Target shooting in the bush/country?

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Hi Guys

I hope youse are well

Please excuse my ignorance but I am in the process of obtaining my firearm license (cat a&b of course)

I live in Victoria

And I love target shooting (especially long distance)
But I don't like going to the shooting range for it
- it's noisy there
- it's easy to get distracted and lose focus
- sometimes it can be quite busy which is not pleasant
- you've gotta obey to their schedule, rushing to finish all your rounds quickly before the cease fire etc
To me, it's just not a pleasant experience to do target shooting at a shooting range

So I'd rather go out into the bush/country
Set up a target (metallic gong or whatever)
And do target shooting there in peace, in quiet to improve my skills

From what I understand (correct me if I'm wrong)
But it does seem to be legal to do target shooting in the bush/country?
Is that right?

From what I understand
If you are to do target shooting in the bush/country
You've gotta obey by these rules essentially;
- the rifle must only be discharged on the target and on the target only
- you need to have 20metres behind the target with a backstop which will prevent projectiles from going any further
- you must be AT LEAST 250metres away from the closest house/flat or residence
- you must be AT LEAST 100metres away from a public road
- you must be in a stationery location when engaging in the target shooting
- the target shooting must not happen between sunset and sunrise
- the event can't be advertised or formally organised or anything like that, it needs to be done discretely
- you can't make money off of it, pay someone to participate and getting someone to pay you to participate in the target shooting
- you can't do the target shooting if under the influence of drugs and alcohol (obviously)
- it is also a good idea to let the closest police department aware of your activities in the area
(as it does seem to be the polite respectful thing to do)

Is all of that accurate?
Is what I'm saying accurate?
Am I missing anything?

Thank you for you help guys

I look forward to hearing from youse

And once again please excuse my ignorance, I am new

Thanks

[bladeracer]

On private property yes, bush is a bit of a grey area.
Basically you can legally shoot on some public property, state forest primarily, but it is public property so there are other people about, and you can't endanger or frighten anybody - even if you don't know they're around. I would not recommend target shooting on public land, particularly at long distances. Find a farmer.

[bladeracer]

You appear to have private messaging turned off.
Exactly what area are you in?

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Mm
Tricky
That's a good point bladeracer

I've allowed private messages now
You can privately text me if you'd like now bladeracer


I live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne

[Sergeant Hartman]

Hmm mate I think like BR said, you are confusing shooting on rural area with shooting in a state Forest.

If you know someone with some land you can shoot on their property with their permission of course. Probably the best option.

In state forest you can sight in a a rifle (5 or 20 shots).... But spending few hours shooting away and setting up a bench and/or metal gong might not be ok.

Personally a range is perfect, safe environment, while yes sometimes they have strange rules, and crazy RO, But once you realise there are some truly dumb people shooting at the range, the rules and crazy ROs make sense.

[Oldbloke]

Just use common sense.
Find an isolated area with a good back stop.
If they cant hear you, who will complain? Location, location, location.
Shoot only what you need to. Dont go crazy.
Clean up the empties and leave no rubbish.
Avoid shooting live trees.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Thanks Ziad
Well I mean yes
To be honest
I feel a bit uncomfortable at times at the shooting range
Sometimes the range officers are so incredibly rude and arrogant
It truly does ruin the experience
But I guess you are right
They are responsible for the safety of everyone
If anything happens on their watch, they could be in big trouble
So it's easy for them to explode quite easily, due to the high stress of having to be responsible for everyone's safety, that's true
Personally, I would never wanna be a range officer. Being responsible for everyone's safety like that, when you get dumb people sometimes doing dumb things, it's the kinda job where everything gets on your nerves quite easily that's true. It is high stress for them. 100%

Oldbloke
Well I guess
My question is;
Is it legal though?
If you find a very isolate area where there's absolutely no one around
If you respect all the rules that I've mentioned above
If you're being 100% safe and responsible
If theres absolutely no one around at all
Where you find a good back stop
Where you clean up the empties
Where you leave no rubbish Etc
Is that then legal to do target shooting in the bush/country?
I guess that's what I wanna know.
I would never want to do anything illegal that could jeopardise my license
I wanna follow the law to the T

[Raband]

No.

Hunting allowed game/vermin is permitted.

Ranges or clubs for any target or sighting in.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Okay
Awesome
Thanks Raband
I'll stick to the shooting range for target shooting then


Thanks brother

[bladeracer]

No.

Hunting allowed game/vermin is permitted.

Ranges or clubs for any target or sighting in.

Can you link us to the law that states this?

[southeast varmiter]

No.

Hunting allowed game/vermin is permitted.

Ranges or clubs for any target or sighting in.

bulls**t.
You can sight in on public land, and you can shoot on public land. Let's be clear.
What you can't do is set up a range.
Very different from shooting at a static target on public land to ensure you are hunting ethically.

The only place you can't shoot, unless hunting for deer is the Alpine national park. You cannot sight in in the National Parks, only shoot at deer.

On public land, you can legally use a firearm as appropriately licensed and safely. There is no specificity around only shooting at pests or game or target. Unless what you set up qualifies as a range.

You are legally allowed to discharge a firearm on public land as long as licensed and it is done safely and away from camping grounds and roads.

[Gamerancher]

Considering that you are new to the sport, have yet to get your licence and by your own admission, don't know much, perhaps shooting at a range under some supervision/guidance wouldn't be such a bad thing. A basic drumming in of safe handling practices cannot hurt.
As someone with experience in running a range, I have seen some pretty woeful things done at ranges, by "experienced" shooters, but luckily, no injuries.
While officiating at the U.S NRA Nationals I've had a national champion point his muzzle straight at me while he was adjusting his scope, had a shooter front up for a rifle certification before the match with a live round in the chamber and hammer cocked, seen folks muzzle sweep the firing line, the list goes on. Most of these things occur due to ignorance or complacency.
While I also don't like the "range Nazi" attitude of some R.O's, they do have to work on a lowest common denominator approach. I mainly attend ranges for competitions, sometimes I may arrive a day early to get in some practice or check settings, but if it is a busy "Joe Public" day, I usually just give it a miss.

[bladeracer]

bulls**t.
You can sight in on public land, and you can shoot on public land. Let's be clear.
What you can't do is set up a range.
Very different from shooting at a static target on public land to ensure you are hunting ethically.

The only place you can't shoot, unless hunting for deer is the Alpine national park. You cannot sight in in the National Parks, only shoot at deer.

On public land, you can legally use a firearm as appropriately licensed and safely. There is no specificity around only shooting at pests or game or target. Unless what you set up qualifies as a range.

You are legally allowed to discharge a firearm on public land as long as licensed and it is done safely and away from camping grounds and roads.

Agreed, but I'll add the proviso that even if what you are doing is entirely legal, if some unknown person complains that they felt threatened or endangered you can still be charged. That is the only reason I don't recommend target shooting in the bush.

[cracker]

i sight in rifles and shotguns out in the bush and im very very pedantic about it.

i was sighting in a side by side shotgun with clays and the police came past, cheeked our guns and licenses no worries.

for christ sake clean up after your self.