Safety Zone

PTM

PTM

Active member
I’ve observed safety zone signs near farmsteads where they seem to make sense, I’m not a big road hunter but I saw some safety zone signs in the middle of no where seemingly protecting cattail sloughs, is there a rule about safety zone signs or can you plop one out anywhere you feel like. The ones I saw today appeared to be aimed at ditch hunters like my brother the “ditch commander”.
 
This is what the Regulations say:

Only the owner of the occupied dwelling, church, or
schoolhouse; the owner of livestock; or a person
who has written permission from the owner of the
occupied dwelling, church, or schoolhouse, or the
owner of the livestock may use such highways or
rights-of-way for the purposes of discharging any
firearm or for the purposes of hunting within a 660
foot safety zone surrounding an occupied dwelling,
a church, schoolhouse, or livestock. No other
person may discharge a firearm at small game
within the safety zone.
Click to expand...

The owner of the property is not required to put up Safety Zone signs but some do. I guess I've only seen them around farmsteads. The do include livestock so I suppose if livestock is in a field away from the farmstead that could also be a safety zone. I imagine there are some property owners out there that would put up a safety zone sign just to keep hunters from ditch hunting a certain area. To be on the safe side I'd steer clear of those area as you are probably just asking for a land owner confrontation even if you aren't violating the law.
 
I imagine a land/livestock owner can put a Safety Zone sign up wherever he wants, as long as it's within 1/8 mile of the home, church or livestock. (There may still be a couple country schools still in use, but I'm not aware of them.) Now, if the livestock move, and the signs are no longer accurate, does he have to remove them? Maybe within a certain period of time, but I doubt there'd be any repercussions if he "forgot". As Zeb says, probably best to obey the signs whether you think they're accurate or not. With my luck, I'd shoot a bird along a ditch I thought was legal, only to find out the guy had a goat staked out just over a little rise - within 1/8 mile, but out of sight.
 
Along these lines, here's a little tip that's not rocket science, but that I use frequently if I'm looking for a ditch to hunt. After you pass a house or the last cow, just drive 30 mph & count 15 seconds. There's your 660 ft. You'll get a better & better feel for what 660 ft really is. Not actually very far.
 
I've seen this quite a bit recently too. Question, more curious than anything, would you be able to push a piece labeled safety zone without your weapon? One piece I'm thinking of has very good cover around a farmstead which is marked "safety zone". It connects directly into WIA piece. I always wondered if you could walk the safety zone piece without weapon in hopes to push birds into the WIA. Again, more curious than anything because I'm sure than landowner would not be in favor and I'm not a fan of confrontations.

Also, had an interesting event occur last weekend. Don't mean to hijack the thread, but it has irked me. I drove a little over an hour on Saturday to a piece of public land I really enjoy. I arrived at 9:30 only to find a group of 2 and 2 dogs 400 yards into the field, hunting. I went over to their car, Minnesota Plates. Again, not a fan much of confrontation, but left a note on their windshield. I then drove very slowly on the road in hopes they would get my point. They walked out of the cover and into a picked field and just stood and looked at me. You'd think if coming to hunt another state you'd at least understand the handbook enough to know when legal shooting hours are. Just really irked me, they had to have started pretty close to 9:00 to get that far into the field.
 
SDroosty said:
I've seen this quite a bit recently too. Question, more curious than anything, would you be able to push a piece labeled safety zone without your weapon? One piece I'm thinking of has very good cover around a farmstead which is marked "safety zone". It connects directly into WIA piece. I always wondered if you could walk the safety zone piece without weapon in hopes to push birds into the WIA. Again, more curious than anything because I'm sure than landowner would not be in favor and I'm not a fan of confrontations.
Click to expand...

Don't take my word for it (big disclaimer), but I believe you could do that under the law. The law basically says you can't shoot a gun or "hunt" in a safety zone. "Hunt" is defined in Title 41 as "shooting, shooting at, pursuing, taking, attempting to take, catching, or killing of any wild animal or animals". The only sticky term I see there is "pursue", which is defined by Webster online as "to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat". Yes, you might be "overtaking" birds in the ditch, but I think the intent of the term as used in the law would mean capture or kill. It's legal to walk, unarmed in the ditch. It's legal for a dog to be in the ditch. If a bird flies out, that can't be illegal. My opinion, but as my dad is fond of saying, "Tell it to the judge."

Now re-reading the question, maybe you're asking about part of an actual Walk-In Area near a farmhouse. I personally wouldn't think twice about walking that bit of cover in hopes of moving birds to a more convenient location. But knock on the door & let them know you plan to be near the house, but that you won't shoot within the safety zone. Could be they own the land & might say it's OK to shoot as long as you're safe about it. Might even have other locations they own that you could hunt.
 
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SDroosty said:
I've seen this quite a bit recently too. Question, more curious than anything, would you be able to push a piece labeled safety zone without your weapon? One piece I'm thinking of has very good cover around a farmstead which is marked "safety zone". It connects directly into WIA piece. I always wondered if you could walk the safety zone piece without weapon in hopes to push birds into the WIA. Again, more curious than anything because I'm sure than landowner would not be in favor and I'm not a fan of confrontations.

Also, had an interesting event occur last weekend. Don't mean to hijack the thread, but it has irked me. I drove a little over an hour on Saturday to a piece of public land I really enjoy. I arrived at 9:30 only to find a group of 2 and 2 dogs 400 yards into the field, hunting. I went over to their car, Minnesota Plates. Again, not a fan much of confrontation, but left a note on their windshield. I then drove very slowly on the road in hopes they would get my point. They walked out of the cover and into a picked field and just stood and looked at me. You'd think if coming to hunt another state you'd at least understand the handbook enough to know when legal shooting hours are. Just really irked me, they had to have started pretty close to 9:00 to get that far into the field.
Click to expand...

Obviously those boys were confused as to what state they were in. Minnesota start time is 9:00. Too bad there wasn't a CO in the area.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
Don't take my word for it (big disclaimer), but I believe you could do that under the law. The law basically says you can't shoot a gun or "hunt" in a safety zone. "Hunt" is defined in Title 41 as "shooting, shooting at, pursuing, taking, attempting to take, catching, or killing of any wild animal or animals". The only sticky term I see there is "pursue", which is defined by Webster online as "to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat". Yes, you might be "overtaking" birds in the ditch, but I think the intent of the term as used in the law would mean capture or kill. It's legal to walk, unarmed in the ditch. It's legal for a dog to be in the ditch. If a bird flies out, that can't be illegal. My opinion, but as my dad is fond of saying, "Tell it to the judge."

Now re-reading the question, maybe you're asking about part of an actual Walk-In Area near a farmhouse. I personally wouldn't think twice about walking that bit of cover in hopes of moving birds to a more convenient location. But knock on the door & let them know you plan to be near the house, but that you won't shoot within the safety zone. Could be they own the land & might say it's OK to shoot as long as you're safe about it. Might even have other locations they own that you could hunt.
Click to expand...

Call the tips hot line. 1-888-Overbag
 
SDroosty said:
I've seen this quite a bit recently too. Question, more curious than anything, would you be able to push a piece labeled safety zone without your weapon? One piece I'm thinking of has very good cover around a farmstead which is marked "safety zone". It connects directly into WIA piece. I always wondered if you could walk the safety zone piece without weapon in hopes to push birds into the WIA. Again, more curious than anything because I'm sure than landowner would not be in favor and I'm not a fan of confrontations.

Also, had an interesting event occur last weekend. Don't mean to hijack the thread, but it has irked me. I drove a little over an hour on Saturday to a piece of public land I really enjoy. I arrived at 9:30 only to find a group of 2 and 2 dogs 400 yards into the field, hunting. I went over to their car, Minnesota Plates. Again, not a fan much of confrontation, but left a note on their windshield. I then drove very slowly on the road in hopes they would get my point. They walked out of the cover and into a picked field and just stood and looked at me. You'd think if coming to hunt another state you'd at least understand the handbook enough to know when legal shooting hours are. Just really irked me, they had to have started pretty close to 9:00 to get that far into the field.
Click to expand...


Call the tips hotline. 1-888-Overbag
 
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