and I was struggling to hit the target. I stopped before they got there but they were less than 100 yards away. Several hours later I get visited by an armed fish and game officer. He tells me quickly shooting air guns into the lake is not illegal. But the fisherman said I was shooting at them. I walked him through the house to the backyard and my targets were readily visible. He may have noticed. I didn't say it but if I had been shooting at them at least the boat would have been hit. He asked me to move the swinging target in front of a large oak so it would stop the pellets and I agreed and he left. I could have refused, he had already admitted I wasn't doing anything wrong, but it's easier to make an accomidation where you can. Mostly I shoot into a pellet trap but I shoot steel targets too but they have 2x2 concrete pavers behind them.

You might look for a way to make the upset lady more comfortable. It sounds like you are shooting down where the pellets will not carry. If so, you might show her. Maybe you could ask her to have her kids let you know when they will be behind your house so you can stop shooting until after they leave. (I kind of do that with boaters now, I just quit when they are on the lake near my yard) It's hard to know what would make her happy, you may want to just ask her. I would do it after stating that what I was doing was legal and I planned to continue to do it but if there was some reasonable way to keep her kids safe and her happier you want to find it. Maybe a solid backstop for you to shoot towards would make her happy and cost a lot less than a fence.

It is possible to decrease the noise from a pellet trap some. I built a steel frame to go around mine and when I draped two layers of towels over it I got about a 6db reduction in the noise. It's hard to make the guns or the pellet impact so quiet neighbors who are outside can't hear it, however.