Help With Hunting Laws!

[R Smith]

A little help please,
I live in the county just outside the city limits in a subdivision. The lots are apx 1 to 1.25 acres. Behind me is a beaver swamp that is apx 200' wide and apx. 1000yards long. My back yards looks across the width. There is another subdivision across the swamp and is about 200 yards away from my home.
My neighbor is going through a seperation and there is currently no one living in their house. They have given permission to some of their friends to duck hunt behind their house using their property as access to the swamp. There is shooting(duck hunting) going on within 100 yards of my home, though not on my property.

I realize duck season is about to go out, but is there any laws on the books restricting how close you can hunt to a residence without the owner's permission or is it strictly a matter of the landowner's permission?

 

[reylamb]

I think it varies by county, but I am not sure.

 

[Palmetto]

I thought..

it was 300yrds?

I may have made that up but that seems to stick in my mind for some reason.

 

[R Smith]

it was 300yrds?

I may have made that up but that seems to stick in my mind for some reason.

I had thought it was 1000' which is close to 300 yards, but I can not find it in any searches I have done.
If they guys are legal, I don't want to start anything, but it is unnerving to my wife and daughter to hear shooting that close.
The sheriff's office said as long as they were not recklessly shoot there was nothing they could do, but they had no jurisdiction over hunting laws and didn't really know them.

 

[Tiger Rag]

It would rely on whether there was a county ordinance. It would fall under the jurisdiction of the sheriff's office. There is no game and fish law that covers this.

In a subdivision, your neighbor probably does not own the beaver pond any more than you do and may not have the right to allow hunting there. Often these wetland areas are owned by the developer or some other entity.

 

[FX Jenkins]

This is a good page, and at the bottom it says 200 yards...better get you a yardage wheel..

http://www.gfodl.org/law.php

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

I would contact my local WRD Ranger and see if he would give you an answer.

 

[DSGB]

I would contact my local WRD Ranger and see if he would give you an answer.

That's what I would do.

 

[Horace Rumpole]

Law?

I am aware of and can find the statute to support the assertion on the gfodl web page regarding proscribed distance from a public highway or street, but for the life of me, I can't find any statute which proscribes discharge of a firearm within 200 yards of a building. Maybe I'm a dum-dum (okay, it's set up on tee, somebody step up and drive it ), so if anyone can find a State statute (not a local ordinance) to back up the website, I'll be interested in seeing it.

The one I am familiar with is:

§ 16-11-103. Discharge of firearms on or near public highway

A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when, without legal justification, he discharges a gun or pistol on or within 50 yards of a public highway or street.

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

Horace, the primary reason I was suggesting the local ranger was in hopes of him/her being familiar with the local ordinances in the county in which they patroled.

 

[Horace Rumpole]

The web page

Jeff,

I was making reference to the web page that's linked in another post ... it asserts the 200 yard buffer is State law ... that's really what prompted my post.

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

Please don't get me wrong! Your participation was most welcomed.

As a matter of fact, even I learn something new from you from time to time!

 

[double b]

If you live in a subdivision, do you have a home owners association? If you do not, there are probably some restrictive covenants set forth by the builder/ developer. If you don't have them, they should be on file at the courthouse. The land may still belong to the developer for tax reasons, and you may be able to look on tax records/ maps for that info.

 

[FX Jenkins]

Jeff,

I was making reference to the web page that's linked in another post ... it asserts the 200 yard buffer is State law ... that's really what prompted my post.

I think the first paragraph sort of dispells the idea that their interpretations should be taken as "law"..

This is a "layman's" version of the firearm laws of Georgia. The information contained herein this document SHOULD NOT and CANNOT be construed as legal advice or as an alternate version of the current law. It is your own personal responsibility to know the law! The author of this document Cannot and Will not be responsible for its use in place of the actual law as legal advice. In short, Use at your own risk!


Copyright © 2004 - 2006 by Georgia Firearm Owners Defense League. All rights reserved.

but they do ref 16-11-102 and 16-11-106 (are these laws or ordinances?)...maybe if can find a copy of those, you can post them and we can all interpret?

 

[Horace Rumpole]

Statutes

Mr. Jenkins,

Notice in my posts that I was not critical of anyone, nor did I attribute any sort of specious behavior to anyone ... I simply pointed out that I can't find any statute establishing the distance from buildings to which the web page refers and invited other, more enlightened, posters to correct me.

As far as the statutes referenced, I looked at them prior to making my post, but here they are:


OCGA § 16-11-102. Pointing gun or pistol at another

A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he intentionally and without legal justification points or aims a gun or pistol at another, whether the gun or pistol is loaded or unloaded.


Laws 1880-81, p. 151, § 1; Laws 1968, p. 1249, § 1.

Formerly Code 1882, § 4528a; Penal Code 1895, § 343; Penal Code 1910, § 349; Code 1933, § 26-5107; Code 1933, § 26-2908.


OCGA § 16-11-106. Possession of firearm or knife during commission of, or attempt to commit, certain crimes

(a) For the purposes of this Code section, the term "firearm" shall include stun guns and tasers. A stun gun or taser is any device that is powered by electrical charging units such as batteries and emits an electrical charge in excess of 20,000 volts or is otherwise capable of incapacitating a person by an electrical charge.


(b) Any person who shall have on or within arm's reach of his or her person a firearm or a knife having a blade of three or more inches in length during the commission of, or the attempt to commit:


(1) Any crime against or involving the person of another;

(2) The unlawful entry into a building or vehicle;

(3) A theft from a building or theft of a vehicle;

(4) Any crime involving the possession, manufacture, delivery, distribution, dispensing, administering, selling, or possession with intent to distribute any controlled substance or marijuana as provided in Code Section 16-13-30, any counterfeit substance as defined in Code Section 16-13-21, or any noncontrolled substance as provided in Code Section 16-13-30.1; or

(5) Any crime involving the trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, or illegal drugs as provided in Code Section 16-13-31, and which crime is a felony, commits a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement for a period of five years, such sentence to run consecutively to any other sentence which the person has received.


(c) Upon the second or subsequent conviction of a person under this Code section, the person shall be punished by confinement for a period of ten years. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the sentence of any person which is imposed for violating this Code section a second or subsequent time shall not be suspended by the court and probationary sentence imposed in lieu thereof.


(d) The punishment prescribed for the violation of subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section shall not be reducible to misdemeanor punishment as is provided by Code Section 17-10-5.


(e) Any crime committed in violation of subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section shall be considered a separate offense.


Laws 1968, p. 982, §§ 1, 2; Laws 1974, p. 385, § 1; Laws 1976, p. 1591, §§ 1, 2; Laws 1985, p. 425, § 1; Laws 1986, p. 1205, § 1; Laws 1987, p. 624, § 1; Laws 2000, p. 1618, § 1; Laws 2001, p. 4, § 16.


As you can read, these statutes are completely inapposite. I suspect the web page is the result of someone mistaking a county ordinance for State law.

 

[Horace Rumpole]

Learning?

Jeffrey, my man, you could learn LOTS from me, if I could just convince you to pay more avid attention!

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

I promise to try to do better.

 

[FX Jenkins]

I sure hope the Local game warden can help this guy out..otherwise were gonna have to get the lawyers involved....

No criticism taken Mr Rumpole, I just didn't want ANYONE to mis interpret the purpose of the web page I had refrenced...

 

[JerryC]

I followed that link (thanks for posting it) and found this to be downright scary:
Loaded Firearms, A Firearm is considered loaded if there are rounds in the chamber, cylinder, and/or magazine of the firearm OR if a person is carrying a unloaded firearm and the person is in possession of ammunition that is in close proximity of the firearm; Which means if you are carrying a unloaded gun, it is still considered loaded if you have the bullets in your pocket or anywhere else on your body while you are still carrying the gun. (16-11-132)

 

[discounthunter]

why is that scary.