# Firearms and Shooting > Shooting >  Shooting but not necessarily hunting

## vinceblack

Hello all!

I would like to take up shooting and want to get a perspective on the attitudes towards shooting here in NZ, as I am not originally from here.

I want to shoot but not necessarily hunt, though I might get into hunting at a later stage. Say I just wanted to go out and shoot a rifle for fun, what's the attitude towards this kind of activity? Where can I go shoot a rifle? Does it have to be on DOC approved hunting land, and do I need a hunting permit to shoot, even if I'm not hunting? 

How strict are the laws here? Say I bought a rifle then went out into the country, set up some targets and did some shooting, is this ok? I live in Otago so there's plenty wide open country. 

The only resources I can find on the web regarding shooting are indoor competitive target shooting websites and hunting websites, but nothing about just shooting for the simple pleasure of firing guns. 

Any advice or opinions are appreciated!

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## Rushy

Welcome to the forum  vinceblack.  you are bound to get lots of good advice on here.  You would be wise to have a hunting permit if in possession of a rifle on DoC land as in my opinion you could likely have difficulty convincing a DoC ranger that the rifle was not for hunting with and for the ease of getting the permit why have the hassle.

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## vinceblack

Agreed! 

Is DoC land the only land I can shoot on? Can I shoot on any public land not classed as a DoC conservation area (within the bounds of the law ie away from roads and dwellings etc)?

Is the concept of just shooting guns for fun frowned upon here or is the privilege to own firearms enjoyed fairly openly?

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## Gillie

You can shoot on private land if you have permission. If you just want to target shoot your local NZDA branch might be a good place to start. Most of the local NZDA branches run an active range calendar. Target shoot on DOC Land will definately require you to get a FREE ONLINE PERMIT

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## ishoot10s

Plinking on DOC land is likely to be considered a "nuisance" certainly by any hunters in the area, and quite likely to upset trampers etc also. Save plinking for a designated range, or private land. As suggested, consider joining your local NZDA branch, or even a smallbore club if 50m prone floats your boat.

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## vinceblack

But what about public land that isn't DoC conservation land? Or is all public land DoC land? 

I probably will join the NZDA for the convenience of range shooting, I just want to fully understand where I can and can't shoot  :Have A Nice Day:

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## ebf

really not a good idea to go plinking on any public land, DOC or otherwise. very fast way to give the shooting community a bad name, and quite possibly meet your local armed offender squad...

if you just want to plink, and maybe do the occasional competition, then join your local NZDA, and shoot at their range

or, find suitable private land where you can shoot with permission. most lifestyle and semi-rural areas seem to be ok shooting subsonic 22 with a can (with permission of course).

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## ebf

speak to your local council, they usually have a list of all  the sports clubs in the area.

most of the clubs allow you to have a go and see if you enjoy that particular discipline

have a go and see what you like

smallbore target (good for winter, a lot of the 25m ranges are indoor)
pistol
blackpowder
clay target in all its different forms
NZDA shoots
NRA fullbore

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## Munsey

Try the NRA they just do shooting , with out the hunting side .

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## Toby

Do you have a firearms licence? Welcome to the forum too.

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## vinceblack

I don't yet have my licence but see no reason I'd be refused, although it's possible I guess.

Thanks for the input so far, it's good to get an idea of general attitudes towards shooting etc. Don't want to piss anyone off so it's nice to hear varying opinions on the subject.

I used to shoot with the Air Training Corps back in the UK and I've just recently found out how liberal the gun laws here are. Would like to take advantage of this but also not tarnish the good name of gun owners.

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## Toby

I'd say ask a farmer around the area if you could shoot some targets on his land or like everyone else said use a range.

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## Beavis

Just use common sense. Find a wide open area that is relatively isolated and have fun. We have an awesome local spot on PCL where we can go shooting for fun. Been doing it for years and never had any trouble. The only people that ever bump into us are the occasional trail rider or four wheel driver.

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## CreepingDeath

I agree beavis. We shoot targets semi long range its just a bit of commen sence. Cut over is good if you can find it permits are needed to have a firearm on public land regardless if hunting or not. 

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## vinceblack

> Just use common sense. Find a wide open area that is relatively isolated and have fun. We have an awesome local spot on PCL where we can go shooting for fun. Been doing it for years and never had any trouble. The only people that ever bump into us are the occasional trail rider or four wheel driver.


That's what I want to hear, a common sense rule is a good rule I think! 

That said, does anyone familiar with the Wakatipu area know of any good out-of-the-way spots they can recommend for a bit of shooting?

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## GravelBen

> That's what I want to hear, a common sense rule is a good rule I think! 
> 
> That said, does anyone familiar with the Wakatipu area know of any good out-of-the-way spots they can recommend for a bit of shooting?


Some good open DOC land off the Nevis Road out the back of Cromwell/Bannockburn. Nice easy 4wd trip from Garston through to Bannockburn too.

Central Otago has heaps of places where you'll be fine plinking as long as you're sensible and safe about it. Call the local DOC office (probably Alexandra) for a rimfire permit for rabbit shooting as well as the regular hunting permit which only covers centrefire rifles and medium/large game.

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## vinceblack

> Some good open DOC land off the Nevis Road out the back of Cromwell/Bannockburn. Nice easy 4wd trip from Garston through to Bannockburn too.
> 
> Central Otago has heaps of places where you'll be fine plinking as long as you're sensible and safe about it. Call the local DOC office (probably Alexandra) for a rimfire permit for rabbit shooting as well as the regular hunting permit which only covers centrefire rifles and medium/large game.



Thanks for that. Maybe I can clarify something here too...



The blue highlighted area abeam the Kingston end of the Wakatipu is the DoC Remarkables/Nevis hunting block, on which I'll need a hunting permit. What about the non-DoC land surrounding it? What kind of permit do I need (if any) to shoot on that area? It's public land but it isn't a specified DoC conservation area or hunting block.

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## Toby

Go have a talk to your local Doc office, maybe they could set you up with permits or something on a bit of land they have that doing the type of shooting you want to do wont piss any bugger off.

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## vinceblack

Yeh I think I will do that, I just don't see what DoC's involvement is outside of their hunting blocks, or why a permit is required for non-DoC land. Do DoC still issue the permits for non-DoC land? Seems weird. Unless all the public land is DoC controlled and they just have hunting blocks where there are more specific hunting regulations.

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## Toby

I'm pretty sure you don't need a Doc permit for non-doc land. What other public land is there you can shoot on?

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## Barefoot

You need to find out who administers an area of public land.
It may be DOC, it may be the local council, landcorp, etc. Either way you will still need permissoin to shoot on it.
If there is public land up against a DOC block then the local DOC office will know who looks after it.
DOC administers something like a 1/4 of all land in NZ. Someone will correct that if I'm too far off.

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## vinceblack

Another member PM'd me informing me that a permit is required on all public land. 

I just don't know what the situation is in NZ. According to the documentation such as the arms code and DoC resources, I can shoot a rifle anywhere I want as long as I don't annoy or endanger, have permission if I'm on private land, and as long as I have a hunting permit if I'm in a hunting block. Other than that, it seems like you're free to shoot anywhere. This seems like a very liberal interpretation though so I hoped the community would be able to clarify.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the exact meaning of public land. All DoC hunting blocks are on public land, and a lot of public land is DoC conservation area, but not all public land is in either of these categories, so presumably DoC has no business issuing a permit to shoot on that land?




> You need to find out who administers an area of public land.
> It may be DOC, it may be the local council, landcorp, etc. Either way you will still need permissoin to shoot on it.
> If there is public land up against a DOC block then the local DOC office will know who looks after it.
> DOC administers something like a 1/4 of all land in NZ. Someone will correct that if I'm too far off.



That makes sense. So all public land is administered by some sort of authority, and that authority is who I contact for permission. Presumably QLDC 'own' the non-DoC land round this way then....

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## Barefoot

move to Trust me it can get more complicated than that, but yes find you manages/administer the land and then you will know what you have to do to shoot on it if at all.
You can't just turn up on a piece of publicly owned land and shoot.

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## ebf

> Another member PM'd me informing me that a permit is required on all public land.


You need *permission* from the owner for both private and public land.

A permit is a document granting you permission (within certain restrictions) for public land. So for instance, your DOC permit will say you are allowed to hunt but only in designated hunting blocks, not within a certain distance of tracks etc.

Same goes for permits from local or regional councils.

It's an interesting point, I would imagine that the common sense approach is that doc and council permits are for hunting, and not for plinking... Can't see that doc or a regional council would be happy with you using a hunting permit as an excuse to effectively set up an informal shooting range on their land... Of course, I could be wrong  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Beavis

It's probably one of those grey areas nobody thought of

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## Wirehunt

12 month doc permits here and lots of places to shoot handy to town.

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## vinceblack

Hi all, 

I wrote to DoC about this and got a response from the Biodiversity Threats Programme Manager. 

Here are the relevant points:

"Hunting permits are for the specific use of a rifle on public land, so although you are not specifically hunting you will still require a permit to sight your rifle. There is no problem with someone sighting in a rifle in a hunting block so long as they can do so safely. Most other areas not in hunting blocks are generally not suitable for firearm use so are unlikely to be available for target practice. I don't have any answers for this."

So it looks like it is indeed a grey area. My interpretation is that a hunting permit allows you to shoot a rifle on any public land, so long as you comply with the arms code.

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## Toby

It may be law to allow you to shoot in a Doc block when you have a hunting permit so I guess its Courtesy not too.

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## Barefoot

It is called a "Hunting" permit.

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## gimp

NZ seriously lacks shooting infrastructure for recreational shooting. Need a decent rifle range in every city.

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## veitnamcam

> NZ seriously lacks shooting infrastructure for recreational shooting. Need a decent rifle range in every city.


Yep if there was we might get less statements like Gillie quoted in another thread.

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## gimp

> Yep if there was we might get less statements like Gillie quoted in another thread.
> 
> Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2


Missed that? Summary?

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## veitnamcam

Too hard on phone, think it was Phillips thread on point of impact change thread .
Basicly a list of excuses why i missed wounded that one.
Yep guilty of a couple in the old days.

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## ebf

> NZ seriously lacks shooting infrastructure for recreational shooting. Need a decent rifle range in every city.


Welly might be crappy in other respects, but we have a bunch of ranges. Only problem is each one has their own membership fees !

I have the following within 15 minutes of my house:

25m indoor smallbore
50m blackpowder & outdoor smallbore
200m Deerstalkers
1000yds NRA
IPSC pistol

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## veitnamcam

Simple join the 1000y one and you can shoot any range

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## ebf

Naa VC, does not work that way I'm afraid. We only use the 1000yd range on Sat afternoons. And it is set distances as per the NRA/WRA calendar. This past weekend it was 600yds, next Sat is 900yds.

Deerstalkers range is the only "casual" shooting range for anything from 50m to 200m

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## veitnamcam

Ah Bugger.
We have range issues here. In forestry closed for fire danger,logging etc.
No public or club range that Im aware of that you can shoot that far.

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## Kscott

> Welly might be crappy in other respects, but we have a bunch of ranges. Only problem is each one has their own membership fees !
> 
> I have the following within 15 minutes of my house:
> 
> 25m indoor smallbore
> 50m blackpowder & outdoor smallbore
> 200m Deerstalkers
> 1000yds NRA
> IPSC pistol


Lucky man. All I have within 15 minutes of my house is a golf course, 5 petrol stations, 2 shopping malls with a gazllion shops, movie complex, transportation hub and 3 high schools with about 5,000 grumpy teenagers walking about.

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## Ryan

I think I'm in the wrong city  :Sad: 




> Welly might be crappy in other respects, but we have a bunch of ranges. Only problem is each one has their own membership fees !
> 
> I have the following within 15 minutes of my house:
> 
> 25m indoor smallbore
> 50m blackpowder & outdoor smallbore
> 200m Deerstalkers
> 1000yds NRA
> IPSC pistol

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## veitnamcam

The problem is you are in a city. 

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## Ryan

This is also true but  have nonetheless visited awesome urban shooting ranges in other international cities. Auckland lacks this though, it's crying out for one. If I won the national lottery, I'd build one.  :Sad: 




> The problem is you are in a city. 
> 
> Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2

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## gimp

Actual shooting ranges are great. Belmont shooting complex in Brisbane for example. A bunch of rifle ranges, pistol ranges, clay targets plus a shop, bar, cafe, rental of guns, etc. Nice setup. Would be brilliant to have access to facilities like that in NZ. But we don't seem to have them anywhere.

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## mikee

> The problem is you are in a city. 
> 
> Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2


I have the use of  very nice range(s) :Thumbsup:  and I live in a small town!!!

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## Beavis

> This is also true but  have nonetheless visited awesome urban shooting ranges in other international cities. Auckland lacks this though, it's crying out for one. If I won the national lottery, I'd build one.


Imagine the NIMBY's though

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## R93

> Actual shooting ranges are great. Belmont shooting complex in Brisbane for example. A bunch of rifle ranges, pistol ranges, clay targets plus a shop, bar, cafe, rental of guns, etc. Nice setup. Would be brilliant to have access to facilities like that in NZ. But we don't seem to have them anywhere.



Shot at Belmont several times. It was tents and mud when I first went there. Now its pretty swish.

Greymouth area has a 1000yrd/m range I think?
Im lucky to have the family farms to bang away on.

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## Ryan

Probably why it hasn't already been done - that and "resource consent". The NIMBY voice seems to carry a lot of weight around these parts...




> Imagine the NIMBY's though

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## Josh

The Deerstalkers range I used to go to in Dunedin was rubbish. You had to traipse through mud for 10 minutes to get there, then it was just a crappy cleared out area on the side of a hill with a lack of decent shooting platforms.

I've done a bit of plinking on DOC land up near Cromwell - had a 12 month rimfire permit so had a bit of fun shooting across a gully with the .22 when I had finished shooting bunnies. Nobody was around, and it was across onto the opposite face of a small, completely bare gully. Very safe.

Regardless of what it is called, a DOC "hunting permit" allows you to shoot rifles on specified blocks of public land. I doubt anyone would have a problem if you were plinking with the right permits and with a bit of common sense regarding safety.

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## veitnamcam

What's a nimby ?

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## Josh

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=nimby

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## Toby

Learnt that in geo, was a study about the oil research in the eastern region

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## Rushy

> What's a nimby ?
> 
> Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2


Someone that says "Not in my back yard". They generally like the idea of prisons (for example) but don't want one in their town.

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## veitnamcam

I see.

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## Barefoot

We try and export as many of them as possible from auckland to the rest of the country.
We have been very successful in redistributing them in the Wanaka area and some areas the Nelson province  :Grin:

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## veitnamcam

> We try and export as many of them as possible from auckland to the rest of the country.
> We have been very successful in redistributing them in the Wanaka area and some areas the Nelson province


You can bloody well stop that right now!

We (Nelson) have already had one very good range closed because of one neighbor complaining. This neighbor is NOT eligible for NZ residency didn't even have a residence on the small patch of neighboring scrub and I guess was just complaining to raise the value of his shit piece of dirt.

 :Wtfsmilie:  :Wtfsmilie:  :Wtfsmilie:  :XD:  :Oh Noes:

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## mikee

> You can bloody well stop that right now!
> 
> We (Nelson) have already had one very good range closed because of one neighbor complaining. This neighbor is NOT eligible for NZ residency didn't even have a residence on the small patch of neighboring scrub and I guess was just complaining to raise the value of his shit piece of dirt.


Yeah but there is still a range there and you were on it not so long ago.

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## R93

> What's a nimby ?
> 
> Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2


Stand in front of a mirror? :Psmiley:

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## veitnamcam

> Yeah but there is still a range there and you were on it not so long ago.


True but the original range is closed and it cost him 70k? to fight it and loose?

Councils have to stop pandering to people who dont and cannot live here!

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## mikee

> True but the original range is closed and it cost him 70k? to fight it and loose?
> 
> Councils have to stop pandering to people who dont and cannot live here!


Yep, he won in court and appeal but  it is my understanding that they told him 'off the record" they would just keep on at him till he ran out of $$ to fight. 
Not fair really as he is a bloody nice guy and a bloody good shooter in many many different disciplines.

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## veitnamcam

And that is the reason for this post



QUOTE=veitnamcam;96748]You can bloody well stop that right now!

We (Nelson) have already had one very good range closed because of one neighbor complaining. This neighbor is NOT eligible for NZ residency didn't even have a residence on the small patch of neighboring scrub and I guess was just complaining to raise the value of his shit piece of dirt.

 :Wtfsmilie:  :Wtfsmilie:  :Wtfsmilie:  :XD:  :Oh Noes: [/QUOTE]

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## PerazziSC3

> Shot at Belmont several times. It was tents and mud when I first went there. Now its pretty swish.
> 
> Greymouth area has a 1000yrd/m range I think?
> Im lucky to have the family farms to bang away on.


Shot at belmont clay target club (looks out over the rifle range) in january. The rifle range looks like a pretty sweet. The 2018 commonwealth games is there so no doubt it will get even more improvements.
Im the same as you r93, always had a farm to shoot on so never had the trouble or hassle of signing up to ranges or finding places to go, my rifle range is off the deck and can shoot targets as far as the range finder can get, just over 1000 yards. 
Pretty lucky really

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## Haydendev

> Actual shooting ranges are great. Belmont shooting complex in Brisbane for example. A bunch of rifle ranges, pistol ranges, clay targets plus a shop, bar, cafe, rental of guns, etc. Nice setup. Would be brilliant to have access to facilities like that in NZ. But we don't seem to have them anywhere.


thats what we need to have in every city  :Grin:

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## Yukon

> Agreed! 
> 
> Is DoC land the only land I can shoot on? Can I shoot on any public land not classed as a DoC conservation area (within the bounds of the law ie away from roads and dwellings etc)?
> 
> Is the concept of just shooting guns for fun frowned upon here or is the privilege to own firearms enjoyed fairly openly?


What about Queens Chain, which is supposed to be for public recreation? Or have we been stripped of this? I think, what the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't bleed for. Just be discreet, as long as you are allowed access. You can't then be accused of being a nuisance. Or have I missed something here?

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