We need private land

[Tejano Scott]

Hah! Funny you don't invite the guy who already has 10 acres of land in the middle of nowhere!

Huh? Where have you not been invited? And you've already said your land is too far to drive there and back in a day, so....

 

[Jakashh]

Huh? Where have you not been invited? And you've already said your land is too far to drive there and back in a day, so....

Everyone would be invited(but not jakashh)

And don't take my posts so seriously lol

 

[Tejano Scott]

O, I thought you were referring to my post! Lol. I was like... WTF!

 

[AKM]

when I get all my crap fixed and save up a little Id be willing to toss some money in the pot. just remember im only 22 and anything better then nothing.

land up towarss me is your best bet to be honest. still cheapish from what I hear.

 

[benenglish]

I want off public ranges ASAP.

I can understand not wanting to be around people who put holes in the roof.

However, the biggest single expense I can see, after land purchase (and maybe even more expensive than the land) is recognizing that NDs do happen. If we get some land, what will be over the berm?

ASC is unique in that they don't have downrange safety worries. The boundaries of Addicks Reservoir are such that there's about three miles of unoccupied land directly in front of the firing line. That means that for a shot over the berm to reach civilization, the shooter would need to be using something on the order of a .338 Lapua. No .308 load is going to land on someone's house unless it was pointed 45 degrees to the left and probably not even then. The baffling on the pistol range is completely unnecessary since any ricochet over the berm is in no danger of hitting anyone. (I'm still confused as to why they installed it. It wasn't there when the range opened. And, yes, I remember attending the grand opening. I'm *that* old.)

It would be suboptimal to buy some land to shoot on where shooting is completely legal if there's a subdivision a few hundred yards behind the berm. We would get sued even if we didn't have any NDs. And we're not perfect, so there would be an occasional ND. Any range that's not indoors, in the middle of nowhere (which ASC is, effectively) or effectively baffled is living on borrowed time.

Installation of effective baffling can (doesn't have to be, but can) be frighteningly expensive, depending on your personal comfort zone with the definition of "effective".

 

[alexrex20]

We have plenty of properties throughout Texas (330 acres in Bryan on the Brazos, 1400 acres in Brackettville, and 300 acres in Fayetteville). In Bryan there is really only enough room for trap and skeet; in Fayetteville we may have enough line of sight for 200yds. Both places are <2hrs from Houston. In Brackettville we have clear line of sight for >1mi (from hilltop to hilltop), but it's a 6hr drive. Each property has a house with plenty of guest rooms, maybe we need to set up a range day out to west Texas?

Chula Vista ranch, west Texas - YouTube

 

[Whiskey_Rocka_Rolla]

I agree, I want to set up some targets for plinking, tannerite, and also somewhere where I can rapid fire till my heart is content.

 

[Tejano Scott]

Ok, let's ask the tough questions... Logistically, someone tell me what's wrong with this idea. One of us purchases the land and then sells "shooting leases". I envision it being the same as a hunting lease, just specifically deals with just rights to shoot. How much would people be willing to pay per month/per year/or per day to shoot on private property like this?

 

[benenglish]

How much would people be willing to pay per month/per year/or per day to shoot on private property like this?

I'll give my (that's MY, not THE) answer to the second question first.

I actually did a poll on this subject in another forum with an entirely different target audience and found the respondents to be amazingly, frustratingly penurious.

My answer would be based on facilities. No facilities == not much dough from me. Perfect facilities == $1000/year without hesitation. However, my defintion of "perfect facilities" would, at minimum, be way beyond the scope of this project.

Let's try a basic scenario, then. For bare land out to 200 meters with a covered firing line and a couple of proper rifle benches plus a safe-for-rapid-fire pistol pit, even if I had to provide my own target stands, I'd happily kick in $300 a year plus $1000 seed money. If I can see serious potential for the location, I can imagine providing $5000 or more in seed money.

Logistically, someone tell me what's wrong with this idea. One of us purchases the land and then sells "shooting leases". I envision it being the same as a hunting lease, just specifically deals with just rights to shoot.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea, theoretically. In practice, though, it requires that "one of us" would have to buy the land. If we have someone with that kind of money in our midst, more power to 'em and my eternal thanks if they're willing to do this.

More likely, we'll have to gather the money from an initial, core group willing to invest in the future. The owner would then be an entity formed specifically for that purpose (most likely an LLC). IOW, we're talking about founding a new, private gun club.

If we're going to go to that trouble, what will we be offering that will draw people away from the already established gun clubs and commercial ranges in the area? Without a solid answer to that question, right up front, there's no point in proceeding any further.

Personally, I think a new (outdoor and thus not horribly expensive) gun club could offer quite a bit and be successful OR it could be close to Houston. I just don't see how to do both. After all, what's the closest deer lease to Houston? That's a sincere question; I don't know the answer. However, I think it might give us an idea just how close to the city this project could be. And if it's too far away, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having a convenient place for practice and meet-ups?

 

[Tejano Scott]

I'll give my (that's MY, not THE) answer to the second question first.

I actually did a poll on this subject in another forum with an entirely different target audience and found the respondents to be amazingly, frustratingly penurious.

My answer would be based on facilities. No facilities == not much dough from me. Perfect facilities == $1000/year without hesitation. However, my defintion of "perfect facilities" would, at minimum, be way beyond the scope of this project.

Let's try a basic scenario, then. For bare land out to 200 meters with a covered firing line and a couple of proper rifle benches plus a safe-for-rapid-fire pistol pit, even if I had to provide my own target stands, I'd happily kick in $300 a year plus $1000 seed money. If I can see serious potential for the location, I can imagine providing $5000 or more in seed money.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea, theoretically. In practice, though, it requires that "one of us" would have to buy the land. If we have someone with that kind of money in our midst, more power to 'em and my eternal thanks if they're willing to do this.

More likely, we'll have to gather the money from an initial, core group willing to invest in the future. The owner would then be an entity formed specifically for that purpose (most likely an LLC). IOW, we're talking about founding a new, private gun club.

If we're going to go to that trouble, what will we be offering that will draw people away from the already established gun clubs and commercial ranges in the area? Without a solid answer to that question, right up front, there's no point in proceeding any further.

Personally, I think a new (outdoor and thus not horribly expensive) gun club could offer quite a bit and be successful OR it could be close to Houston. I just don't see how to do both. After all, what's the closest deer lease to Houston? That's a sincere question; I don't know the answer. However, I think it might give us an idea just how close to the city this project could be. And if it's too far away, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having a convenient place for practice and meet-ups?

Well you certainly touch on the most fundamental threshold decisions:

1. Will this be owned by one person who leases out the shooting rights? You're right though, if we can't get 1 person to do it(Chuck), then it would have to be a collection of us forming an entity for the sole purpose of this venture.

2. What mindset are we going for? Profit or Non-profit? I always saw this as a non-profit venture, with all revenue generated going back into the land/facilities/possibly some insurance. I'm not wild about letting a ton of people in on this. I'd personally like to see enough people leasing to cover the costs of mortgage/facilities. Once we have enough money to make this a break even venture for whoever risks the capitol/credit rating, then how many more people would we honestly want to allow in? More people = more problems IMO.

I have several other parts of your well thought out post I'd like to respond to Ben, but I'm a little pressed for time. I will definitely revisit that post soon because I think you make a bunch of excellent points. I can see you've thought this through once or twice.

 

[midnightyell]

If you're going to talk logistics, consider that the area should have an established well and septic, not be in a no septic zone, or be on municipal water and sewer.

I'd be willing to make a small investment, but if a place to shoot is question #1, I think a place to poo is question #2. :P


It's all Tapatalk or the iPhone's fault.

 

[Renegade]

Get some friends to go in on it.

My Dad bought 100 acres in the 1950s with three other friends. When he passed, it was passed down to me, I still own it to this day.

$200,000 worth of land to shoot on can get real cheap if you find 3 friends serious about owning it.

 

[AKM]

If you're going to talk logistics, consider that the area should have an established well and septic, not be in a no septic zone, or be on municipal water and sewer.

I'd be willing to make a small investment, but if a place to shoot is question #1, I think a place to poo is question #2. :P



It's all Tapatalk or the iPhone's fault.

Ill poo in random unattended gear bags

 

[Tejano Scott]

Ill poo in random unattended gear bags

I knew Mike would adapt somehow. Lol. And he will even gladly wipe down with any extra clothes, gun rags, etc. you may have inside said gear bag.

 

[Tejano Scott]

Get some friends to go in on it.

My Dad bought 100 acres in the 1950s with three other friends. When he passed, it was passed down to me, I still own it to this day.

$200,000 worth of land to shoot on can get real cheap if you find 3 friends serious about owning it.

I think this is going to be the most legit option...

 

[TundraWookiee]

We could also look into the possibility of leasing some acreage on somebody's ranch. The landowner may be more open to the idea if we were to offer to also make improvements to stuff like the ranch roads on a yearly basis or things like that. If we get an approximate idea of how many interested parties we have and what they would be willing to spend then I might write up some sort of proposal to present to some big landowners down in my direction.

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[Glockster69]

See: 60 Ac Fm 980, Huntsville, TX 77340 - HAR.com

Here's the entrance to the property Ben is referencing (and going to buy so we can use )

Technically, I'm not positive the sign is on the tract Ben references, but it's within the general area on the S. side of FM980 so please, humor me with my story

 

[TheDan]

See: 60 Ac Fm 980, Huntsville, TX 77340 - HAR.com

this property has been platted for a subdivision named Timber Forest. Subdivision has been surveyed and engineer studies have already been done. In addition, this property has been approved by the Walker County Subdivision Planning Department.

Isn't that a bad thing if you're wanting to build a range?

 

[TundraWookiee]

Talked to a guy at work today that had just bought 10 acres for $2500 total...not a typo. I have a hard time believing it but supposedly it was because the owner didn't pay his taxes.

I know a guy who was selling 75 acres of pasture for $3000 an acre which is a bit overpriced for pasture.

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[Vaquero]

Send me a pm if you are serious.
I'm serious. Abilene area. Small profit (taxes and improvements). Hunting lease type deal. Potable water and elect are on property. Septic can be had. 500 yd is certainly doable. 1000yd+ prop line to prop line and ag land adjoins.

on the phone