Makes it hard even to plink or load test. I remember shooting in the early 80's as a kid on my grandfathers 10 acre block. It was on a road down to a local beach, not built up, but not remote either. Most of the blocks were between 1/4 acre to 10 acre allotments. We were just plinking paint cans and trees for fun with 22LR, shotgun and 30-30 mostly. Looking back it must have created a hell of a racket, as at least a dozen houses were within rock throwing distance. But shooting noise back then was just considered regular occasional background noise, like dirt bikes or kids on ATV's. People thought, well those young fellas are shooting again, just as long as they dont keep it up all day its fine. With the world we live in now its hard to remember how well it worked before. One shot within earshot of that beach these days and ten folks would consider it civic duty to call police.
Interesting. My experience of growing up smack-dab in the middle of the states (Iowa) is about the same. NW Iowa is semi-rural, neither unpopulated or densely populated depending on one’s frame of reference. In the ‘60’s growing up before I could even drive, I’d carry my dads single shot 12 ga through town to get to the railroad tracks on the south edge. The ditches there held pheasants. I was always walking around with an air rifle shooting rabbits even before that. My home town was mostly made up of socially and politically conservative Dutch farmers and the like, mostly only a couple of generations past their forefathers immigration.
It’s a very heterogeneous town now with a small church-affiliated liberal arts college with its own self-appointed elite winking at our now annual Gay Pride Day.
I bet a kid wouldn’t get very far down the very route I took before being met by a lot of stern looking men with badges. Shy of breaking any laws, I’d almost like to test the proposition. 😉
