Shooting on MY property

[Dmac82]

Does anyone have a clue as to the laws pertaining to shooting on your own property? Is there a min. acreage? Can I shoot into other people woods, Into state forest? How far do I have to be from a house?

I know there are rules one must follow as a hunter, but what about target practice?

 

[Eye5600]

I only know that some cities and towns have ordinances, so you have check locally. You can't legally discharge a firearm outdoors in Stamford. I'm sure other cities are the same. Outside the cities, I have no idea.

 

[Realtor MA]

Can I shoot into other people woods, Into state forest?

I know you didn't really mean that because you would have no idea where that bullet was ending up and/or if there were any people in the line of fire.

 

[Twigg]

Can I shoot into other people woods, Into state forest? How far do I have to be from a house?

Best to bring in a truck load or two of clean fill, make a berm and shoot into it - or at least a hillside - instead of "the woods".


I'm sure others will chime in with minimum distance from buildings.

 

[Football_Bill]

500 yards from any building, not sure on acreage, but I was told you must have 10 minimum.

 

[EC1]

500 feet from any occupied building, .

I believe that is correct now .

 

[kevin9]

Here's the exact MGL:

Whoever discharges a firearm as defined in section one hundred and twenty-one of chapter one hundred and forty, a rifle or shotgun within five hundred feet of a dwelling or other building in use, except with the consent of the owner or legal occupant thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than three months, or both. ...

 

[Du510]

Here's the exact MGL:

Not bad - 'cept the OP is CT.

I got excited there for a min, though!

 

[kevin9]

Not bad - 'cept the OP is CT.

I got excited there for a min, though!

Duh. That's what I get for posting when sick.

 

[Du510]

Duh. That's what I get for posting when sick.

It's still good info though - undoubtedly someone in MA wanted to or will want to know the same thing.

 

[Dmac82]

Guys thanks for the responses, and yeah I always practice firearm safety when going out to shoot. Now that being said, the law does not always dictate safe practices and I wanted to know what the rules (probably vague) say when it came to my own property.

I believe in CT that when HUNTING you must be 500 feet from a dwelling or occupied structure. But can i target practice off my back patio (basically a few feet from the door) ??

Interestingly KEVIN9 your laws says "except with the consent of the owner or legal occupant".

So far I am fairly certain that you can not fire a gun from a state Highway/Interstate OR from a Vehicle. AND no discharging a firearm within CITY limits (probably most citys).

The acreage thing interests me. I hear 20-25 but that could be a local ordinance. I will have to go to my local town hall and see what I can find. I will post anything I come across.--Dmac

 

[dcmdon]

The law is the same regardless of whether you are hunting or not.

500 feet from a dwelling or structure occupied by people or livestock. Period.
There are a couple of loopholes though.

1) its 250 feet if hunting waterfowl in tidal areas
2) if you have permission from the people in the dwelling.

So you can hunt or target shoot out your back door if your neighbors:
1) are 500 ft away (250 of wf hunting in tidal waters)
2) have given you permission.

One other thing. If you hunt with a bow, all distance restrictions go out the window. You can legally bow hunt on your 1/2 arce lot.

Don

 

[Du510]

The law is the same regardless of whether you are hunting or not.

500 feet from a dwelling or structure occupied by people or livestock. Period.
There are a couple of loopholes though.

1) its 250 feet if hunting waterfowl in tidal areas
2) if you have permission from the people in the dwelling.

So you can hunt or target shoot out your back door if your neighbors:
1) are 500 ft away (250 of wf hunting in tidal waters)
2) have given you permission.

One other thing. If you hunt with a bow, all distance restrictions go out the window. You can legally bow hunt on your 1/2 arce lot.

Don

I thought the parcel of land was required to be minimum 10 acres as well?

 

[dcmdon]

10 Acres to hunt with a rifle.

Not 10 acres to shoot a rifle. 500 ft. Simple as that.

Also the 10 acre to hunt with a rifle rule may only apply to private land not owned by the hunter. I'm not sure.

Either way. the 10 Acre law applies to hunting, not shooting. That I am 100% sure of.

Don

 

[BenDover]

post removed....

 

[namedpipes]

I just know I'm going to regret asking this...

So, let's say I've got the appropriate state licenses (FID/LTC/Green Card/Whatever) and a hunting license for something you can shoot with a rifle (like Snipe).

I'm trotting through the woods with the rifle and otherwise observing all law, rules & regulations. I happen to be crossing someone's back woods lot where they have a cabin, and the lot is only 5 acres, but it is just trees so how could I know this?

I spot a snipe in the distance and shoot it.

Because I'm unknowingly on a small plot of land, that is a violation of law?

 

[pdm]

I just know I'm going to regret asking this...

So, let's say I've got the appropriate state licenses (FID/LTC/Green Card/Whatever) and a hunting license for something you can shoot with a rifle (like Snipe).

I'm trotting through the woods with the rifle and otherwise observing all law, rules & regulations. I happen to be crossing someone's back woods lot where they have a cabin, and the lot is only 5 acres, but it is just trees so how could I know this?

I spot a snipe in the distance and shoot it.

Because I'm unknowingly on a small plot of land, that is a violation of law?

Probably. There's no exception for "well, I didn't know there was a house there."

 

[namedpipes]

Probably. There's no exception for "well, I didn't know there was a house there."

I meant the size of lot, not the distance from the cabin. I could be 1000 feet away and still be on the same small plot of land, depending on the shape and layout.

Out in the woods you may or may not find visible property lines and few can estimate acreage anyway, so how could you know that you are on a > 10 acre property?!

FWIW, I do think it is pretty reasonable to honor a distance from somebody's house and it SHOULD be on the hunter to be certain he isn't near one. (just not sure it ought to be a law, but that is another story...)

 

[Du510]

10 Acres to hunt with a rifle.

Not 10 acres to shoot a rifle. 500 ft. Simple as that.

Also the 10 acre to hunt with a rifle rule may only apply to private land not owned by the hunter. I'm not sure.

Either way. the 10 Acre law applies to hunting, not shooting. That I am 100% sure of.

Don

interesting, that is good to know.

Would you happen to have a reference to the applicable law in hand? Just to have it down for future reference...

 

[Harleynut]

I wanted to hunt some deer with a bow in mass at my families property only to find out that the 500 ft was with bow hunting as well. I believe it was 300 feet before but got changed some years back. The restrictions are not just from the neighbors house but paved roads as well. They vote in more hunting restrictions then bitch about the Lyme disease and accidents with deer not to mention what they are doing to some gardens and shrubs. My neighbor, brother and wife all got Lyme disease. The deer are so over populated and packed in close the deer tics are feeding well.

 

[Twigg]

<snip>

Out in the woods you may or may not find visible property lines and few can estimate acreage anyway, so how could you know that you are on a > 10 acre property?!

FWIW, I do think it is pretty reasonable to honor a distance from somebody's house and it SHOULD be on the hunter to be certain he isn't near one. (just not sure it ought to be a law, but that is another story...)

Property lines;
Unless the property line is posted according to the local laws you should be alright. Might be something like having a sign every thirty feet or so or in some states a blaze mark of orange paint.

I've found 99% of those who post their property will only post the side exposed to a public road.
(Got turned around in a big WMA in Mass. once and exited onto a public road. When I looked back there were posted signs on the trees.)

In most states if there is a void in the chain of signs then the entire property is considered "not posted".


Knowing where buildings are;
If you have a topo map or a handheld GPS there should be little squares marking the location of known buildings.

 

[pdm]

I meant the size of lot, not the distance from the cabin. I could be 1000 feet away and still be on the same small plot of land, depending on the shape and layout.

Depending on how it's all worded in the town bylaws, I believe you need the permission of the landowner. Now if you unwittingly cross a property line and the person's a dick, they could get you that way. As long as you're >500ft from a dwelling or 150ft (IIRC) from a (public only? don't remember offhand) road, the shoot is okay. But there could be specific hunting regulations that restrict this that I don't know.

 

[dcmdon]

Named,

Its got nothing to do with bylaws. Its got to do with state law. Just to clarify, we're talking about CT. There are no FID's in CT. You do not need to do anything to own a long gun in CT.

PDM - re: Sorry, I didn't know there was a house there?? If you shot my kid playing in the back yard because you didn't know there was a house there. I'd find you and kill you. I'm guessing you'd do the same to me if I, through my own negligence shot your kid.

Sorry, no excuses. Guns are serious. Big guns are even more serious. You MUST know what is around you when you are hunting. If you aren't willing to do that, stay out of the woods.



In fact, if you are active military, have a pistol permit,, or have a hunting license, I can sell you a long gun, ANY long gun, even an AR15 with nothing more than a bill of sale.

No approvals, no government forms. Just a bill of sale.

The thing to remember is that in CT you need WRITTEN permission to hunt on any private property that is not yours. The state hunting guide even has the form.

I have no problems with this form because it is also a liability release for the landowner. The release of liability for the landowner in CT is iron clad. If he gets sued, the state will back him.

This is excellent because it removes the liability concerns from landowners. So its worth using the written consent form.

With that said. If you are unknowingly on someone's private property hunting, shame on you. Its your responsibility to know whose property you are on when hunting.

If you were on my property and I heard a shot, we'd have a confrontation on our hands.

Named - re how do I know I'm on 10 acres? Well,, since you've gotten written permission from the land owner, I'd guess he'd know how much land he has.

Just to put a finer point on things. In CT. You can hunt with a rimfire or a shotgun anywhere you are 500 ft from anyone's dwelling (who you don't have permission from. ie. you could shoot off the owner's back porch if he's ok with it)

The 10 acre law only applies to hunting with centerfire rifle HUNTING. It may specifically apply to deer, but I'm not sure.

Don

 

[dcmdon]

Re:
Property lines;
Unless the property line is posted according to the local laws you should be alright. Might be something like having a sign every thirty feet or so or in some states a blaze mark of orange paint.

Thats correct as far as tresspassing (hiking, walking the dog, etc)is concerned, its the land owners responsibility to post it. Like you said. But for hunting, it is your responsibility to get WRITTEN permission from the land owner.

The great thing about having written permission is that you can tell the cops to get off the property if they come wandering in while you are shooting.

I've done that, its great. My comment was something like "we've established that I have permission and that I'm 500 ft from any dwellings. Other people's alarm and annoyance at the sound of me shooting is not my problem. Please leave the property now".

For that the cop told me that he could arrest me for breech of peace. I told him I would welcome the arrest because I might make some money off of this. I again told him that he knew there was no crime going on here and please leave.

I followed up by saying that I understood that our conversation was being recorded by his cruiser and would back up everything I said regarding my arrest.

With that the State Trooper with him suggested they leave.

Don
p.s. one other thing. If you are hunting on private property, not shooting, a Conservation Officer DOES have the legal right to come on the property and check you for license, tags, etc.

 

[pdm]

PDM - re: Sorry, I didn't know there was a house there?? If you shot my kid playing in the back yard because you didn't know there was a house there. I'd find you and kill you. I'm guessing you'd do the same to me if I, through my own negligence shot your kid.

Sorry, no excuses. Guns are serious. Big guns are even more serious. You MUST know what is around you when you are hunting. If you aren't willing to do that, stay out of the woods.

Read what you quoted again, man. You're not disagreeing with me.

 

[dcmdon]

sorry about that. I saw the text next to your name and didn't see you were quoting the person.

Harley - I'm sorry to hear about the bow hunting regs in MA.

Its funny. Some guy in North Jersey actually wrote a book about hunting in the suburbs.

A friend of mine bow hunts on his 1/2 acre lot. Crazy. He's perfectly safe though. He shoots down at them from a second floor window in his house. if he misses the arrow goes into the ground within 5 feet.