How much land do you need to hunt?

[whiskeyloaf]

I am thinking about buying 20 acres in Dutchess County. What are the laws on hunting on your own property? Is 20 acres enough? Thanks!

[jjb4900]

I am thinking about buying 20 acres in Dutchess County. What are the laws on hunting on your own property? Is 20 acres enough? Thanks!

you gotta be 500' from a dwelling if gun hunting unless you own or have permission from the owner............so it really depends on if there are houses around it, if none you have free range of the place, if it's surrounded by houses that's going to cut your legal hunting area down quite a bit.....and consider what may come in the future.

[whiskeyloaf]

So discharge of firearms on your property (500' away from buildings) is not a problem?

[jjb4900]

So discharge of firearms on your property (500' away from buildings) is not a problem?

even if you're on your property, and there is a dwelling on an adjoining property under that distance you can't discharge....take your dwellings out of the equation because they don't count.......but, yes, barring any local ordinance you can discharge on your property if you meet that requirement...but keep in mind, that there's no guarantee that what isn't there today might be there tomorrow.

[dbHunterNY]

...and don't forget it's only 250ft for crossbow and 150ft for bow.  I hunt behind my house on 10 acres but it's the perfect location being a thick creek bottom leading into a corn field.

[Mr VJP]

If I'm not mistaken, the distances specified in the law are from any building, not just a dwelling.

 

[GreeneHunter]

In other words .... 20 acres is enough ! Don't beat it to death !

[jjb4900]

If I'm not mistaken, the distances specified in the law are from any building, not just a dwelling.

correct, you really got to look at the definitions to be 100% sure you're in compliance.......something as simple as a chicken coop that sees human activity on a regular basis would probably require you to be 500' away from to discharge.

[SteveB]

Also have to consider you need permission to recover if the deer make it off your property after being shot.

[Jennifer]

Here's the full wording, taken direct from the DEC:

 

 

It is illegal to discharge a firearm, longbow or crossbow:

• so that the load or arrow passes over any part of a public highway,
• within 500 feet (for a firearm), 250 feet (for a crossbow) or 150 feet (for a longbow) of any school, playground, or an occupied factory or church,
• within 500 feet (for a firearm), 250 feet (for a crossbow) or 150 feet (for a longbow) of a dwelling, farm building or structure in occupation or use unless you own it, lease it, are an immediate member of the family, an employee, or have the owner's consent.
• You may hunt waterfowl with a firearm or longbow, over water, within 500 feet of a dwelling or public structure as long as neither are within 500 feet (for a firearm) or 150 feet (for a longbow) in the direction you are shooting. You may not hunt waterfowl with a crossbow.

For the purpose of these laws, definitions are as follows:

Dwelling houses -- a permanent place where people live and sleep. Excluded are temporary residential units including camping trailers, motor homes or other portable shelters. Also excluded are abandoned dwellings, detached garages, tree houses, "playscapes", decks, pool areas, storage sheds and out-buildings - even when/if they are temporarily occupied. A permanent camp or cabin may qualify as a "dwelling house".

Farm building, farm structure that is either occupied or used -- these structures are largely determined on a case-by-case basis. To qualify, the premises alleged to be a farm must be utilized principally for agricultural production for commercial purposes, including but not limited to crops, fruit, hay, livestock, production of dairy products, nurseries/greenhouses. There is no minimum number of acres that must be either owned or farmed to qualify. To receive protection the farm building or farm structure must be either occupied by people or livestock or used in some, even small, degree for storage of farm related tools, equipment or livestock. Excluded would be structures and out-buildings on acreage or lands that are not a "farm" even if they are temporarily occupied.

School building, school playground -- a school building is any building owned by a school district. A school playground is interpreted to mean any area that is maintained by the school including mowed lawns and fields, athletic fields, playgrounds, and/or other areas where students engage in school sponsored activities. Excluded are school parking lots. A maintenance building or bus garage owned by a school district is not a "school building" but would be a "factory" as discussed below.

Factory or church -- A factory is interpreted to mean any building or structure used for commercial purposes. The discharge of a firearm or longbow within 500 feet of a factory or church is prohibited only when such building is occupied at the time of discharge.

 

[518BowSlayer]

I hunt my friends property in Brunswick and it's less than 5 acres and maybe 1.5 of them are woods. been hunting there for 3 years now and have taken 5 deer and my girlfriend took 1, all with bow.luckily it borders 2 different farms and I have permission to retrieve my deer off their property. talk to the neighbors and make sure it's ok to track and drag deer off their property, ya never know, they might let you hunt there too!!! you don't need a ton of land as long as have deer moving through

[jrm]

but, yes, barring any local ordinance you can discharge on your property if you meet that requirement

 

 

That one's the kicker.

 

The 500ft rule is a statewide thing and easy to find (someone already posted the text in this thread).

 

Local ordinances can be a bit harder to find. You have county, town and sometimes even village level to consider. Some of these are available online, some are not.

[Doc]

Here's the full wording, taken direct from the DEC: ........Farm building, farm structure that is either occupied or used -- these structures are largely determined on a case-by-case basis...........

Don't you just love the way these laws are written up ..... lol. Go ahead and shoot, and we will determine on a case by case basis whether we will arrest you or not. Hope you guessed right, Bunky.

[Doc]

I hunt my friends property in Brunswick and it's less than 5 acres and maybe 1.5 of them are woods. been hunting there for 3 years now and have taken 5 deer and my girlfriend took 1, all with bow.luckily it borders 2 different farms and I have permission to retrieve my deer off their property. talk to the neighbors and make sure it's ok to track and drag deer off their property, ya never know, they might let you hunt there too!!! you don't need a ton of land as long as have deer moving through

Here's the problem with buying land based on verbal or written agreements regarding carcass recovery permissions. You can have a change of ownership take place the day after you close on your property and find an unfriendly new owner that essentially turns the property into "useless" for hunting. Particularly with a bow where you are almost guaranteed that the deer will run a ways before plopping down.

[G-Man]

Depends if you want to sit and wait for a deer and if your neighbors all post on your line... 20 acres is not enough for turkey hunting

[Terry]

The more the merrier, I like to get aggressive. For me, I would think a 100 acres would me a minimum, but when I hunt several thousand is when I am my happiest.

[Daveboone]

Along with ordinances, common sense, etc. it also depends on the chunk of land....Ive been on plenty of parcels of land of considerable size that would be useless for hunting. well, productive hunting anyway.

On the otherside, I have only a 10 acre parcel surrounded by productive state and county land that is great deer habitat, so it is plenty for me.

[Doc]

My view of the question is that the smaller the property, the less the opportunities. Multiple stand sites become limited. Over-saturation of hunting pressure gets to be a problem. And sometimes you just choose the wrong 20 acres where the deer seldom go, which leaves you with a new property with no options.

 

No, I would not buy 20 acres strictly for hunting use. A house site, or land speculation, maybe. But for a hunting parcel, that is truly a gamble.

[GreeneHunter]

Maybe a Food Plot in dead center would help ?

[growalot]

with a cattle water tub....I use old bath tubs...they love them...

[growalot]

One of my biggest buck was taken when we only had 9 1/2 acres....the second biggest buck I have seen and could have easily shot was on that same 91/2 acres...but alas he was 10yrds away when I first caught site of him and I nearly passed out...buck fever...a guy nearly 2 miles...well 1 1/2 mile as the crow fly got him a week later...point is, deer travel and they don't look at the size of what ever property they travel through...if deer are in an area then you can see deer..

[Dom]

20 acres sure is enough land to hunt depending on surrounding property.Growing up in Dutchess County myself hunting land has diminished very rapidly if your prospect is bordered by state land this purchase could be a very good buy.I hunt a small parcel of only 14 acres and also have permission to retrieve game that I am hunting.Also this size plot of land will make a nice camp for you and your family.

[G-Man]

a lot depends on the shape of the land a long skinny property surrounded by a long skinny property, much of it may be unusable if buildings are next to it,or across street from it 500' is a long way., plus you have everyone sitting on property lines.. i know it makes a lot of hunters upset to even see another hunter....a 500' wide property is pretty useless imo, will deer walk thru it, yes could you hunt it with any more than 1 or 2 people effectivly and enjoy it no.. same as habitat on it if 10 acres is open field.. or wide open woods it would be less enjoyable to me. can 20 acres be enough? nice square piece, with a creek thru it some pine, and hardwood mix in various states of regrowth absolutly! when you buy land you will suffer from if i only had that piece over the fence..my hunting could be better... i know ive been thru it buying out several other camps to have the property i have now.... imo 50 acres would be minimum to start with.. you stand a chance of holding game on your own property, can "get away from other hunters" are entitled to landowner tag..as well as invit ea friend or relative to hunt safely and enjoyably with you.

it seems like a bunch of small camps neeed to all get along to truly enjoy hunting. but add in qdm ar's and it can fall apart fast. camps up the road are having a tough time as the 50 acre piece everyone use to have access to hunt was sold to a management minded person who closed hunting, 10 people that owned (3) 5 acre camps surrounding it now only have 15 acres to hunt on... and now i see for sale signs on two of them...

this is fine just for deer hunting, finding a cooperative turkey on less than 50 acres can be hard to do consisitantly.

Apart from just enjoying time in the woods, most hunters i know want to see game and have a chance to take it.(enter every deer management plan here,as well as turkey, bear, duck,goose and phesant)the question is do you want to see and harvest game consistantly, the larger the property the better your chances...