So am I nuts?

[deerminator]

Talking to my neighbor to the left of me today and he asked me if I was planning on deer hunting our land gun season. He doesn't hunt, just making conversation. I said yes if no buck yet and he said doesn't it make you nervous our other neighbor (to the right of me) hunts so close to you? I'd never thought about it much but let me describe the situation.

My neighbor to the right hunts his woods behind his house in a stand about 150 yards from my ground blind. He shotgun hunts and I usually bowhunt out of my ground blind. I love that method for all day rut hunts. We're hunting in thick woods and I've never really concerned myself with errant slugs given all the trees and sloping changes in terrain, but now I'm starting to wonder, maybe I should hunt in a treestand this year to lessen the chances of something happening. Also, I'm wondering if it would make you nervous if your neighbor was firing shotguns slugs toward the general direction of your house about 300-400 yards away, although it be at a downward angle?

[bogwalker]

Yes.

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Well I don't think I have enough information to discern if your are indeed "nuts". But on the question of would it make me nervous if my neighbor was firing slugs toward the general direction of my house. No....... if I have spoken to him and trust his judgement as a compatent hunter / sportsman. No..... if I cannot see him from my house due to the lay of the land and trust his judgement as a compatent hunter / sportsman.. Yes...... if my neighbor was a total [PoorWordUsage], drunk, or crackhead. Yes if he was using his land as a year around shooting range. And finally yes if he was shotgun slug hunting during the bow season and was a terrible shot.

[Archerysniper]

Just remember the laws state 500 feet from buildings or pasture land without permission. I would stop in and talk to him and let him know were you are sitting so he will not shoot in your direction.

[paceman]

I agree. A little conversation goes a long ways. Perhaps he doesn't realize what he is doing...

[Code-Man]

During rifle season I will have a person 250 yds from me. He could possible shoot towards me but we is warned already that watch his shots. I'm not worried because he's a smart hunter but I am worried about opening morning and him not knowing exactly where I'm at till sunrise when he see's my orange. But I also have my treestand up 22 feet and I'm on the biggest hill so I do feel a little bit better about it but wierd stuff happens.

[deerminator]

Thanks guys. The reason I'm just now questioning the situation is that I do trust him and we do typically know where each other are each gun season. He's not the type to fire 3-4 times. He shoots once and its usually a nice dead buck. Last year he put one on the ground about 100 yards away from my wife and kids when they were going down our driveway/road to school one morning.

We will be shooting in my general direction when I am in my groundblind and has done so before without any concern. That said, I was thinking of a treestand anyway this year in my gun opener morning spot if I haven't already tagged.

As for the 500 foot rule, I remember there was a debate on this last year and it basically ended with, if you're on your own land, you can shoot 10 feet away from your neighbor's house (so long as you're on your own property) but it's probably not a courteous thing to do.

[Dave S]

Just remember the laws state 500 feet from buildings or pasture land without permission. I would stop in and talk to him and let him know were you are sitting so he will not shoot in your direction.

That's only if he's on land he doesn't own if I'm not mistaken. If he's on his own land, he can be 10 feet outside your bedroom window and fire away.....as unethical as it would be.

[Dave S]

deerminator,

I didn't read the end of your last post before I posted. Almost humorous with the similarity.

[Chad711]

Just remember the laws state 500 feet from buildings or pasture land without permission. I would stop in and talk to him and let him know were you are sitting so he will not shoot in your direction.

I was informed by DNR last year that that is not infact true, even though I agree thats what it says in the book. A guy built a ground stand in an open field less than 500 feet from my place last year. Ridiculous rule , one day someone is going to get shot because of it. There is a stand behind my place and 2 other houses.

I called DNR to about it and they said the following...

Subd. 7.Taking with firearms in certain areas.(a) A person may not take a wild animal with a firearm within 500 feet of a building occupied by a human or livestock without the written permission of the owner, occupant, or lessee:

(1) on another person's private land; or (this means that the landowner is exempt from the written permission requirement) Minnesota Law 97B.001 Subdivision 7 (1)

When it was built and by who does not matter. My advice is to talk to the land owner before next firearms deer season and talk over your concerns.

[PC's]

u ever slug hunt public land. The public land i use to hunt had people slug gunning withen 30 yards of each other. 1 deer would run out and 3 partys would start wailing rounds at it. that was truley nuts. Multiple groups of people pushing deer behind your stands. Its real in field. Ill never gun hunt public land again. as for your situation id just talk to the old neighbor and let him know your wereabouts and wear blaze. other than that ya oughta be fine