Target practice along a road.

[Kim473]

A neighbor across the road from someone I know has set up a target about 50 yards from the road. This target is on a little hill for a backstop . They shoot along the road to the target, maybe slightly towards the road. about 1/4 mile down the road is 2 farm houses, one on each side of the road and close to the road. My friends house is right across the road from where they are shooting from and the house is about 25 yards or less off the road.

My question is , is this legal or not ?

The regs are a little fuzzy on this to me. Conflicting statements in them. Can't shoot along a road but yet you can with the the proper distance from the road. Can't shoot within 200 yards of a occupied building.

We are concerned about a bullet hitting a rock and traveling across the road possibly hitting a car or even a person walking on the road. there are horses across the road and down a little ways also.

[WinefredCommander]

Sounds dangerous. Call authorities.

[Pathfinder76]

How about you go talk to him first.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by chuck

How about you go talk to him first.

That would be the logical place to start.

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

That would be the logical place to start.

agree. seek first to understand, then be understood!

[Talking moose]

Ya. Talk to him about it. If he’s an arse, then call.

[Dean2]

I would never call the authorities on anyone until I had tried to work it out with them first. I have never had to resort to calling, have always been able to come to a workable arrangement. There are some Dicks in the world, but not near as many when you approach people the right way.

[JDK71]

Originally Posted by Dean2

I would never call the authorities on anyone until I had tried to work it out with them first. I have never had to resort to calling, have always been able to come to a workable arrangement. There are some Dicks in the world, but not near as many when you approach people the right way.

thats some good advise

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dean2

I would never call the authorities on anyone until I had tried to work it out with them first. I have never had to resort to calling, have always been able to come to a workable arrangement. There are some Dicks in the world, but not near as many when you approach people the right way.

Exactly! Why call the police and cause friction between neighbors, before contacting the neighbor with your concerns first?

[Kim473]

Can't talk to them. A long story , going back for over 20 years that i'm not going to get into.

Anyways, I visited my friend over the weekend and this target is only about 10 yards from the fence line and at most 20 from the the road. They shoot from an area about 50 yards from the road so they are definitely shooting towards the road.

My question is again, is this legal ?

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Kim473

Can't talk to them. A long story , going back for over 20 years that i'm not going to get into.

Anyways, I visited my friend over the weekend and this target is only about 10 yards from the fence line and at most 20 from the the road. They shoot from an area about 50 yards from the road so they are definitely shooting towards the road.

My question is again, is this legal ?

The fact that the target and shooting position are on their property, complicates the shooting towards a road issue. As long as you aren't on the road or road allowance, there is no distance specified that you have to be from the road. If you think about it. pretty much anywhere you shoot, you shoot towards some road. The distance that may apply is the 200m from an occupied building, if your friends house is within 200m of where they are causing the bullets to pass.

[Kim473]

I would have to say yes, the bullits pass within the 200 m to my friends house.

I might add that they can very well have this target just about anywheres on their property and within the regs. They have 2 or 3 quarter sections of land. They could easily move the target 50 away from the road and be pointing a completely different direction. Away from the house and road. Not along or towards the road. Of course they would possibly be shooting towards their own horses or donkeys, depending of where they are pasturing.
At the moment they are shooting in the direction of my friends property and her horses. Which at any moment could be 100 yards directly behind or 90 degrees to the target and less than 50 yards from the target.

Pure bread draft horses that are broke and do pull wagons i might add. She was breeding them for over 25 years. Stopped about 5 years ago.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Kim473

I would have to say yes, the bullits pass within the 200 m to my friends house.

I might add that they can very well have this target just about anywheres on their property and within the regs. They have 2 or 3 quarter sections of land. They could easily move the target 50 away from the road and be pointing a completely different direction. Away from the house and road. Not along or towards the road. Of course they would possibly be shooting towards their own horses or donkeys, depending of where they are pasturing.
At the moment they are shooting in the direction of my friends property and her horses. Which at any moment could be 100 yards directly behind or 90 degrees to the target and less than 50 yards from the target.

Pure bread draft horses that are broke and do pull wagons i might add. She was breeding them for over 25 years. Stopped about 5 years ago.

If you have a way to measure the distance from the house to the shooting position, and the target board, I would start there. A laser rangefinder would be a good way to measure it. If there is a history between your friends and these people, they may have set up their range this way on purpose, just to annoy your friend. If that is the case, they likely made it just legal, as in 205 meters or so.

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by Kim473

Can't talk to them. A long story , going back for over 20 years that i'm not going to get into.

Anyways, I visited my friend over the weekend and this target is only about 10 yards from the fence line and at most 20 from the the road. They shoot from an area about 50 yards from the road so they are definitely shooting towards the road.

My question is again, is this legal ?

Well if this is the case going back 20 years and bad blood between them then they only have one things to do and that is get the authorities involved, if it turns out to be legal then they are SOL if not then the authorities will take care of it and make them move it and/or issue violation tickets, either way I see more bad blood in the days ahead, not a good situation to be in.

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by waldedw

Well if this is the case going back 20 years and bad blood between them then they only have one things to do and that is get the authorities involved, if it turns out to be legal then they are SOL if not then the authorities will take care of it and make them move it and/or issue violation tickets, either way I see more bad blood in the days ahead, not a good situation to be in.

Maybe now would be a good time to solve a 20 year feud?

Just throwing that out there with zero details. And not looking for any, OP

[sns2]

Originally Posted by Kim473

Can't talk to them. A long story , going back for over 20 years that i'm not going to get into.

Anyways, I visited my friend over the weekend and this target is only about 10 yards from the fence line and at most 20 from the the road. They shoot from an area about 50 yards from the road so they are definitely shooting towards the road.

My question is again, is this legal ?

He slept with the dude's wife. Pretty sure

[timsesink]

If you can't chat with them and safety has become an issue I would encourage you to call the non-emergency line of the RCMP. This could be dealt with very quickly.

If they are shooting unsafely the distance does not matter.

[Dick284]

Just to add some clarity the distance to an occupied building is 200 yards not meters.

It matters if your friends decide to chose death on this particular hill.

I know it’s more or less academic, but if the finger wagging begins, they better have your quackers in a line.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Just to add some clarity the distance to an occupied building is 200 yards not meters.

It matters if your friends decide to chose death on this particular hill.

I know it’s more or less academic, but if the finger wagging begins, they better have your quackers in a line.

Correct you are, and the difference could be significant as far as the law is concerned. While the actual safe use of a firearm comes down to opinion, the regulation is a fixed number.

[Kim473]

Thankyou all for your input. Much appreciated.

Like I said, I just want to know if it's legal or not before I stir any pot by going to any authority. I'm still contemplating if I should.
Too bad I can't load any pictures on this site.

[thumper]

Maybe get an "authority" out to your place to take a look. If they say it's an illegal set-up, then decide if you want to have a chat with your neighbour first to see if you can reach an amiable resolution, or if you'd prefer the authority to make the contact.

[IL Bar]

I would call the county cop not the rcmp. If they can see the target from the road then they can make the judgement call on if it is legal. If the shooting range is legal the neighbors who’s yards are behind the target can go and ask politely if the range could be moved somewhere else. If it’s an illegal range have the county cop deal with them.

[Trochu]

I gotta say, this seems like a very strange situation.

A buddy's neighbor, seems like they are getting upset but don't even know if the neighbor is doing anything wrong/illegal, won't go and chat with them due to a 20 year feud, details are a little off/contradictory, etc.?

You say "...along a road", think you mean perpendicular to a road? Regardless, if "My friends house is right across the road from where they are shooting from and the house is about 25 yards or less off the road and "..this target is only about 10 yards from the fence line and at most 20 from the the road", unless that road is 155 yards wide, it would seem they are breaking the law and shooting within 200 yards of a occupied dwelling.

I'd bust out a range finder/measure on Google Earth and see if it is indeed within 200 yards. If so, I'd tell you buddy to suck it up and go and chat with them if it bothers him, and inform them that what they are doing is illegal. I'm likely not getting involved with a buddies feud with his neighbor.

Alberta Wildlife Act:

Firearms around buildings

52(1) No person shall

(a) discharge a weapon, or
(b) cause a projectile from a weapon to pass

within 200 yards of any occupied building.

The road thing is a bit more confusing, but it looks like you can shoot within 20 ft from the edge of the traveled portion of a roadway but can't shoot across roads.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by chuck

How about you go talk to him first.

Had to ha a chat with my neighbor when bullets started impacting the tree line by my house. First time nice, after that not so.

Grizz

[243 wild cat]

Originally Posted by chuck

How about you go talk to him first.

100% Talk it over give your concerns for sure. But keep the friggn rcmp out of it. As I would think you & him are people that enjoy to shoot no need to escalated to where you both lose 🤷🏻*♂️

[huntinstuff]

Yes. Because all you will hear and all they will say is "they called the frickin cops on us".....

[Nyksta]

The 200 yard rule is for hunting, does not apply to target shooting.

[Faststeel]

do we know what calibers are being shot here? rimfire stuff is what people usually shoot at 50 yards, or buck shot. Usually not the 30-06

Are the folks across the street usually doing stupid and dangerous things...?

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Nyksta

The 200 yard rule is for hunting, does not apply to target shooting.

And exactly where in the Wildlife Act is that stated? Unless the regulation actually specifies hunting, it applies to all shooting.

[Trochu]

Originally Posted by Nyksta

The 200 yard rule is for hunting, does not apply to target shooting.

Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I don't think you can break the laws in the Wildlife Act, throw out a casual "I wasn't hunting", and walk away.