being a good neighbor--

[dave1949]

gwdixon i don't know anyone that moves to the country for quiet.

You know of one now, me. I sure don't expect my neighbors to be as quiet as church mice and when they have work to do in the woods or fields that's entirely normal. If they pass through an an ATV or snow sled, fine. Plink for a while, that's fine too. It's the moderation that counts.

I have lived in suburban areas where the constant background hum of traffic nevers quits, day and night. Ditto if living near an interstate or turnpike. The noise related to lawncare alone in suburban areas can be constant during daytime. There can also be the hydraulic whine and clanging from dumpster pickups. Then there are base speakers on stereos that can be heard for hundreds of feet easily.

I think you are rationalizing the fact that you want to shoot, and the only place to do it on your own land is in the country. It's convenient for you to believe all your neighbors are escaping the restrictions of suburbia. Some probably are, like you, but there are others who appreciate nature, natural quiet, and natural darkness. Those things cannot be found in any suburb, so I take what I can get in the country.

Noise is a form of pollution. No one granted you or anyone else the right to pollute the property of others as a by-product of your activity. Don't mistake tolerance for acceptance.
Dave.

 

[pitt_md]

I know, I know but the Mrs. did not want me to make a big deal out of it ...so I paid him and it burned me up but I have not helped him or loaned him a tool to this day.:thumbsup:

Brin, I work with a guy like this. He is/has been looking for clean fill for a project he is working on. I happen to have a great deal of it. He asked me if he could have some of it. I told him no problem, help yourself. He took 5 big dump trailers full one weekend. The next week at work he wants me to pay him for hauling away my dirt. He said he would have done it for free but something broke on his trailer and he needs to cover his expenses. I told him he could take it off the price of the fill which was double his fee for hauling it away and pay me the rest by the end of the day. He went on his way and we have not spoke about it since. He did try to blame me for his missing lazer level. I told him I did not borrow it I have my own much nicer equipment. He hounded me for weeks about the darn thing. Not to long after that he found it after cleaning his garage.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Back to the good neighboor experiences...

When I was a kid we heated our house with wood. One year we had a load of slabs from a lumber mill dumped in our yard just before my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. Dad came out of it fine, but he was laid up for a few months. I can still hear the sound of a half dozen chainsaws that Saturday morning when the Elders' Quorum from the church came by and cut all of the wood and stacked it.

I was only 12, but I still almost teared up knowing how big of a deal that was to my family. I think that no matter what I do for neighboors, friends, etc. I'll never be even.

Later in life I moved into my current house that needed a new roof. The guys from church offered to help me tear the old roof off. There was quite a crew that came out, and I cooked up a nice dutch oven lunch (I've taken awards for my dutch oven cooking). By the lunch time the job was done, and only a few stuck around to eat. Everyone was just interested in helping. No one expected anything in return.

That reminds me, I found out an older couple in the neighboorhood has a lawn mower that needs some work. I need to swing by tonight after 4H and see if I can help them.

 

[TGF]

I think I am a good neighbor, if they had a problem with me and brought it to me I would work with them to resolve it.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

... i don't know anyone that moves to the country for quiet...

Oh, I've known a few who MOVE to the country for quiet. Then they are disappointed to hear tractors passing by, old farm trucks with long since rusted out mufflers, combines in the field 'til midnight, firearms, ATV's, Cows bellering for thier calves everytime a herd is moved, dogs barking, roosters crowing, and a whole symphony of new and unfamiliar sounds.

The only ones I know who move to the country for quiet are constantly complaining that they didn't find it.

 

[pitt_md]

You know of one now, me. I sure don't expect my neighbors to be as quiet as church mice and when they have work to do in the woods or fields that's entirely normal. If they pass through an an ATV or snow sled, fine. Plink for a while, that's fine too. It's the moderation that counts.

I have lived in suburban areas where the constant background hum of traffic nevers quits, day and night. Ditto if living near an interstate or turnpike. The noise related to lawncare alone in suburban areas can be constant during daytime. There can also be the hydraulic whine and clanging from dumpster pickups. Then there are base speakers on stereos that can be heard for hundreds of feet easily.

I think you are rationalizing the fact that you want to shoot, and the only place to do it on your own land is in the country. It's convenient for you to believe all your neighbors are escaping the restrictions of suburbia. Some probably are, like you, but there are others who appreciate nature, natural quiet, and natural darkness. Those things cannot be found in any suburb, so I take what I can get in the country.

Noise is a form of pollution. No one granted you or anyone else the right to pollute the property of others as a by-product of your activity. Don't mistake tolerance for acceptance.
Dave.

Dave, I can understand you wanting some solitude and quiet. I think my neighbors who own a big farm operation would most likely run you right out of the country. Big time farmers go 24/7. They can be real noisy even all through the night. Tractors coming and going at all hours at full throttle are not quiet. When they chop corn there is a constant noise coming from their place and they are more than a half mile from me.

 

[TripleR]

I think I am a good neighbor, if they had a problem with me and brought it to me I would work with them to resolve it.

I am sure you are as are most of us, but there comes a time when we may be unable to reasonably accommodate the wishes of our neighbors. I do not have a small fortune tied up in property with regular payments to various governmental entities in the form of taxes to let my neighbors dictate how I should utilize my land for their maximum enjoyment.

 

[dave1949]

Dave, I can understand you wanting some solitude and quiet. I think my neighbors who own a big farm operation would most likely run you right out of the country. Big time farmers go 24/7. They can be real noisy even all through the night. Tractors coming and going at all hours at full throttle are not quiet. When they chop corn there is a constant noise coming from their place and they are more than a half mile from me.

I wouldn't buy a rural property with built-in noise if quiet was one of my wants. Farm operations, trains, shooting ranges, stone quarries, etc. would all be things I would be scouting for when looking at property. I don't mean someone should move in and try to change the world around them.

I hope if a person took the time and research to find what they are looking for, whatever it is, they can enjoy it without conflicts. That takes good neighborliness and a measure of tolerance.
Dave.

 

[Mousefield]

gwdixon i don't know anyone that moves to the country for quiet,

I moved to the county 12 years ago and yes it was to find more peace and quiet. For the most part we have it. We have no neighbors on three sides. :dance1: The main noise we do have is from ATV and dirt bikes plus shooters who TRESSPASS on the neighbors 200 acres which is a privately owned tree farm. Or they come roaring down our private gravel road and screw it up. Somehow they manage to amplify the noise of their machines. Yes I do hear chainsaws and the highway if the wind is just right, that is fine. It is the inconsiderate *&%#@ who don't care how much racket and damage they do that is the problem, not the neighbors a mile away cutting up some firewood.

 

[pitt_md]

I try to be a good neighbor but I think I fall short some times. Shortly after I bought my place in the country some one built a house next to my property. I went over one day to introduce myself and say hi. when they answered the door I told them I lived next door and wanted to introduce myself and did. They both just looked at me and did not say a single word. That kind of bugged me but figured its their right to live how they want. A couple of years ago they were having a 4th of July party. Lots of people around and noise. At night they started to shoot BIG fireworks out over my horse pasture. One of my horses tried to go through a fence and got cut up pretty good. I got in my truck MAD AS HE!! and went over there. I got out of my truck and started yelling (yes I can be short tempered) at them and the entire party disbanded. The lady of the place had tried to make amends but the guy won't even look at me. I felt bad for ruining their party for some reason even though they were not considerate in the least of my horse's.

 

[dave1949]

I try to be a good neighbor but I think I fall short some times. Shortly after I bought my place in the country some one built a house next to my property. I went over one day to introduce myself and say hi. when they answered the door I told them I lived next door and wanted to introduce myself and did. They both just looked at me and did not say a single word. That kind of bugged me but figured its their right to live how they want. A couple of years ago they were having a 4th of July party. Lots of people around and noise. At night they started to shoot BIG fireworks out over my horse pasture. One of my horses tried to go through a fence and got cut up pretty good. I got in my truck MAD AS HE!! and went over there. I got out of my truck and started yelling (yes I can be short tempered) at them and the entire party disbanded. The lady of the place had tried to make amends but the guy won't even look at me. I felt bad for ruining their party for some reason even though they were not considerate in the least of my horse's.

They are/were most likely big city folks who are clueless. They probably never had the experience of a stranger neighbor introducing themselves.
Dave.

 

[TGF]

They are/were most likely big city folks who are clueless. They probably never had the experience of a stranger neighbor introducing themselves.
Dave.

My guess is they were probably ignorant of spooking the horses, I would not have though of it in all honesty, but I also would have invited you to the party.

 

[RoyJackson]

Come on Roy, we are not talking about occasionally plinking cans with a .22. This is a surveyed rifle range being discussed.

I hunt quail and dove on my property along with the stray jack rabbit or rats (when we raised hogs). This is not an anti-gun issue. It is respect for neighbors, their privacy, and their sensibilities. There are far more open and private places to practice shooting rather than in an area when there are neighbors and there is the possibility (as the OP noted) of shooting someone - no matter how remote the probability.

As far as the noise of a high-powered rifle - when we hunt deer in the Sierra Nevada one can hear rifle shots as much as 10 miles away. People in camp know when someone gets a deer from that distance since that is where our blinds are.

The bottom line is that I would not want a rifle range next door. Some sighting in of a rifle once or twice a season or "blowing out" a .357 every few weeks is just fine. For instance, I throw clay targets before the upland bird season but my place is not a skeet, trap, or sporting clays range.

You are entitled to your opinion as am I. Let the OP build a rifle range next to you since you'll "get used to it". NIMBY comes to mind.

I'd probably ask him if I can use his range!
Heck, if I had enough land, I'd have a range.
As I wrote, as long as he uses courtesy and common sense for the times he shoots...it'd be fine.

As far as surveying...is he actually "surveying", or just marking off distances for his shooting? Is this a commercial range (more then one or two shooting stations)? Or private (his use only)?
If a private range, I just don't see a problem.

 

[TGF]

its a private range roy, used by myself and at most 2 friends at a time. If you ever make it nearby fell free to let me know and you can come shoot.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I had a butthole neighbor at my last house. I had the Kioti 3054. He had this old pickup he would load full of trash all year and then take it to the dump one day a year. It stunk, was an eyesore etc. One day I was out dragging the road and he asked if I would pull his truck up the hill as he was stuck in some mud in his yard. I didn't and don't like this guy but I figured I'd give him a hand. I attached the chain to my tractor and he hooked up the truck. It was an easy pull for the R1's and I had him on solid ground (the driveway we both used now). He said he would have the truck out of the way by the end of the day. A few days later it still sat (while he consumed his whiskey .... a real alcoholic). My wife was to leave for the day and didn't want to drive her care through the lawn to bypass his truck. I got the tractor back out and pushed it back into the mud. A towtruck came later and I never had the issue again.

Whoah.!!!!:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[RadarTech]

If one has been nice to, and then craps back-- ye getith back crap....

J

 

[beppington]

I'm only on Day 6 of 1st-time tractor ownership, so no good deed opportunities have come up, yet.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'm only on Day 6 of 1st-time tractor ownership, so no good deed opportunities have come up, yet.

You'll either see the opportunities pretty soon, or you'll avoid them. It depends on what kind of person you are.

It hardly counts as an act of service when it's so fun.

 

[wvpolekat]

My lil Bota and it's brand new grapple were the neighborhood hero today. Storms knocked a tree over across the private road I live on. While another neighbor was talking about getting a chain to drag it out of the way, I got the Bota out, latched on to the tree and drug it out of the way. The guy at the end of the road with the little green tractor was green with envy.

 

[scoutcub]

You know of one now, me. I sure don't expect my neighbors to be as quiet as church mice and when they have work to do in the woods or fields that's entirely normal. If they pass through an an ATV or snow sled, fine. Plink for a while, that's fine too. It's the moderation that counts.

I have lived in suburban areas where the constant background hum of traffic nevers quits, day and night. Ditto if living near an interstate or turnpike. The noise related to lawncare alone in suburban areas can be constant during daytime. There can also be the hydraulic whine and clanging from dumpster pickups. Then there are base speakers on stereos that can be heard for hundreds of feet easily.

I have to agree. I JUST moved from outside Detroit suburbs to rural Ohio country. I, also, have heard all these noises above, and to me that's more aggravating than the occasional train closeby. Probably the biggest bit of noise pollution at the new place is the golfers across the street, whose voices rise to make that all-elusive birdie putt (that they probably cheated on), or the "tink" of the drive going into the very nice fishpond on #1.....
mostly aggravating because I'm sweating my @ss off mowing the grass or doing some kind of work, and they're havin fun.....

To the neighborliness part of it, I sure enjoyed assisting (appreciative) neighbors from all my past addresses, it gives a true sense of worth. I feel bad, I haven't had a chance to introduce myself to our current new neighbors, and offer any assistance....very soon!