Is it legal to target practice in my backyard

[Doc]

I was getting pretty good with my bow and set up some targets in my driveway. Lot's of land to work with - about 400-500 yards clear behind the targets and then woods going up a steep hill (about 800ft elevation) to create a natural berm. Plenty of room side to side to allow for something going wrong.

Using several targets everything worked well. Then, the inevitable "miss" happened and an arrow flew past the targets.

Having planned for this, there was no potential for disaster. What did amaze me is how far that arrow ended up traveling and how with how much force. We were shooting at a slight downward angle, but the arrow skidded along for another hundred yards or so and almost completely buried itself in the ground.

It's never "just an arrow" or "just a .22" and something_ always goes off-plan. You can never have too much safety. Adequate backstopping is essential. All it takes is one shot to go off course and no one is 100% perfect.

I had a ricochet once where the arrow glanced off a limb. The arrow actually gained elevation, and went way through the woods off to somewhere. I never did find it. They can be one gosh-awful unpredictable thing. And yes, the range of a out-of-control arrow is unbelievable. I've also had an accidental release almost at full draw, but not quite anchored. That one was kind of exciting too.

[faust1578]

Unbelievable is all I got to say!

Did you have ANY experience whatsoever shooting a bow, or any weapon for that matter before this?

Honest question.

Edit***- never mind, I see you have.

I have been shooting for a long time maybe over confident on my part!

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[NFA-ADK]

I had a release let go on me a couple times, replaced the release both times.  Hit the ground first time and the target the second time.  One thing is for sure once you hit that trigger there is no take backs.  I have seen arrows do funky things, don't learn this at home.   

[wooly]

I have been shooting for a long time maybe over confident on my part! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Call it what you will...... I'm sure in a few years you'll be able to look back and laugh at this experience.

Who knows, as easy as you got off, you may be doing that already.

I doubt your neighbor wants to see you with a caulk gun in your hands at this point, so I really wouldn't push the issue of repairing this mess without hiring a professional.

[CuseHunter]

All I can say is thank The Lord for my wooden paneled fence behind my block. It has saved some pass throughs and stray shots in the past.

[RTGobbler]

This to me is a very interesting story. I have been thinking very hard about issues like this recently as my wife and I are looking to buy a home in Rockland. One of my requirements was the ability to safely shoot a bow. I had thought long and hard (maybe not hard enough) and determined that I would need to build an 8'x8' backstop out of rough cut 1"x10". Even with that I realized that there could be no house within what I called a "safety cone" so that if I did mess up only trees were at risk. This makes me rethink it again.

 

As a kid I learned how far an arrow could go out of a modern compound. 400 yds is nothing at the right angles. When I was a kid(10 or 12) my best friend and I would try to shoot arrows across a meadow as far as we could. Not very smart, but we could see everything from where we were to where the arrows landed and knew no one was there (the awesomeness of Greene Co.). Even with a 40lb dawn the distance was amazing with 65 to 70 lbs the distance is frightening.

[JRod 8G8H]

Glad to hear everything is OK with police... I live in a suburb of Rochester and my bow is considered a firearm..   Use of bows here "restricted"... "500 ft from any structure"... which pretty much means nowhere in town LOL

[LJC]

On Tuesday, April 01, 2014 at 0:35 PM, faust1578 said:

Anyone know if it's legal to shot my bow in my backyard I recently had an incident the arrow passed thru my 3d target and hit the side of my neighbors house I am going to pay for the damage but the cops came to my house and now I am scared shitless!i am thinking they may be back. It was an accident no injuries minimal damage but my neighbor is being difficult no one was home at the time but I called him and told him what happened. He called the cops anyway. What would you guys do?

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Dude got to have a  hill or something so its, inpossible  for the arrow to get out of your yard .  Don't rely on just the target what if you miss the target .  They  can definitely fine you or charge you with something like shooting to close to a house or road or something else .

It all depends on if your neighbor or the cops want to charge you if they did not charge you then.  consider that a warning and don't target  shoot ever   again in your yard