Long range practice - locations where nobody bothers.

Rangel

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Please state by province and by nearest big city.
Need to be able to shoot there without injuring or killing any innocent bystanders and without damaging any private property.

For 1km shots - within 200km of driving - near Toronto - do you know any locations?
 
Please state by province and by nearest big city.
Need to be able to shoot there without injuring or killing any innocent bystanders and without damaging any private property.

For 1km shots - within 200km of driving - near Toronto - do you know any locations?

There are two military ranges that go back to 1000 yds in Ontario - Connaught Ranges near Ottawa and the field firing ranges at Petawawa. I have never shot at Camp Borden, so I can't comment, but on Google Earth I can count 10 firing points. You have to belong to the right organizations, but these are safe and well designed ranges.

As for 'going out to the country so you can shoot', ah good luck with that. We live in a society that loves regulations and controls. People own land and have a very clear right to do with it as they wish. Yes there is Crown Land but most of the accessible land is covered with municipal and regional bylaws to prevent uncontrolled shooting. If you just want to truly go somewhere and open fire, I really don't know where to suggest.
 
OP - Judging by your previous posts, I suspect you are relatively new to shooting and hunting. There is more to shooting at 1 km than you realize. At the top of the list is - How do you spot your shots? Even "getting on paper" is a challenge. Suggest you tame your ambitions slightly and get proficient at 100 to 300 yards. There is lots of crown land a couple of hours north of the "big smoke", and there are maps illustrating where crown land is, and the associated topography. Be aware that you are competing with other "highwaymen", particularly during hunting season.
BTW - I belong to a range a couple of hours from Toronto. The majority of our new members are from the big smoke, as all the ranges closer to TO are maxed out. The fringe benefit of membership is the opportunity to meet others with similar interests and to share resources such as local hunting spots, hunt camp membership opportunities, hunting skills, marksmanship skills, etc. These opportunities far outstrip the cost of the membership (200$). At our hunt camp, we have the good fortune to be able to shoot out to 1000 yards with the peace of mind that we are on a very isolated piece of private property. The folks that we bring out to try their luck quickly realize things are much different than they anticipated.
 
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Toronto is surrounded by private land. And the population density is so high that many municipalities pass bylaws prohibiting discharge of firearms, or limit it to shotguns and rimfire (e.g. for shotgun-only deer seasons), and prohibit centerfire, etc....various bylaws, the fine print all matters. So even if you find a rural landowner who is cool with shooting and the property has safe sight lines and backstops for shooting long range on steel gong targets, the municipality may not allow it, depending on the fine print of the bylaws.

You can find the Crown Land in Ontario using the Crown Land Use Atlas, link:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/crown-land-use-policy-atlas

This tool is not user-friendly, and it sometimes hangs, or crashes. So be patient with it. When you pull up the map and zoom in, you will see a policy number for various units of crown land. Some are very large, some are small. Find the policy report for that number and it will provide the acceptable uses of that unit. The list of uses does not specify "long range target shooting", nor whether centerfire rifle shooting is allowed. But it usually is specific for "hunting" being allowed or not. But it does not specify the municipal rules for whether centerfire rifles are allowed. That is where you need to check the municipality rules. Crown Land has both organized and un-organized municipalities within it. The organized ones will have a contact phone number and someone you can talk to. The unorganized ones will not.

Although not definitive, if you see that the Wildlife Management Unit that overlaps your area of interest lists the deer gun season as shotguns only, that is a clue that long range centerfire shooting may not be possible in the municipalities that overlap that WMU.

Generally in Ontario, the further north you go to get away from the dense human populations, the more uses are allowed on crown land, and you will notice that the WMU's for deer and moose seasons allow rifle seasons for several months. Contrast that to a 1-week shotgun season in southern Ontario.

Where I live in NW Ontario, the Crown Land outside of organized municipalities is usually OK for long range target shooting, as long as you use safe practices. One of the key rules is do not shoot across a road, and that includes very rough old logging roads. Basically if a quad can use it, you can not legally shoot across it, even if you are way up on a hill shooting high up into another hillside backstop. We have clearcuts here that offer LR shooting opportunities, but its extremely difficult to find any safe sight lines over 400-500m because of active logging roads bisecting the trajectory path. The logging roads are built between the hills, so inevitably the clear views from up on a hill to shoot into another hill have a road down in the valley between the hills.

So finding a legally safe area of crown land can take alot of work.

During the various hunting seasons, there are also some hunting regulation rules about having a valid hunting license for the WMU on you if you are carrying a firearm that is used for that species. Its best to have the license for the species that are open if you are carrying a centerfire rifle during the big games seasons, and be wearing the required hunter orange clothing, even if you are not hunting and just target shooting steel. For me personally, I do not do LR shooting on crown land during deer and moose seasons here, due to the number of hunters out in the bush working cutovers which is the same place I would be shooting, so I stick to my local Range and shoot paper during the big game hunting seasons here, which is essentially the entire fall and early winter. The hunters look forward to their moose and deer hunting seasons all year, and I do not want to bother them or ruin anybody's hunt by LR target practice.

I lived in southern Ontario many years ago, and I sure am glad I moved to northern Ontario and the crown land shooting and hunting opportunities it offers here.
 
Ontario Rifle Association @ CFB Borden is really your only option. In the meantime you could practice shooting 22lr @ 300m. Not quite the same but a whole lot of fun.
 
Ontario Rifle Association @ CFB Borden is really your only option. In the meantime you could practice shooting 22lr @ 300m. Not quite the same but a whole lot of fun.

I believe paying to use good facilities is a key to improving your shooting. Shooters spend thousands on the gear and choke on a few $100 $$ and joining a group or org. Also, several thousand rounds of focused practice with a 22LR every year will pay huge dividends for those who actually want to be one better shooters.
 
The Madawaska Highlands near Bancroft has a ton of crown land. In the old days I frequently hunted there. Really nice hilly countryside. Population in the area is very low.

It's riddled with small lakes that are off the beaten path. Just make sure you verify you are on crown land and its not hunting season and you should be good to go.

There are lots of logging trails that you can use to get near the lakes. You may even find a nice straight length of logging trail you could use.

Google map the area and you should find some good spots away from the hyway.

Here's a link: https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.0510117,-77.4208944,10.21z?hl=en

I'm not sure how the game wardens might react to guns being used in a wildlife area. There's could be poaching charges fabricated as part of the anti gun efforts. Just be sure you are in the clear on the legalities so you dont get screwed over and called a poacher.
 
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The Madawaska Highlands near Bancroft has a ton of crown land. In the old days I frequently hunted there. Really nice hilly countryside. Population in the area is very low.

It's riddled with small lakes that are off the beaten path. Just make sure you verify you are on crown land and its not hunting season and you should be good to go.

There are lots of logging trails that you can use to get near the lakes. You may even find a nice straight length of logging trail you could use.

Google map the area and you should find some good spots away from the hyway.

Here's a link: https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.0510117,-77.4208944,10.21z?hl=en

I'm not sure how the game wardens might react to guns being used in a wildlife area. There's could be poaching charges fabricated as part of the anti gun efforts. Just be sure you are in the clear on the legalities so you dont get screwed over and called a poacher.

Well - I live in the area. Sure there is lots of crown land, but a lot of it has leased hunt camps on it. You will certainly get a hostile reception if you show up and start plinking away, particularly during deer, moose, or bear season.
 
Well - I live in the area. Sure there is lots of crown land, but a lot of it has leased hunt camps on it. You will certainly get a hostile reception if you show up and start plinking away, particularly during deer, moose, or bear season.

they lease a cabin spot and guiding rights not exclusive use... area is free use for anyone. too bad if they get pissy.
 
I joined Lower Trent Valley, and highly recommend it. It's 200M, but the facilities are amazing, as are the members. If you're capable of shooting sub 1/2 moa consistently, positionally, then 200m is enough. Forget looking for 1000m on public land; join a club and meet fellow sportsmen that can point you in the right direction.

If you want to test your abilities, join the Ontario Rifle Association(ORA), Northern Centerfire series, or take a course at MILCUN, and learn with amazing folks. In one event at Petawawa with NCS, I met guys that invited me to ORA events(600m+), and there I met even more folks who invited me to the ELR(2000m+) events at Valcartier in Quebec.

Join a club, or meet up with members who can bring you as a guest at theirs. Almost all the clubs have FB pages where you can reach out.
 
they lease a cabin spot and guiding rights not exclusive use... area is free use for anyone. too bad if they get pissy.

Too bad for who? You're likely dealing with a bunch of lads who do logging for a living, and are prone to having a few drinks. I can hear the banjos playing...:rolleyes:
 
Too bad for who? You're likely dealing with a bunch of lads who do logging for a living, and are prone to having a few drinks. I can hear the banjos playing...:rolleyes:

logging leases are very different than cheap wannabe fuks thinking they own everything because they rent 500 Sq feet for a cabin .
 
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