I was in Junction a couple weeks ago, and there was land near my friend's deer lease for sale. This land was only 29 acres and he said to me that it is pretty much worthless because in order to shoot a centerfire rifle you need at least 50 consecutive acres. I started thinking about it again today and tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything regarding minimum area to shoot a centerfire rifle. Is this statement accurate, if so is it a State or Federal law? I tried looking it up on the Texas Legislature site as well as the NRA-Federal/State legislation site. Any light on this matter would be appreciated, thanks.

I'm having a bit of a hard time with that one. I know the last club i belonged to (it still exists and is very strong) had probably 4 acres altogether for range use. The County range here is probably 75' wide, and 350' long. My range is on my bro-in-law's place (113 acres), but we probably use an area that's about 50' wide by 400' long, and have a 8' high berm behind the target area. Is he talking about to hunt on?

I was thinking it was to help ensure that there is nothing behind what you are shooting. Hunting he said shotgun/archery/rimfire was fine. It could be an idea from his father-in-law who is from the East Coast.

Maybe. I doubt that 50 acres is even going to ensure that there's nothing behind it. That's sort of a hard one to answer, i think.

If you set up a range and have a proper backstop, you can do it on a couple of acres, maybe less.

There is no state law in Texas regarding minimum acreage for shooting.

Some counties may prohibit shooting in unincorporated areas.... but not out near Junction.

The range I use is 30'x600', with 3 acres behind it.
If you have a proper berm, and clean out the hot spots, there should be no problems.

my club is only about 6 acres we have a 100 and 200 yard range, I agree with the rest, as long as you have a good backstop, it shouldn;t be a problem

A lot depend on the lay of the land. At my mother's where I have a 100 yard range, I'm shooting directly into the side of a hill that's about 60 ft behind my back stop but between the backstop and the hill is a creek so there's no way I can shoot any farther but I can also shot at clay targets with use of my thrower and not worry about where the shot is falling. She owns 5 +/- acres.

Each acre is 69.5 yards by 69.5 yards, so do the math. 29 acres is a substantial piece of ground, especially if you have to walk it all the time. My hunting club allows each hunter a 400 ft front at each stand location, and we are allowed four of those. It's actually a pretty large chunk of real estate, and most everybody uses centerfire rifles of various types during the firearms season. I don't see why you need a mimimum of 50 acres for a rifle range unless you want a 400+ yard range.

I have never heard of this law before my friend stated it, because I am thinking right along y'all's lines. I was just trying to fathom a law like this and I don't think it makes sense to me either.

I think your friend is somewhat confused about the law. There is a state statue on the books, and it is mentioned on page 55 of the current TPW Hunting and Fishing Regulations.
It is against the law to : "Hunt in a subdivsion with lots 10 acres or less in an unincorporated area of a county if the commisionors 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.)"
I don't believe Kendall county has such a restriction, and it would not apply to 29 acres anyway.

I think your friend is somewhat confused about the law. There is a state statue on the books, and it is mentioned on page 55 of the current TPW Hunting and Fishing Regulations.
It is against the law to : "Hunt in a subdivsion with lots 10 acres or less in an unincorporated area of a county if the commisionors 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.)"
I don't believe Kendall county has such a restriction, and it would not apply to 29 acres anyway.

Thanks I'll look into that.

You should check with the county to see if there is an ordinance to that effect. Bandera county will not allow you to fire a firearm on less than 35 acres. Don't get this property for hunting or anything until you check since each county can and does make their own restrictions.

You should check with the county to see if there is an ordinance to that effect. Bandera county will not allow you to fire a firearm on less than 35 acres. Don't get this property for hunting or anything until you check since each county can and does make their own restrictions.

Bandera might be doing that, but under Texas law counties do not have that power. Thus the law allowing county commisionors to disallow hunting (archery or firearms) on ten acres or less. If the counties had that power, this law would not be neccesary.