Plinking in the forest... looking for a safe spot

edyshok

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I went plinking in a regional forest (deep enough in the forest) with my buddy, (I been told that is legal on PAL courses) we used .22 subsonic, loud enough, in 20 min a concern citizen show up asking what is going on. Is someone knows a good area near Toronto where plinking will end up with out presence of OPP or concern citizens? (well, besides the shooting range obviously). Thanks :evil:
:50cal:
 
Recently, there were some guys who were 'target shooting' in the (legal to do so) Simcoe County Forest (Hwy 9 area) and ended up facing criminal charges after a complaint from someone walking a dog.

Be very, very careful about where you go and your backstop.
 
edyshok said:
"...Is someone knows a good area near Toronto where plinking will end up with out presence of OPP or concern citizens? (well, besides the shooting range obviously)..."

Nope ...not on public land.

If you want to stay out of the back seat of a Crown Vic, you're best to use a range. There's nothing enjoyable about shooting if during the whole time you're worrying about someone tapping you on the shoulder.
 
The problem with Crown land in that part of Ontario is that there are too many people taking advantage of the fact that they can use it. The unfortunate truth is that there are a lot of people who will be unhappy at your legal use of that same crown land...and since they will be the ones phoning in the complaint to the OPP, they will be the ones setting the stage for your discussion with the constable.
 
Thank god I live in BC where I can go 10 min from my house . On crown land just off a logging road ,find a good back stop & shoot till I'm out of ammo . wile people drive by & wave . Infact the other day a RCMP 4x4 drove by & never even stopped .
 
Thank god I live in BC where I can go 10 min from my house . On crown land just off a logging road ,find a good back stop & shoot till I'm out of ammo . wile people drive by & wave . Infact the other day a RCMP 4x4 drove by & never even stopped .


Just like the place I go to for some shooting........I love it, no one gives a crap.
 
apparently there's a spot in copland forest (near simcoe county forest) that a lot of people use.
it's a 'usual spot', and no one has any problems there. (i.e. it's known to be used for shooting so obviously no one complains)
 
Thank god I live in BC where I can go 10 min from my house . On crown land just off a logging road ,find a good back stop & shoot till I'm out of ammo . wile people drive by & wave . Infact the other day a RCMP 4x4 drove by & never even stopped .

shssh... keep it to yourself buddy...Real estate is overpriced already, job are far and few between...Endless rain (liquid sunshine) from about now till the end of March... No, BC is no good. Plus bloody black bears cheking my garbage cans, cougars taking my pet poodel - definitely no good.

On a serious note, I always advocate for gun clubs. At 60-something $$ a year its a real bargain. I found I do not enjoy "plinking" in a bush even if its just a 5-minute drive. The reason is that if you are actually working on your score or whatever there is simply no better set up for the job than average shooting club. You will accomplish more in much more enjoyable environment and who knows maybe you will make a few friends there too.
 
apparently there's a spot in copland forest (near simcoe county forest) that a lot of people use.
it's a 'usual spot', and no one has any problems there. (i.e. it's known to be used for shooting so obviously no one complains)

Are we talking about "CopEland Forest?" I just don't want to make a mistake :D Here is the link http://www.simcoecountytrails.net/county_trails.htm
BBq_Woa, is this is the right place?
 
yup. you got it.

notice the little picture of a stick figure shooting? there ya go.

lol

be safe and careful!


Thanks BBq_Woa!
Yes I can see figure shooting ;) So no cops and park rangers with handcuffs indicated beside it too, so y sure that plinking a regular practices there?
Just being safe and careful as y advised :)
 
If you're in the wilderness , in ON, with a firearm you're hunting. The onus is on you to prove otherwise. Either way, they'll try to make your experience as unpleasant as possible, to discourage the use of public land for anything else than walking dogs or feeding bears with your own body parts....
 
eltorro said:
"...If you're in the wilderness , in ON, with a firearm you're hunting. The onus is on you to prove otherwise..."

...which is why the picture of a shooting stick figure referred to a few posts back denotes a hunter, not a target shooter.

The days of being able to informally plink on public property in southern Ontario were gone years ago. There's just too many people 'sharing' the same geography these days, many of whom take exception to that type of activity and will not hesitate to lodge a complaint with the authorities.

All it takes is one 9-1-1 call from a cellular phone to ruin your day (...week ...month ...year ...life).

Why take the chance? Join a club and use a range.
 
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Part of the problem is that while someone hunting will fire a shot here or there, that once you try to firing more than a handful of shots from one location, it draws the attention of people from a far distance.

If you're going to shoot on any public land in Southern Ontario (say from Orillia south for arguement's sake), you'll need to confirm that shooting is allowed in the area in question by contacting the appropriate authority, research any other pertinent bylaws, and if you've never shot there before do a thorough reconnaissance of the area in question so that you not only find a spot with a good backstop, but confirm the distances from and general direction of any houses, travelled roads ect. It would be best yet if you get as much information as you can in writing and take it with you whenever you head out, and go with someone else so that it's not your word versus someone else if they call the police and claim that you've done something wrong.

That said, the Copeland forest is a large tract of land, and if you could find out precisely the area in question where shooting is allowed, you'd probably do well to go there. Second to that, there is also Brighton WMU just off the 401 about two hours East of Toronto, where people shoot centrefire, shotguns and .22. While the Simcoe County Forests are generally open to hunting, I'd check with them first to see if they have any rules against target shooting.

"If you're in the wilderness , in ON, with a firearm you're hunting. The onus is on you to prove otherwise."

This latter rule applies to areas from about Muskoka northwards where a small game hunting license is not valid between 15 June to 01 September. It should not be an issue south of that region, but could come into play if someone chooses to shoot around their cottage in the summertime.

Though I don't want to discourage people from using clubs, we need to better establish the practice of target shooting on public land in Southern Ontario so that people will get used to it as a fact of rural life. There's lots of suitable places for it, though without doubt also lots of people out there who equate plinking with a .22 to paramilitary terrorist training. If enough people could gather together information about plots of public land available for hunting and target shooting in Southern Ontario, including information on municipal bylaws or at least where to find out about them, that would probably be of considerable benefit to lots of people here. I'd be willing to help out wherever I can.

Regards,

Frank
 
Ok, ok people... I got it!
No shooting outside unless you are a gung member doing bypass shooting.
Shooting range....where can I find them in TO (rifle .22 )? Is any one knowing good link where all shooting ranges are listed?
 
Oops, I didn't see the last few posts until I posted mine, so that covers Simcoe County Forests...... though that still leaves a few other possibilities.

I don't want to encourage people to do things that will get them into trouble, but I also don't like the idea of us giving up on legal activities just because someone might complain about it. This issue deserves some carefull attention, especially since there's lots of places in Southern Ontario that aren't close to any shooting facility.
 
edyshok said:
"...Shooting range....where can I find them in TO (rifle .22 )?..."

edyshok (pleasure to 'meet' you by the way), you may want to check out 'Silverdale':

http://www.silverdalesports.ca/

It's only a little over an hour's drive from Toronto, they have plenty of outdoor ranges of various distances, and you don't need to take out a membership ...you can shoot there by purchasing a $20 day pass (no muss, no fuss, and completely legal).

It's family run by great folks ...highly recommended
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:cool:
 
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