r/canadaguns • u/gugz92 • Jun 13 '26
Misc Is this a good crown land spot?
Hey everyone, I've never shot on crownland and I have been looking at scouting some spots. I found this one and I wanted to see if it would be a spot to start practicing long range shooting. I'd be firing parallel to the roads and in the direction of the arrow. There are no dwellings within at least 20km of this spot. What are your thoughts?
fyi this is around north bay ontario
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Jun 13 '26
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u/gugz92 Jun 13 '26
Dude, BC has great spots, I go there part time. I work around Duncan, but here is a question can I just go up any of those logging roads and let er rip into a mountain as long as it's crown land? I feel so wary going up those logging areas
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u/Stryker1-1 Jun 13 '26
Depends on the crown land, not all crown land allows for the discharge of firearms, also need to consider local city/township ordinance.
Just because its crown land does not automatically mean its a free for all.
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Jun 13 '26
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u/gugz92 Jun 13 '26
I'm gonna start looking at some Duncan spots a little later, would it be alright if I sent them over to you a little later for your opinion. I've never shot outside of a range before and I'm high key terrified of getting gorked by law enforcement for being in the wrong spot or missing a detail
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u/Reasonable_Hall2346 Jun 13 '26
No, you can't just rip it on any logging road. Some are explicitly marked as no shooting zones due it high activity, hiking, off-roading, logging etc. For the mainland: https://www.fvrd.ca/assets/Government/Documents/NoShootingAreas.pdf
From my experience just offroading in Vancouver Island, most of the FSRs are owned by Mosiac and are not crownland. They may grant permission for use for offroad, but doubt they allow shooting. Its privately owned so I have no clue. Its why I avoid the island, such a shame the beautiful land has been privately sold.
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u/gugz92 Jun 13 '26
Dude that's so lame! It's kind of messed up how much land we have but how little of it is open for shooting
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u/Reasonable_Hall2346 Jun 13 '26
Generally BC has great spots, apart from Vancouver Island. I am not local to the Island so I wouldn't know all the details, but my experience off-roading there is that most of the service roads are marked private property. I wouldn't want to be trespassing with my firearms for sure.
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u/Sco0basTeVen Jun 13 '26
As long as it’s crown land and you are 400m from a numbered two lane highway and shooting into a backstop, it should be fine. I wouldn’t even hike of the FSR that far either. Find a spot I can pull up to and shoot from the side of the road or a landing
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u/gugz92 Jun 13 '26
Dumb question but what is an FSR? I keep seeing that term and I could find out what it means
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u/Water-Foul Jun 13 '26
I used to struggle with this a lot, I got a subscription for an app called Ihunter and it shows all the zones on a map overlay. Crown land, city limits, parks, no shooting areas (usually). I highly recommend it. People get a little touchy when people post specific spots on here, dont let it discourage you. Obviously there's more to it than just finding crown land, good backstop, sightlines and all that. I wish you luck! crown land shooting is best shooting.
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u/BowFella Jun 13 '26
Only way to know is to go there yourself. A map doesnt tell you where a backstop is or how tall the brush is. The spot could be wide open with a good back stop but have waist high grass or a bunch of new growth that doesnt give you a clear shooting lane. If I were you I'd bring a shooting bench or a shooting stick that gets you as high off the ground as possible, a hand saw to clear brush, and maybe a tall cardboard box to raise your target too if the backstop allows for it. Personally it wouldnt be worth driving hours for unless you're heading there for other reasons too.
Oh and a thermacell and watch out for ticks.
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u/gugz92 Jun 14 '26
Lol great advice thanks man, you defo know the way eh. And don't get me started on ticks I'm an eye doc so lyme disease is always on my radar
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u/BowFella Jun 14 '26
From my time in the woods I've had hundreds of ticks on me. Maybe only a couple of them ever latched but I've only ever seen deer ticks.
For shooting spots I'd look for logging areas and abandoned quarries. Back stops are plentiful and not a lot of ground brush. Lakes are a decent option too if you pick them right. Find one with high banks and no trails or houses on the other side or cabins on the lake. Hydro lines are a tricky one. They almost always have ATV trails going down them and the brush is usually high.
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u/gugz92 Jun 14 '26
Thank you my shooting brothers (and sisters!) This was really helpful. I'm marking down a few spots to go scout. At worst I have a nice day out larping with my shotgun and at best I find a spot. I'll keep you posted! I promise to clean up and leave no trace
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u/waitwhatnothing Jun 13 '26
Where is this roughly?
That doesn’t look like a great spot to me, but take a look at a topo version maybe. Good spots for long range shooting on crown land are going to be real hard to find in eastern Canada for example, the bush is thick and when it isn’t that usually means it’s swampy.
In my experience the best spots that are easy to find with satellite maps and cross referencing crown land info are inactive gravel pits.