Should this be legal ?

[WNYBuckHunter]

Sounds like a good email for me to send over to the DEC. Ill let you know what they say...

[WNYBuckHunter]

Heres the question I posed to them...

"I have a question regarding permanent or semi-permanent shooting houses and elevated blinds. If someone was to build one of these near their property line, would that in turn make it illegal for the neighbor to hunt within 500 feet of it without permission? Even if the neighbor was on their own land? Basically, does the 500 foot law apply to structures like these?

Thank You,

John"

[tughillhunter]

I think Doc is talking about the 500' rule and these blinds. If you put one on your property line and it was determined to be an occupied structure you could efect hunting on 500' of your neighbors land. He then could build one next to you on his property and keep you from hunting on your land. I would love to see an official ruling on this.

me too.... wouldnt have to be considered a dwelling thats liveable though?

[Jennifer]

It is illegal to discharge a firearm or bow:

• so that the load or arrow passes over any part of a public highway,
  
• within 500 feet of any school, playground, or an occupied factory or church,
  
• within 500 feet 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, over water, within 500 feet of a dwelling or public structure as long as neither are within 500 feet in the direction you are shooting.
  

I am not sure if this applies to a currently 'in use' hunting structure... this looks like a grey area. How does one determine if it's in use or occupied anyhow? I look forward to seeing the DEC's response to your question, WNY!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

It is gray, Jen. "In use" could be a chicken coop or a tool shed that the peson goes out to once every couple months. . If you were inbetween two neighbors that had it in for you and you had over 50 acres and were only 1000' wide on your parcel.....they could basically squeeze you out with structures so you couldn't hunt your land.

[Nomad]

Mine is 4X8 tall enough to stand in, not much bigger the "blinds' they sell.... I camp out of it in the summer, no really I have a cot in it . In deer season its more of a storage, lunch eating place. We were going to put it up on phone poles but I like to be able to move it and have based upon deer sightings,sign and movements .

Tell you what on a rainy windy day I can still "hunt" if I chose to, thats nice. My friend has a new hip but still can't walk that well, this works great for him, my daughter has sat with me also.

I see more and more of these up in the air much bigger too. Many states thats how its done, well add a feeder too.

One of the great things about hunting is you can make it as hard or easy as you want.Hey toss away your compound and buy a recurve is what my buddy tells me that and hunt from the ground...

Myself I think the portable tree stand is the biggest single factor in making bow hunting as easy as it is today,guys sure seem to think their ok .

A guy at work built a play house for his grand kids who he watches, in the rear of his long strip of land. He did this because he did not get along with his neighbor who's land was a big " L" that was on 2 sides of his land.

The guy said "I can still hunt,thats not occupied much if ever ,"

The DEC anded up coming out, they said otherwise.

Edited December 11, 2011 by Larry302

[WNYBuckHunter]

Allright, I got a reply back from the DEC. Here you go....

"Hello John, permanent blinds or shooting houses are not "dwellings", the term used in the Conservation Law for the no discharge within 500 foot law. So the answer to your question is no, blinds and shooting houses are not classified as the kind of structure you are prohibited from discharge a firearm within 500 feet from. Lt. Tom Stoner"

[Jennifer]

That's interesting. Thank you so much for sharing your response, WNY!

[WNYBuckHunter]

You are welcome!

[Doc]

Allright, I got a reply back from the DEC. Here you go....

"Hello John, permanent blinds or shooting houses are not "dwellings", the term used in the Conservation Law for the no discharge within 500 foot law. So the answer to your question is no, blinds and shooting houses are not classified as the kind of structure you are prohibited from discharge a firearm within 500 feet from. Lt. Tom Stoner"

So it is only "dwellings" they are talking about. Would you think that the same distinction would be made relative to barns or other outbuildings around a home-site. I think that might be the case because barns are not dwellings and so the 500' rule shouldn't apply to them. Is that the way you interpret his answer?

[WNYBuckHunter]

That is exactly how I interrpret it.

[Doc]

I always thought that barns were included in that law, but I don't have a clue where I would have gotten that idea. Maybe it was just from the old days where a barn might look empty, but frequently inside there might be some guy(s) doing chores, milking, feeding, cleaning out stalls, etc. Sometimes it's more occupied than the house ....lol.

However, there is no way that you could call a barn a dwelling.

[emptypockets]

Just a little common sense I'm thinkin'. Talk to your neighbors and get to know them. Respect,that should be an easy one. But sometimes it gets thrown by the wayside. We all have to get along, it's a small world and getting smaller.