HB 1236 Safety Zone Increase

[Limitless]

However if you are on private land, then there is a "safety zone. "
So if you own a nice crp field and a neighbor puts up a house close to the property line you can't discharge within 500 feet of it.

In Minnesota, you should be fine if you are the owner of the property next to the one with the building. It is when you are not the owner, but have permission to hunt the owner's land, and the neighbor has a building with people or animals in it that is the problem. Then you need written permission from the person who owns (or leases) the buildings next door.

...
Subd. 7.Using firearms and taking in certain areas.

(a) Unless otherwise provided by law, a person may not discharge 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, if the land is not a licensed shooting preserve; or

(2) on a public road right-of-way.

(b) No person may discharge a firearm within 500 feet of a stockade or corral confining livestock for the purpose of normal livestock holding or sorting operations without the permission of the owner, occupant, or lessee. This paragraph does not apply to persons hunting during an established hunting season on state-owned or local government-owned land that is not a road right-of-way. For the purposes of this paragraph, a "stockade or corral" means a fenced enclosure for confining livestock that does not enclose an area greater than one acre.

(c) A person may not take a wild animal on any land where the person is prohibited from entering by this section.
...

The stockade section is the one that I wonder about. Doesn't seem like it would apply to WPAs, and WIAs, since those aren't state owned. Luckily, this situation doesn't happen often, where they are penned up near the public land.

 

[KMenn]

I contacted a SD CO to get the facts of HB1236 and the regs as written regarding safety zones. HB1236 was voted down. The safety zone does indeed only apply to the road right of way, and only applies to 660ft surrounding (from) the occupied building or livestock and not from the occupied area. The experience that happen years ago appears to have been a false report harassment by the homeowner or their offspring or maybe it did happen and they got the wrong person. I have seen quite a few safety zone signs improperly placed 660 ft or more from entrance or yard boundary to rural homes on the R-O-W.
I lived/owned rural homes for quite some time and gunshots close to your home can be disconcerting. So, I always try to show some respect to the homeowner. But, this is kind of like buy/building a home on a golf coarse, don't hate the golfers because of your choice.

 

[91reddog]

We had issues similar to that on our road. One side is a refuge, the other private property. Folks were shooting from the ditch, bids were dropping on the road causing all sorts of issues. The DNR posted “no hunting from right of way signs.”

On the now open Hogsback goose refuge, the refuge extended to the fence line on the west side of 86, which essentially eliminated ditch hunting.

 

[Mohunter]

I am 75 & from Missouri. I have pheasant hunted in So Dakota for 35-40 years (usually 3-4 times a year). I am very thankful to So Dakota for allowing road hunting, it has definitely extended my hunting days. I can no longer walk the large fields but am able to walk a road ditch for a couple hundred yards. I am fully respectful of the safety zones & do not shoot around or toward houses. Again, I would like to say thanks to So Dakota for providing me with the opportunity to still hunt at my age.