Hunting near airports

[Martlet]

I spend most of my weekends out west now and I'd like to do a little hunting in the mornings. I can't seem to find any regulations about how much land the municipal airports own around their cleared zone, or how close you can bow hunt to them.

Any idea? If it's a no go, I need to find a new spot.

 

[amb]

Other than the obvious (check town bylaws and look for posted signs), I don't think airports pose a particular problem, and if someone was predisposed towards being suspicious, bowhunting seems a lot more innocuous than with a shotgun. Municipal airports might own nothing beyond the end of their runway or hundreds of nearby acres as a hedge against development or expansion; there's no good rule-of-thumb for that. (In other places in other states, airport management has enthusiastically welcomed hunters, since deer are a huge problem at rural airports, but I can't speak to Mass.)

If you want to avoid any potential hassle, you can always just ask the airport manager; http://www.airnav.com will get you the relevant contact info.

 

[Admin]

I couldn't find ANYTHING on the MA.gov page in regards to hunting by an airport.

I know in Minnesota they would hunt on the other side of the airport fence, I don't think it's an issue in MA, but hey it is still MA.

 

[Martlet]

No kidding. It's so hard to get a straight answer in MA, too.

 

[Plural of Mongoose]

Our airport is surrounded by a chain link fence.
In some areas it is well away and out of sight from the daily operations.
As long as you are legal in all other aspects in terms of buildings, roads,runways etc., you can be as close to the fence as you want, as long as you are on the outside.