Looking for a place to shoot in FL.....

[Doc Hoy]

As some of you know, I am not a club person or a CAS Shooter. I like to shoot alone. (For safety, but mostly because few other shooters would put up with my shenanigans.) I am too slow and way too finicky.

I will be living in North Naples off of Immokalee Road.

I found a gentleman who has invited me to look at his property which is in Ona, FL about 90 minutes from home. Former Marine, 100% disabled after a head wound in Second Fallujah. Big piece of property about three tenths mile from the nearest road.

I will likely build a shooting bench with a canopy.

We leave VA for the last time on March 23. I will pick up my pick up truck on about the 27th. (2007 Chevy 2500.) Company truck from South Car Motorsports on Lee Road near Fort Myers.

I was hoping to find a place closer to home but am as yet unsuccessful. One person responded but asked if I would sign an affidavit absolving him of any and all liable from now until the second coming. Of course I would but that was not enough for his attorney. I told him I would also get PL coverage. The attorney was unmoved. Not surprised by that, attorneys being the zero risk animals that they are.

I know it sounds like I don't like attorneys which is not the case. Attorneys are a very necessary evil. The folks who really bother me is the people who employ attorneys with the belief that they must do exactly what the attorney says every time the lawyer opens his or her mouth. Even the attorneys will tell you that is not true.

I'll post some photos of this place once I get settled

[woodnbow]

Go with the devil dog. No better friend...

[noelf2]

...or just look around for a piece of land for shooting, and dodging cottonmouth strikes, and alligators and such. Find a secluded beach spot and shoot holes in the water. Etc..

[HillBilly Willy]

Good luck and keep your powder dry in that humidity!

I'll be moving to Florida next year myself, but in the Orlando area.

[FITASC]

Sorry to hear that; the Orlando area traffic really sucks with lots of toll roads. There are some decent gun clubs and ranges but there are better places.
Naples has a nice shotgun club just outside of the area; there might be a metallic range in the area.

[HillBilly Willy]

Originally Posted by FITASC

Sorry to hear that; the Orlando area traffic really sucks with lots of toll roads. There are some decent gun clubs and ranges but there are better places.
Naples has a nice shotgun club just outside of the area; there might be a metallic range in the area.

Yeah, I won't be IN Orlando, hopefully just south enough to escape the worst. I'm only moving there to keep an eye on my parents, who are getting up there. Otherwise I'd move somewhere more rural, and a different state too possibly.

[FITASC]

Lakeland has a rifle/pistol club, as does Polk County and a few other areas near Orlando

[Doc Hoy]

We are in the same boat. Folks are 94 and 90 respectively, still very healthy but not healthy enough to drive, mow their lawn, decorate for Christmas and climb on ladders. Unforunately they still do all of that stuff. It just made more sense for me to sell out and move to them than to uproot them.

For FITASC,

I am not a club kind of person. Kind of awkward socially when it comes to shooting. I shoot slowly. I don't like interruptions. I don't like having to do what others are doing. I am not that great of a shot, so I don't like people watching me. My observation of organized groups both in the shooting sports and in other disciplines is that FOR ME they fall into two extremes:

1. Far too many rules trying to be safe, or legal, or regimented, depending upon the discipline.

2. Far too much chaos which, in groups which get together to shoot, spells potential disaster.

I have come to embrace an ALMOST universal truth. Two people on a range is more than twice as dangerous as one person on a range.

Okay, Off that soap box.

Anyway, it appears that the place I have found will be more than acceptable notwithstanding the long drive.

[Doc Hoy]

There is a very good gun show that is held three or four times per year in Dade City. High percentage of small size vendors.

[OutlawJoseyWales]

Doc, that's a good choice with the family. They will not be with you forever. Wish you were closer, you could just drop by and shoot all you want. I'm also a "lone" shooter, I'm just like that. As I'm in the Dade City area, it'd be a long drive for you however. Take care, glad you're back on here.

[Doc Hoy]

I noticed the Dade City Gun Show is April 6,7. I love that show. Fewer big vendors and more little guys.

I wonder how long it takes to shift to FL residency.

[Jleonard]

I wonder how long it takes to shift to FL residency.

Not long. I did it in 2016.
Go online to the city or county government where you'll be located. All the info should be there, it was in my area which is Pasco county. You need some mail to your address, we did that ahead of time.
We also registered to vote before we actually moved. Easy to do online.
Day 1 we got our Florida Driver's license (15 minutes)
We were then residents.
Day 2 we registered our vehicles (20 minutes)
Day 3 I got my carry permit paperwork submitted (10 minutes), received the permit 5 days later in the mail.

Good luck!!

[Doc Hoy]

I will have a vehicle registered in FL within about three days of getting there.

We will also have a utility (Cable and internet) by about the 26th. Not certain if it will be documented that quickly.

I am going online right now to see if I can register to vote.

[Doc Hoy]

Moved in and getting situated.

Establishing domicile in FL is easy. Should be finished in one visit

[Tidewater_Kid]

Glad you made it!

[Doc Hoy]

Tnx TK

[4V50 Gary]

Congratulations. Hopefully you're not in a flood zone.

BTW, this thread reminds me to step outside and practice. See you guys.

[ChuteTheMall]

Florida, the fastest growing state, is very efficient at accepting new residents.
Although any DMV can get crowded, if you have your papers in order they'll welcome you ASAP.

[Doc Hoy]

There is a government services office within five minutes of the house. Everything needed can be done in that office with the single exception of VA benefits which I already handled.

The online instructions swear up and down that specific documents are needed. But folks at the office reveal that in the absence of documents, the applicant can swear to affidavits. Looks like the total bill to establish domicile for two people will be about 140.00.

We can do it in one day.

[FITASC]

I wonder how long it takes to shift to FL residency.

Fairly immediately; I moved here in 2003. D/L, tags, utility bills, go for the homestead tax exemption, it will cut your property taxes down

[Doc Hoy]

Am a Florida voter and a Florida driver as of today. I think I can legally buy at gun shows. When I establish domicile I will check the Homestead act.

[FITASC]

Where did you wind up?

[Doc Hoy]

Near the intersection of Immokalee and Airport pulling

[Doc Hoy]

We got our FL driver's licenses.
We established FL domicile. (Can't take advantage of the Homesteader's act.)
Picked up my pickup and did not have to pay the "Impact fee" because it weight more than 4500 lbs.

[Doc Hoy]

After about five years I finally got out to shoot. Made an arrangement with a guy in Ona, Florida Pop. 314, one bar.

That is farm country, horses, cattle and orchards. Next time I go, I will be making the shooting bench and target stands. (Grass is tall and I lost about 90% of the brass from a lever gun.) I'll take a weed wacker too. Once that is complete, I will post photos.

The location is about half a mile off the road and fronts onto woodlands and grasslands of about 35,000 acres. Easy to see a clear field of fire.

Two minor drawbacks:

1. It is about an hour and a half drive
2. It is lovebug season so the windshield gets a good pelting.