Public/BLM Land Shooting - Best Practices

[Cctx93]

Hi, new to the community and to the concept of shooting on public lands. I grew up shooting long rifles (deer and pig hunting) and shotguns, practically no experience with handguns, but recently bought a Stoeger 9mm that I want to go shoot on BLM land. What are some tips, best practices, etc. outside of general firearm safety and picking up after myself that I need to be aware of? I don't have a metal target or sheets at the moment, but do have a ton of cardboard boxes that I planned on just kinda placing on the ground and shooting at to learn my pistol, would this get me turned away by locals if I went to idk Soldier Pass for example? Definitely don't want to look dumb, even typing this out I feel like the answer is "yes, just go get yourself some actual targets." If I need to go to Sportsman's to get metal targets, target sheets, etc. I'll definitely do so. I'd think shooting at a non-range BLM area that this would be ok as long as I didn't litter, but wanted to get others' feedback first

Thanks!

[Bako]

Shooting at the cardboard boxes is acceptable. I would paste up some Shoot n See targets on those. There's lots of affordable steel target systems out there. For $100 Cal Ranch and Cabela's have some nice hanging targets.

Keep an eye on your surroundings on public land. While Utah is full of experienced shooters, lots of newbies are coming into the sport and may not follow the four rules. I like to walk over and have a short conversation to determine if I want to be nearby an individual. I've packed up and moved on plenty of times when I've felt uncomfortable.

Obviously clean up means more than your target mess. Don't forget your brass/casings. And considering packing out an extra bag of trash. If we all do our part, we keep our public lands open.

Have fun!

[DaveInOroValley]

As a rule of thumb when we go shooting out here we always take back more trash then we created.