Safety zone

aklax11 · Dec 31, 2019

Hi everyone,

I was hoping for some clarification on safety zones on public land, specifically in regards to bow (although prob applicable to rifle/shotgun areas):

- I presume one is allowed to walk on all public hunting land despite it being posted as safety zone if there is no intention to take a shot/harvest? E.g. scouting, walking through a safety zone to get to a legal hunting location, retrieve game?

- If a safety zone is not posted (most are in 1-2 directions around a property line, but some properties have 3 sides exposed), does one just apply the rule of distance for their respective county OR is one legally expected to respect the same distance from the dwelling as the safety zone markers are posted from? I ask this specifically because the safety zone markers are often significantly further from a property line than is required by law (often times 100 yards further).

Thanks in advance and happy NY!

Archeryrob · Jan 1, 2020

I tried reading the manual and did a search for zones, safety and public and read the public hunting lands sections and did not see your answer. I would say, if they DNR placed markers you better abide by them, even if wrong, or they would fine you. If they calls out 150 and the worker made them 200 the warden will fine you for hunting at 175 as you are inside the marked safety zone.

Doco Overboard · Jan 1, 2020

I would think with your first presumption walking through to get to a hunting location would be considered hunting if you posses the method of hunting with you. Retrieving game not so much because of wanton waste/ethics as long as you remain unarmed during retrieval.

I would not consider safety zones considered off limits for ordinary foot travel or sightseeing. Often you find stands in safety zones that may have been placed by the persons who have requested the zones be established in the first place. Some of which may have removed the signage at the rear of the zone.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can bet if someone witnesses you in a safety zone it will be reported as hunting and not as sightseeing during an established season. I do not see any reason to scout inside a safety zone because your not allowed to hunt it anyway. You can do that all you want outside the established boundary.

lazarus · Jan 1, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
I would think with your first presumption walking through to get to a hunting location would be considered hunting if you posses the method of hunting with you. Retrieving game not so much because of wanton waste/ethics as long as you remain unarmed during retrieval.

I would not consider safety zones considered off limits for ordinary foot travel or sightseeing. Often you find stands in safety zones that may have been placed by the persons who have requested the zones be established in the first place. Some of which may have removed the signage at the rear of the zone.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can bet if someone witnesses you in a safety zone it will be reported as hunting and not as sightseeing during an established season. I do not see any reason to scout inside a safety zone because your not allowed to hunt it anyway. You can do that all you want outside the established boundary.

All that.

Only things I would say is in some places you have to walk through a posted safety zone to go from the established WMA parking lot to the actual huntable WMA.

So I'd say being within one with a hunting implement is going to vary on "is it okay". If you are obviously in one by someone's house and it isn't an actual trail/(hunter) travel corridor, you are likely to get gigged, or at least have a long talk with a game warden at some point.

Doesn't matter if it is more than 150yds, gotta respect them. One thing I would say is I've seen posted safety zones that are LESS than 150yds from a structure. In that case, the 150yds is going to be the binding limit. One of those things where you can't always just assume you can hunt up to a safety zone marker.

danb · Jan 1, 2020

In many cases you need to walk through a safety zone with your equipment to get to the huntable area. You can hike, scout, ride horses, or do whatever in the safety zone just don't set up to take a shot. You can retrieve game from a safety zone. You cannot retrieve game if it goes on someones property, and many people have property that abuts public lands. I would avoid "scouting" with your equipment, DNR po-po might think you are spot-and-stalking.

If there are no signs, obey the distance rule. Be cautious though because many people have property that abuts public lands (and no fence), so be sure where the property line is. Also, some lands (like Patapsco) only certain areas are designated for hunting. However, if there are signs, obey those not the distance rule. In some cases, the signs are set up explicitly by agreement with landowners, the DNR, or county. Also, signs get knocked down and trees fall... so if you see three signs and not a fourth, make a conservative assumption about the fourth.

aklax11 · Jan 2, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
I would think with your first presumption walking through to get to a hunting location would be considered hunting if you posses the method of hunting with you. Retrieving game not so much because of wanton waste/ethics as long as you remain unarmed during retrieval.

I would not consider safety zones considered off limits for ordinary foot travel or sightseeing. Often you find stands in safety zones that may have been placed by the persons who have requested the zones be established in the first place. Some of which may have removed the signage at the rear of the zone.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can bet if someone witnesses you in a safety zone it will be reported as hunting and not as sightseeing during an established season. I do not see any reason to scout inside a safety zone because your not allowed to hunt it anyway. You can do that all you want outside the established boundary.

I would consider myself a novice bow hunter, but its not inconceivable that scouting in a safety zone is not unreasonable given if there is a bedding area or major tracks, one could set up outside of one and better understand local deer movement...some of these safety zones are the size of 5 football fields - figured walking through was also okay even with a tree stand on the back because many of the parks where bow is legal are odd jagged shaped and the only reasonable way to get an area thats huntable is through the zone without walking 3 miles around (for a 0.25-0.5 mile cut through public land)

aklax11 · Jan 2, 2020

What I don't understand is that in MoCo, it is 50 yards from the nearest home when hunting from an elevated position (further for school) and 99% of the time, the safety zone is actually closer to 200 yards, which takes up a lot of good hunting area. The deer have access to streams and bedding within a 200 yard zone with easy access to food in the neighborhoods. Maybe it is a holdover from the old safety zone provisions and haven't been updated?

Doco Overboard · Jan 2, 2020

Ive been hunting in MD for over 40 years from the mountains to Assateague park. You go into a safety zone with a weapon your hunting. You may get away with it for a while only because you haven't been caught. What penalty you get will be up to the DNR officer and your behavior when being questioned.

Archeryrob · Jan 2, 2020

Safety zones in Montgomery and Washington where just changed this year to having to be in a tree stand for archery when between 50 - 100 yards.

The safety zone for projectiles is still over 150 yards. The safety zone is set probably as if is always rifle or black powder season since they can't change it season by season.

aklax11 · Jan 2, 2020

Archeryrob said:
Safety zones in Montgomery and Washington where just changed this year to having to be in a tree stand for archery when between 50 - 100 yards.

The safety zone for projectiles is still over 150 yards. The safety zone is set probably as if is always rifle or black powder season since they can't change it season by season.

I think the bow only areas probably haven’t been updated so I reached out to dnr to ask them to or for me to help them reset the zones if they so desire

aklax11 · Jan 2, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
Ive been hunting in MD for over 40 years from the mountains to Assateague park. You go into a safety zone with a weapon your hunting. You may get away with it for a while only because you haven't been caught. What penalty you get will be up to the DNR officer and your behavior when being questioned.

Well I reached out to dnr about this too

Derwood · Jan 2, 2020

aklax11 said:
Well I reached out to dnr about this too

I'm not sure about this... for example, at the WMA I hunt at most frequently, the safety zone goes parallel to the entire road where you must park. So it's impossible to get into the WMA without passing through the safety zone with your gear. Everyone walks through that zone (I think it's 50 yards from the road) and then you can start hunting/load your weapon etc once you're through it.

danb · Jan 2, 2020

Derwood said:
I'm not sure about this... for example, at the WMA I hunt at most frequently, the safety zone goes parallel to the entire road where you must park. So it's impossible to get into the WMA without passing through the safety zone with your gear. Everyone walks through that zone (I think it's 50 yards from the road) and then you can start hunting/load your weapon etc once you're through it.

In Patapsco you need to walk through the safety zone (and also the no-hunting zone) with your gear. Most parks I've hunted are like this.

Doco Overboard · Jan 2, 2020

danb said:
In Patapsco you need to walk through the safety zone (and also the no-hunting zone) with your gear. Most parks I've hunted are like this.

When I used to hunt Patapsco you were not allowed to be outside of the no hunt zones with a weapon or park anywhere you wanted to. Parking was always at an access point to where you could walk in unrestricted and clearly delineated by the maps of the area. Sometimes you had to walk down the road a little to get in because parking wasn't always at the trail head and have parking pass clearly displayed.

Something else to consider is just because an area is placarded as a Safety Zone doesn't mean the state always owns it. This is why the land area can sometime be larger than the established yardage limits set forth in the guide book.

danb · Jan 2, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
When I used to hunt Patapsco you were not allowed to be outside of the no hunt zones with a weapon or park anywhere you wanted to. Parking was always at an access point to where you could walk in unrestricted and clearly delineated by the maps of the area. Sometimes you had to walk down the road a little to get in because parking wasn't always at the trail head and have parking pass clearly displayed.

Something else to consider is just because an area is placarded as a Safety Zone doesn't mean the state always owns it. This is why the land area can sometime be larger than the established yardage limits set forth in the guide book.

The parking lot itself is a no hunt zone. The trail where you walk in is a no hunt zone. And also in the safety zone. How did you get your weapon to your stand, teleportation???

Doco Overboard · Jan 2, 2020

danb said:
The parking lot itself is a no hunt zone. The trail where you walk in is a no hunt zone. And also in the safety zone. How did you get your weapon to your stand, teleportation???

I never hunted the parking lot or on the trail to access an area so I really wouldn't know. I can remember those areas not being designated for hunting but is that what you try to do?
Is there only one way to walk into the park for bow hunting now? I know things are pretty liberal around that way now so maybe things changed and its not a big deal to cross a safety zone anymore.

I can honestly say this-I never.....ever..... had to cross an established safety zone ( the ones that are placarded by signs that say No Hunting or Weapons allowed Safety Zone) to get to a hunting area in MD on a WMA, state park that allows hunting or even federal property like the Smithsonian, Blackwater and Assateague for that matter. There has always been a right of way for egress to the area for the intended purpose.

danb · Jan 2, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
I never hunted the parking lot or on the trail to access an area so I really wouldn't know. I can remember those areas not being designated for hunting but is that what you try to do?
Is there only one way to walk into the park for bow hunting now? I know things are pretty liberal around that way now so maybe things changed and its not a big deal to cross a safety zone anymore.

I can honestly say this-I never.....ever..... had to cross an established safety zone ( the ones that are placarded by signs that say No Hunting or Weapons allowed Safety Zone) to get to a hunting area in MD on a WMA, state park that allows hunting or even federal property like the Smithsonian, Blackwater and Assateague for that matter. There has always been a right of way for egress to the area for the intended purpose.

The right of way trail and parking lot are no hunt zones and in the safety zone. You need to carry your weapons through them, there is no alternative.

aklax11 · Jan 2, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
When I used to hunt Patapsco you were not allowed to be outside of the no hunt zones with a weapon or park anywhere you wanted to. Parking was always at an access point to where you could walk in unrestricted and clearly delineated by the maps of the area. Sometimes you had to walk down the road a little to get in because parking wasn't always at the trail head and have parking pass clearly displayed.

Something else to consider is just because an area is placarded as a Safety Zone doesn't mean the state always owns it. This is why the land area can sometime be larger than the established yardage limits set forth in the guide book.

Yes but the on x app is usually pretty good at being accurate within a few yards...As well as the park map

danb · Jan 2, 2020

aklax11 said:
Yes but the on x app is usually pretty good at being accurate within a few yards...As well as the park map

what app?

aklax11 · Jan 2, 2020

danb said:
what app?

On x hunt. It’s about $25/year and gives you real time gps information and property lines for private and public land. It also tells you who owns the neighboring property and lets you save waypoints, log distance walked, etc

Safety zone

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