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Any Forest Service, BLM, or other Public land to shoot in DFW?

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  • RaggedHole

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    Apr 22, 2017
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    Any local public land to shoot at around DFW? [BLM, Forest Service, etc.] We had lots of spots up in Washington & Idaho but didn't know if there was anything locally down here in the great state of Texas. Thanks!
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    BooCocky

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    LAnd in Texas is owned by private individuals not the the govt. we believe in limited govt down here and the govt has no business owning millions of acres of land. Buy you some.
     

    jeepinbanditrider

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    Unfortunately Texas has very little public land. Something along the lines of 6 percent, as opposed to western states where 50 percent or more (sometimes a lot more) is public land. I really enjoyed my time stationed in California where I had access to hundreds of thousands of acres to camp, shoot, and drive my Jeep on. But Texas has very little to basically no such land.

    Sorry man.

    LAnd in Texas is owned by private individuals not the the govt. we believe in limited govt down here and the govt has no business owning millions of acres of land. Buy you some.

    Even Texas can get up in people's business pretty deep. I always saw that public land around where I was stationed as being "everybodys" property. Anyone could use it for recreation and enjoy it instead of being stuck on a paved or gravel road between fences at all times with the only access to more is though either gobs of private land, friends with large sections of land or go to a state park and pay even more to use the land in a very limited way. Usually can't shoot at the state parks (Maybe Lake Whitney? Can't remeber) use vehicles off road, motorcycles, camp where you want.


    I'm not saying that our large amount of private owned land is necessarily bad but publicly owned land has it's advantages as well, advantages that I got to experience and take advantage of for many years. Something I pay 300 dollars a year for here (access to a range with a tac bay) I did for free while I was stationed out west.
     

    equin

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    Like everyone else said, the overwhelming majority of Texas land is privately owned. Unlike the vast expanses of public lands out West, the percentage of publicly owned land is small here in Texas. Of course, Texas being as large as it is, that small percentage can still be fairly big, like Big Bed National Park. But alas, no shooting is allowed at Big Bend as far as I know, and even if it did allow shooting, it's still a good 9-10 hour drive from DFW.

    Anyway, the only publicly owned land I know of near DFW that allows target shooting is at Unit 3 of the LBJ National Grasslands. And target shooting is limited to shotgun only - so I assume that means you can't even shoot a bow and arrow to go "stump-shooting" as a form of target practice.

    https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/texas/about-forest/districts/?cid=fswdev3_008440
     

    pronstar

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    The one thing I miss about SoCal, is the vast "open land" for off-roading.

    We'd have groups of 20 or more RVs/toy haulers, all with trucks, buggies, bikes, SxS's, and could run at high speeds for 80 -100 miles in sand washes and pole-line roads. Good times.

    If you've never ran at high speeds off-road in a full-size diesel truck...it's effing awesome.
    Takes cubic dollars to do it right, but well worth it.

    Sold all of our toys before we moved here, but there's so many more advantages to living in TX that its just something that we got used to rather quickly.

    Plus the .gov is slowly but surely adding restrictions to how so-called "public land" can be used.

    They're already starting to restrict vehicle use due to "dust abatement".
    In the damned desert.
    Let that sink in for a moment...
     

    majormadmax

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    San Antonio!

    Actually, I am surprised the percentage is that high. I always heard it was around 2%; and either way it was one of the biggest disappointments I felt when we first moved here. People always think of Texas as being large, open areas where one can wander unabated. That's just not the case.

    I don't necessarily agree that it is bad for the government to purchase large tracts of land for public use. Having been to states where that occurs (Alaska, Colorado, etc.) I enjoyed the ability to explore areas whereas here in Texas it will most certainly be fenced in. Plus, we cannot offroad or shoot in most state or national parks.
     

    Recoil45

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    They're already starting to restrict vehicle use due to "dust abatement".
    In the damned desert.
    Let that sink in for a moment...

    I'm actually blown away that your actually still able to legally eat a steak in CA.


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    studenygreg

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    The one thing I miss about SoCal, is the vast "open land" for off-roading.

    We'd have groups of 20 or more RVs/toy haulers, all with trucks, buggies, bikes, SxS's, and could run at high speeds for 80 -100 miles in sand washes and pole-line roads. Good times.

    If you've never ran at high speeds off-road in a full-size diesel truck...it's effing awesome.
    Takes cubic dollars to do it right, but well worth it.

    Sold all of our toys before we moved here, but there's so many more advantages to living in TX that its just something that we got used to rather quickly.

    Plus the .gov is slowly but surely adding restrictions to how so-called "public land" can be used.

    They're already starting to restrict vehicle use due to "dust abatement".
    In the damned desert.
    Let that sink in for a moment...
    I agree. I loved offloading in southern New Mexico the 3 years I was there. I held on to my TJ too long after getting to San Antonio. I sold it. Just didn't have a use for it other than speed bumps. Took up motorcycles instead.

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    RaggedHole

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    I'm actually blown away that your actually still able to legally eat a steak in CA.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Yeah you would be surprised there are a ton of gun enthusiasts, sportsman, and great people in California. 14/53 congressional districts are conservative and they have very strong enclaves in N. California and Orange County. The problem is there are just a lot of people who have never been exposed to firearms or hunting and do not care either way about voting to preserve those rights. It is just is not a big deal for them.

    The shooters who are down there are very passionate and have some of the nicest ranges I have ever seen. 15 minutes from where I grew up near Pasadena is a pristine 700yd rifle range, complete with skeet, trap, 100s of animal & varmint shaped steel targets on the 100 yd pistol caliber range.
     

    busykngt

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    Sounds like paradise.... think I'll move there!

    Oh no! Wait.....
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    rman

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    CA actually has the highest nember of guns, total. Although maybe that's because the majority is known/registered

    I believe TX is #2

    and MT is #1 per capita.



    On a side note, would love to find some land in Ft Worth to shoot on, more specifically, to teach my boys to shoot. Not really wanting to bring them to a public range

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    majormadmax

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    CA actually has the highest nember of guns, total. Although maybe that's because the majority is known/registered

    I believe TX is #2

    and MT is #1 per capita.

    Sorry, but CA is only in the "lead" because of their registration laws. Plus, the Left Coasters probably include water pistols, potatoes in the shape of a gun and those wooden thingies that shoot rubber bands as they feel those too are "assault weapons!"

    In fact, this recent "study" claims Texas is #18! :50cal:

    http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/most-heavily-armed-states-in-america/35/

    No one really knows how many guns there are in Texas, and it's not of the government's damned business!
     

    rman

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    Sorry, but CA is only in the "lead" because of their registration laws. Plus, the Left Coasters probably include water pistols, potatoes in the shape of a gun and those wooden thingies that shoot rubber bands as they feel those too are "assault weapons!"

    No one really knows how many guns there are in Texas, and it's not of the government's damned business!
    agreed, that's why i said that. Every handgun for I don't know how long and every long gun since 2014.

    unless CADOJ has been secretly logging 4473s

    However - you would be surprised how many guns there are in CA. there's a lot of money, and a whole lot of panic buying. Wouldn't be surprised if that statistic was close to accurate.

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    busykngt

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    RaggedHole, your best bet is to find a private business range to shoot at. While there are a few in close (Elm Fork comes to mind or the Garland Public Shooting Range if you're on the Dallas side of DFW...several others too), there are many further out. Generally, the further out you go, the more reasonably priced they are and the more flexible their offering (extended rifle ranges, etc.). Land prices aren't too unreasonable for initial purchase (further out), but since Texas has no state income tax, you can expect property taxes to make up for it!
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    Reinz

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    I used to hunt on gubmint land in Denton many years ago. The problem was a lot of others hunted there as well.
     

    AR1911

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    Buy 20 acres 70-100 miles out
    Lease it for cattle grazing (ag exemption)
    Don’t shoot the cattle
     
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