Minimum acres needed to hunt/shoot

Not sure what section this should go in, so if it needs to be moved, sorry. I am going to buy some land in Kaufman county and I have heard that I need at least 10 acres to have my own shooting range and/or hunt even though its outside the city limits. Anyone have experience with this or know the actual laws in Kaufman county? I know it differs by county also. I have already emailed the chief of police but probably wont receive a reply until Monday at the earliest.

I think it is state law that you need over 10 acres to hunt with a gun.

So basically just wait for a reply to the email I sent

Since your in the county, call the Sheriffs dept. The county beside mine has a 10 acre minimum and I don't believe it is a state wide thing. SO will tell you in a few minutes

Don't go on just what the rules/laws say. Please apply some common sense to the situation as well as what the laws say. Just because it may be legal Dont mean that it is smart. Or of it is set up correctly and with the right terrain, it can be just fine.

That is not true.

Check your county regulations. Only a few in the state have a minimum to fire a rifle on.

I doubt kaufman county is one.

X2

Don't think there is a statewide law, it should be on a county by county basis.

There is a State law about projectiles crossing a property line. So if you plan on bird hunting or much of anything other than bench rest shooting into a berm I would keep that in mind.

My neighbors have 5 acres in the county and spray pistol ammo into a dry creek bottom with reckless abandon and it doesn't bother me, if it was flatland and in my direction they would have met the sheriff by now.

What I found was that it is illegal to discharge a firearm if you own less than 10 acres and are in a subdivision. So if its not a subdivision, I would assume that even if you have 1 acre, its legal. That is all I can find as far as Kaufman county. Hopefully the COP can shed some light on this subject.

I plan on making some type of back stop, probably 12-15' high and I will be shooting up to 300 yards. So I wont just be shooting at a target attached to a tree lol. You have to have some common sense.

How do you have a property smaller than 10 acres that's 300+ yards long? Really narrow?

old easement or a piece of land that is cut off by a road or creek... we got a 7 acres strip that's cut off by a private road like that but its prolly 230yrds or so

A perfectly square 10 acres would be 220 yds x 220 yds. 311 yds corner to corner. (if I did the math right)
Any rectangular shape to the property only increases these yardages.

I never said how much land I was buying. I am merely trying to find out the laws and regulations. I have actually been looking at 20 acres in Kaufman County. That would be enough for a 300 yard range. However much acreage I end up with will determine how far I can shoot, but it wont be less than 100 yard range. 300 yard range is like my dream yardage lol, anything over 100 yards Im ok with.

The 10 acre rule is for bow hunting, 50 acres for firearms. The state says a county may not restrict hunting on 10 or more acres with a bow and cannot restrict hunting on 50 or more acres with a firearm. The exception are those same restrictions that were in place before the state law was passed. So your question would be were restrictions placed upon the property by the county before the state law was passed. Again, the local SO (or game warden) can easily answer that question. But there are other restrictions such as minimum number of feet from a public roadway, etc.

This is why you can legally dove hunt inside the city limits of Frisco on certain properties.

I think it depends on the individual. Some could safely hunt on 5 acres while others cannot hunt safely on a thousand acres.

each city and county will have different regs... I bow hunt a spot that's a 1/4 acre... lol

I havent read anything that said a 50 acre minimum for firearms in Kaufman county... Please send me a link to that info

It's not that you can't hunt on less than 50 acres, it's that they cannot stop you from hunting as a state law unless there were HOA rules in place prior to your ownership.

i.e. You can likely shoot guns on 10 acres, but if your property is 50 acres, state law protects your right to.

I live in Collin County.I called the SO and they told me "they", whatever that means,were told ten acres.Looks like the law states in a subdivision but what about unincorporated? Think the local game warden might be of more help?

Agreed. Other thing that matters, when shooting, for example, is what will happen around your property in 2-10 years. You may not control it, but you should consider it. That's all. Good luck.
JS

Best statement I've heard! Not enough common sense to go around these days!

If I had the acreage, and there was a house or barn anywhere within sight downrange, berm or no berm, I'd make durn sure I've got good insurance! We've already had two instances where persons discharging firearms on legal size acreage managed to hit a house. One with a stray pistol shot and one from shooting at clay pigeons with a shotgun. These properties bordered, but were not part of, the subdivision. According to neighbors (victims)both parties got to meet the Sheriff.

Some people are missing "reasonable" thought processes & when they do stupid stuff it reflects on all of us. For example: Many people in county subdivisions moved there for peace & quiet. Then some jerk decides to start target shooting at 10 or 11 pm using headlights to show the target and then wonders why the whole neighborhood is on their butt and the Sheriff is at the door.

The constable I spoke to said there's no minimum outside a subdivision as long as you're outside the city limits.

I tried calling the constable but no one answered. Guess Ill try tomorrow.

I had to leave a voice mail and he called me back later.Super nice guy btw.

The tract that contains the ranch house is a little over 2000 acres and it got peppered with buckshot one season.

Needless to say a couple of fellows didn't get invited back the next year. They gone.

my best friend has 10 acres next to a subdivision in Denton county in city limits and we dove and deer hunt with shotgun only and never have any problems only 1 time with the cops , once we caught a couple walking their dog in the woods when we was in the blind deer hunting & so I yelled "BANG YOUR DEAD" and then confronted them gun in hand and asked them why they did not read the NO trespassing signs they said they thought it was free land & started a big fight telling me they was gonna kick my [censored] and to drop my gun and fight like a man lol and they was gonna call the cops on me cause I have a gun & then the woman runs off and calls the law on me. Well the police showed up and they know me and called her a idiot for calling the cops on her self for trespassing and ask me if I want to press charges on them.

This has to be a record for the longest single sentence ever written!

Unfortunately William Faulkner has the record when he wrote "The bear"!!!

I read it just fine the commas and the periods go where you take a breath

Jeez, I hid behind the couch at the "BANG... YOU'RE DEAD" part!

I have not received a reply still after my long email. Oh well, guess I will try someone else. Would a sheriff or constable know the answer or do I need to talk to someone specific?

Contact the County District Attorneys Office.
They would be the one that would be following up with any violations that a peace officer would be filing.

Did you try calling them?

I know this is an old thread but did you ever get an answer? I am buying two acres in Kaufman County, but have lived in the immediate area on 1/2 acre for four years and shot many a day without an issue. I am not in a subdivision now nor will I be after the move.

I own 50 acres in Cass County and lease another 112 acres that is attached. I have a 400 yd range. I used 2x6s and railroad ties for a backstop. Still working on it but the RR ties work pretty good stacked up.

so in if person owns less than 10 acres of land out in the country, surrounded by people owning 10 acres or more... Buys a hunting licence, & a deer wonders on his property, its illegal for him ta cull that thar deer, for en & chillen, pudding on de table ?

Contact the city if you're incorporated, the county if you're not. My county says 10 acres, but my 15 acre homestead is incorporated and the city says 50. An incorporated city can be more strict than the county but not more lenient. That's the way I understand it.

edited to add: In my county we're allowed to "stack" adjoining properties to equal 50 or more as long as every hunter (dove hunting only, no rifle) has permission to hunt the adjoining properties. Fortunately, my neighbor has a 140 acre cornfield behind me (yep, still in city limits). He gave me written permission to hunt his 140 so I'm able to dove hunt on my back fenceline. I deer hunt elsewhere so that's not an issue.

What if you have say 5 acres but surround all around by national forest for miles...?

Ask your county. Not the game warden, call your county office or look it up.

Chief be careful using railroad ties. I work at a lot of ranges every year and most have quit using them due to ricochets. They will bounce back of deflect a jacketed bullet a lot of times.
Especially don't use them at short ranges with handguns or . 22 s

Texas Parks and Wildlife Code:
Sec. 62.0121. DISCHARGE OF FIREARM ACROSS PROPERTY LINE. (a) In this section, "firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section 62.014(a).

(b) A person commits an offense if:

(1) the person, while hunting or engaging in recreational shooting, knowingly discharges a firearm; and

(2) the projectile from the firearm travels across a property line.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the person:

(1) owns the property on both sides of each property line crossed by the projectile; or

(2) has a written agreement with any person who owns property on either side of each property line crossed by the projectile that allows the person to discharge a firearm on, over, or across the property or property line.

(d) The written agreement required under Subsection (c)(2) must:

(1) contain the name of the person allowed to hunt or engage in recreational shooting in a manner described by Subsection (b);

(2) identify the property on either side of the property line crossed by the projectile; and

(3) be signed by any person who owns the property on either side of the line crossed by the projectile.

(e) An offense under this section is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.

(f) If conduct constituting an offense under this section constitutes an offense under a section of the Penal Code, the person may be prosecuted under either section or both sections.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 270 (H.B. 505), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.

Under Disorderly Conduct (Texas Penal Code), it is unlawful to discharge a firearm in a public place, across or from a public roadway. There are several other locations in law where discharging firearms are specifically addressed and unlawful. Some include railroads, certain waterways, LCRA owned properties, etc.

Nowhere in state law are restrictions made that limit the amount of acreage for discharging a firearm. Individual counties and municipalities are permitted to enact ordinances that restrict firearm usage based on acreage size.

So you should check with the specific law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the area that you intend to hunt/shoot.

Check out protection afforded by texas SB 734 and LGC 229.002...

Take up bow hunting and make it becomes somewhat a non issue.

-hunt in a subdivision on lots 10 acres or less in an unincorporated area of a county if the commissioners court, by order, prohibits the discharge of a firearm or the use of archery equipment in such subdivisions. (Contact local county clerk and ask about §235.022, Local Government Code.)

Sec. 235.022. AUTHORITY TO REGULATE. To promote the public safety, the commissioners court of a county by order may prohibit or otherwise regulate the discharge of firearms and air guns on lots that are 10 acres or smaller and are located in the unincorporated area of the county in a subdivision.

Also,


Sec. 229.002. REGULATION OF DISCHARGE OF WEAPON. A municipality may not apply a regulation relating to the discharge of firearms or other weapons in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality or in an area annexed by the municipality after September 1, 1981, if the firearm or other weapon is:
(1) a shotgun, air rifle or pistol, BB gun, or bow and arrow discharged:
(A) on a tract of land of 10 acres or more and more than 150 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
(B) in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; or
(2) a center fire or rim fire rifle or pistol of any caliber discharged:
(A) on a tract of land of 50 acres or more and more than 300 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
(B) in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract.