# How many feet before shooting?



## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

Ok, now it has been many years since I took hunter's safety class, so I need some help. Today I was driving down a road and I saw some goose hunters out in a corn field right on the edge of the road, and where they were set up seemed pretty close to the road to me. Now I don't make it a habit to hunt off of a road, but it got me to thinking. What is the State regulation as to how many feet you have to bee off of the road before discharging a firearm? I keep thinking 100 feet, but a buddy of mine said 50 yards, so what is it? I have tried looking in the proclamation, but I cannot find it. Thanks.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

it 600 feet from from a road. If it just a little dirt trail road you can just be right off it and be fine.But like a main dirt road you have to be 600 feet.Hope that helps.


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## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

Do you know where to find the regulation on that?


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I will look and see if I can find it again. That what I was told from a game warden one year and then I seen it in one of the proc.


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## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

Well those guys I know where not 600 feet.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I just called the DWR and they said if it a maintain road like a hwy you have to be off it same with a pond.You can shoot across the road.Some county say you have to be 600 ft off any road. I hope this helps you out.So to play it safe I would be a least 600 ft off any road.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

sharpshooter25 said:


> Well those guys I know where not 600 feet.


The question you want to ask is what the definition of a "highway" is as it pertains to the shooting near it, that's the problem, there is no clear-cut rule that I have found for this state.
But this is straight out of the waterfowl proc 
Utah Code § 76-10-508 
You may not discharge a dangerous weapon or firearm under any of the following circumstances: 
• From a vehicle 
• From, upon or across any highway 
• At power lines or signs
• At railroad equipment or facilities, including any sign or signal
Within Utah state park camp or picnic sites, overlooks, golf courses, boat ramps or devel¬oped beaches
• Without written permission from the owner or property manager, within 600 feet of:
• A house, dwelling or any other building 
• Any structure in which a domestic animal is kept or fed, including a barn, poultry yard, corral, feeding pen or stockyard

By this I would think those guys that hunt right off I-15 would be legal as long as they are off the right of way and not shooting back towards the road.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I always understood it as "no shooting from, upon or over a road" like mojo mentioned above. I tried to explain this to the sheriffs last year when they were booting me off some property they thought was illegal to hunt. I obliged them rather than going to jail but this year if they mess with me I'm taking the jail option because there are too many geese that need pounding.


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## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

I just called the DWR and they told me that there is no regulation that specifies how far off from a man highway you have to be. She told me that all I have to be is on the other side of the bar ditch and if there is a fence, then on the other side of the fence. That is it.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

It's not the CO's you have to worry about, it's the Sheriffs, City Cops and Highway Patrol you got to pay attention too. I have never had problems with CO's it's always the other guys that ruin my hunts.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

So if you are hunting it might just pay to carry a guide book along with you in your vehicle just in case the sheriff or the highway patrol stop and question you about what you are doing. That and along with reading it and knowing where to find the answer if the question comes up.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

Just ask them to show you the law or code in print; they should be able to get it on the computer in their vehicle. They can say whatever they want, but without the code to back that up, they are gonna lose in court.

That’s the problem with a patchwork set of rules that the different agencies make. I’m fine with Cities making their incorporated lands no hunting/shooting, besides most I go through have signs at their borders. 

I don’t know about out here but back south, pretty much if It is not signed as such and you obey the published state laws in the hunting regs, when you hit court, you are gonna win


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

Critter said:


> So if you are hunting it might just pay to carry a guide book along with you in your vehicle just in case the sheriff or the highway patrol stop and question you about what you are doing. That and along with reading it and knowing where to find the answer if the question comes up.


I always carry copies in the truck, boat and my blind bag. Sometimes I think the cops just mess with you to see if you read the **** things. Mainly I think its just a tactic to get you neverous enough to give them something to write a ticket for.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Mojo1 said:


> I always carry copies in the truck, boat and my blind bag. Sometimes I think the cops just mess with you to see if you read the **** things. Mainly I think its just a tactic to get you neverous enough to give them something to write a ticket for.


I hunt in 4 different states and alway read the books from front to back every year just to try and to avoid that type of situation. That and it is surprising on when they sneak another rule into the book for you to follow.

It is also interesting on how many hunters don't read the regulationa and try to quote them from memory from 10 years ago when they did.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

Critter said:


> Mojo1 said:
> 
> 
> > I always carry copies in the truck, boat and my blind bag. Sometimes I think the cops just mess with you to see if you read the **** things. Mainly I think its just a tactic to get you neverous enough to give them something to write a ticket for.
> ...


 :lol: Yeah you understand why they do that, don't yah!


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Mojo1 said:


> Just ask them to show you the law or code in print; they should be able to get it on the computer in their vehicle. They can say whatever they want, but without the code to back that up, they are gonna lose in court.
> 
> Agreed! but who wants to go to court? The bottom line is there are a bunch of these guys that get off on screwing with people because they can. Who wants to sit and argue with a cop that knows everything? I know the rules, and as far as shooting where it is legal I know where I can and can't shoot, I just wish some of these officers knew too. I also agree about the patchwork of law enforcement agencies not being on the same page with each other.
> I carry a guide book all the time for upland, waterfowl, big game and fishing, does anyone really think the cops want us to explain what they think they already know? NO :mrgreen:
> Also I have never received a ticket or violation for anything hunting related......


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> Mojo1 said:
> 
> 
> > Agreed! but who wants to go to court? The bottom line is there are a bunch of these guys that get off on screwing with people because they can. Who wants to sit and argue with a cop that knows everything? I know the rules, and as far as shooting where it is legal I know where I can and can't shoot, I just wish some of these officers knew too. I also agree about the patchwork of law enforcement agencies not being on the same page with each other.......


Yeah I hear you, but it comes down to how long you wanna put up with those cops, sometimes the only way to enlighten them is to embarrass them in court. Been there done that with the US F&WS. FTR, I never was given a citation by anyone either, just drug into court over hunting property boundaries.

Ever see a federal judge dress down a bunch of government lawyers for a frivolous lawsuit, I got to, and no it wasn't very fun for that team of lawyers! That alone almost made the whole saga worth it.


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## woollybugger (Oct 13, 2007)

Different standards for different situations. Reasonable person standard is something that might be left up to a judge or citing officer. If there is a reasonable concern for public safety then you will get cited, and rightly so! 600 feet is a good defensible distance (to start with) to be away from any potential hazards (i.e., homes, cars, roads, etc.) Remember that shooting from a 'road' includes the 'right of way' for that road, not just the shoulder. Sometimes a right of way can be up to 150' from center line of the road. Play it safe, find out before you hunt. Ask yourself: how far away would I want someone hunt/shoot from my house or car or kids?


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

One particular place that we have hunted pheasants is a strip of land that runs along a well-traveled highway for several miles, with crop fields on the other side of the strip. In all the years we have hunted it, we have NEVER been stopped by a CO, cop, Brownie, etc. for hunting too close to the road. I can't remember ever getting closer than 40-50 feet from the pavement, but nobody has ever said a thing to us. We have be checked for licenses and the whole bit, but as far as warnings about staying off the road, not a one. So I know we have been watched. Seems to me this is one of the few remaining common sense laws; just use your brain and you should be just fine.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

600 feet = 100 yards... Road, farm, house, business, dwelling, stock yard, horse corral, cows etc,etc... Keep that in mind when/where ever you hunt and you'll be safe.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> 600 feet = 100 yards... Road, farm, house, business, dwelling, stock yard, horse corral, cows etc,etc... Keep that in mind when/where ever you hunt and you'll be safe.


Take off your shoes when you count next time buddy, 600 feet works out to 200 yards! 600 divided by 3 = 200  :lol:


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

Mojo1 said:


> TEX-O-BOB said:
> 
> 
> > 600 feet = 100 yards... Road, farm, house, business, dwelling, stock yard, horse corral, cows etc,etc... Keep that in mind when/where ever you hunt and you'll be safe.
> ...


I knew that math didn't add up.


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

Looks like Tex must have attended the same schools for math that Dustin did for English. :O•-:


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

Joel Draxler said:


> Looks like Tex must have attended the same schools for math that Dustin did for English. :O•-:


your funny.Not


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

Joel Draxler said:


> Looks like Tex must have attended the same schools for math that Dustin did for English. :O•-:


 -_O- -_O-


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## captain (Nov 18, 2007)

Joel Draxler said:


> Looks like Tex must have attended the same schools for math that Dustin did for English. :O•-:


Somethings just can't be taught. I would have to say that Dustin's remarkable talent for expressing himself would fall into that category.


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

Joel Draxler said:


> Looks like Tex must have attended the same schools for math that Dustin did for English. :O•-:


 -BaHa!- -oooo-


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## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

Joel Draxler said:


> Looks like Tex must have attended the same schools for math that Dustin did for English. :O•-:


Joel, I believe you just wait for comment that you can turn towards dsustni.


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