Got in trouble while shooting!!

[Stone Knife]

I'm no lawyer but they have to specifically define what a weapon is or the law holds no water. Also check your state game regs about distance from an occupied dwelling that you can discharge a bow. Dot your I's and cross your T's before you proceed.

[blueslfb]

I have dealt with this very problem as the COP responding to a complaint from a neighbor.  Our ordinace states it must be at an "approved range" but does not stipulate what an approved range is.  Our particular municipality has interpreted an "approved range" as an adequate target or backstop, 3D, foam block, haybales ect... As long as it stops the arrow. Get a copy of the village ordinance and talk to the Police Chief or attend a council meeting and discuss a possible solution with council members.  Most small town and village councils will work with their residents to solve a problem.
 On a side note I took a call one time because some idiots were shooting their bows and buried an arrow in their neighbor's siding. Most laws are in place for the idiots of our society and a few ruin it for the many.  Sometimes a little respectful education to your local leaders may be all that is needed to get the wording changed in the ordinace.

One piece of advice about dealing with an Officer is be nice and be polite.  The street is not the place to fight your battle because it will not turn out in your favor. Good luck!

[Sean B]

Sorry, but being a cop, my advice is to just drop it and find some where else to shoot. As Izzy said, if the cop  truly had nothing better to do, he could have confiscated your strung bow, which would have been left strung, and put in the evidence/property closet....strung.....in a hot basement..... and issued you an appearance ticket.

If an arrow did happen to get away for one reason or another, and did cause property damage or physical injury to another, it could have been the cops @$$ as much as it was yours for not acting.

[8Charles]

Wow, I can't believe this continues.  Wiscdonsinteacher's post sounds suspect to me.  Maybe he was upset and embellished a bit. Police Officers do not enforce rules, they enforce statutes, laws or ordinances.  As a citizen  of a community , it is your resposibility to be aware of those laws.  Were you shooting in your front yard when you saw the officer back up a Village street 1/2 the length of a football field to come back and speak with you.  The "cop bashing" is out of line.  Someone's post stated he didn't see it.  How about "Town Clowns", "Tell Barney Fife to suck it" to name a couple. You experienced what is called a "Stop and Talk" with no citation or consequences.  If there is an ordinance in that Village, you should consider yourself lucky for a verbal warning.  Aren't the rules here "expect to be respected".  This sort of thing kinda brings this website down a notch or two.

[Zradix]

I've worried about the same thing. My village has a n ordinance against shooting spring, air or gas propelled firearms. Not really sure if that covers a bow. Most likely an officer can find something wrong with what I'm doing if he/she was in the mood.
Sure it helps though that I'm a decent guy and don't cause problems either.
haven't had a problem doing it yet.
I do shoot into a large hill for a backdrop. Also, There isn't a house in that direction for a couple miles.

[ishiwannabe]

Some of these responses are incredible. Wi Teacher, no offense to you meant in any of the following.
First off, if it is a law, it is our responsibility to know it. Ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law.
Secondly, cops have the job of enforcing laws, even if they disagree or find them pointless. They also put themselves inbetween the public(us) and danger whenever it takes place. That is part of their job too...

After all of the threeads on here about ethics, sportsmanship, etc, I am simply stunned by some of these responses...
Total disregard for the laws, or those that enforce them, is not something I am willing to accept, or to teach my kids. If you are unhappy with them, there are ways to change them.

I understand this thread didnt start as a LE bashing thread, but it seems to have turned into one. Not to mention the countless posts on how to get away with it. To me, that is a sad representation of the type of people here.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Wow,

I am suprised to hear the responses to all the " Cop Bashing " in this thread.  

I reread this entire thread and did not see anyone bashing the police. In my post I described what I deal with on an almost daily basis.  As I stated most officers are informed and awesome at their jobs.  There are always a few who are not.  I hear a lot of the complaints about those less informed officers on a regular basis.  

It seems there are some people who see any disagreement with the actions of, or doubts of the knowledge of any officer as offensive.  Each citizen has a right to question and hold an officer accountable.  Each and everyone of you is a public servant.  More importantly you are an armed and authorized to use lethal force public servant.  I was held to incredibly high standards while serving in the military, and one of them was respecting others rights to voice their opinions.  Including all the anti war protester who spat on my uniform, called me murderer, etc... etc...  Being pulled over or talked by the police is tramatic to most people.  Being grumpy when a person voices an opinion creates a bigger divide between the police and the public.

While I can understand your not liking a different opinion, I have to say here.  We live in America.  That means an officer of the law not only enforces the specific statutes / ordinances of their municipality. Your oath also binds you to the people, and constitution.  Freedom of speech is our first protected right and shall not be infringed!  No one has a right to infringe on another mans freedom of speech even if you don't like that opinion.

Having said that, I am friends with County Sherrifs, State Police offices, I have lived across the street from a senior city policeman for 20 years.  A County Sherrif's deputy lives behind me. They are all great guys and really good at their jobs.  I know a couple of local officers that I won't speak or associate with at all. They simply are not nice people at all.

Officers of the law may not like the word "Cop".  Most of us use it affectionately.  I know I do.

[gudspelr]

Ragnarok-

I agree with most everything you've said, 1st post included.  However, I can see how some would draw a "cop bashing" type conclusion when terms like "Town Clowns", "Tell Barney Fife to suck it" are used.

You couldn't be more right that being in America means folks have the right to say what's on their mind, but I think what most are referring to here is being respectful in our disagreements.  I've got no problem with folks having other/differing opinions than I do, but this is a site we have to join to be a part of and there are parameters set up to be a member.  I've read posts on this site that showed how people can disagree and still be very polite and respectful about it.  Nothing wrong with a little disagreement with each other or officers for that matter-I think some are just saying lets do it respectfully (as most do, most of the time).

I also agree that in any profession, there are great folks and not so great-I appreciate your balanced view on it.  Just my 2 cents.


Jeremy

[SveinD]

Luckily for me, here in Norway that is not a problem. Regulations say as long as you bahave in a safe, thought-thru manner, you can shoot anywhere you like.. Even out in the street!

@ Ragnarok : Just to add a fun trivia, people from the north of Norway are said to be allowed to call the police "horsed***s" because swearing is such a normal part if their regional dialect^^

[Joshua Lee]

I disagree, This does not bring the "website down a notch or two." If anything this post is educating people about why the cop stopped, and what the proper way to handle the situation is. Yes, the crude comments are not needed but without people speaking there minds we cannot come to a better understanding.  At first, I thought why would the officer bother this archer, but after reading this post I get it.  Nobody wants to be told what to do in there own backyard but it is a slippery slope. To quote the riddler "Don't kill him! If you kill him, he won't learn nothin'! "
 Josh

[FrankM]

Originally posted by Hooked:
By the way, maybe the posts were pulled, but I haven't seen any bashing of police officers.  Maybe a small knock in saying he was just bored.

That was me. I have law enforcement experience on my resume. And it's the truth. Ha.  

[Over&Under]

Originally posted by Joshua Lee:
I disagree, This does not bring the "website down a notch or two." If anything this post is educating people about why the cop stopped, and what the proper way to handle the situation is. Yes, the crude comments are not needed but without people speaking there minds we cannot come to a better understanding.  At first, I thought why would the officer bother this archer, but after reading this post I get it.  Nobody wants to be told what to do in there own backyard but it is a slippery slope. To quote the riddler "Don't kill him! If you kill him, he won't learn nothin'! "
 Josh

I tend to agree with Josh for the most part.  Some of the comments here were certainly not called for, however this thread has probably opened the eyes of some and educated others.  There are laws that govern us, and we must abide by them, and there are proper ways of handling these things.

[joekeith]

What is the matter with COP?  It stands for Constable On Patrol, is something wrong with that?  If that bothers ya maybe you're too thin skinned for such a position.

[inn8hunter]

Our village is on a "case-by-case" basis. The town chief comes to your residence and makes sure that you have a safe shooting zone and proper backstops.

He then either approves or not approves it and puts your name at the office in case anyone calls the station to complain.

I feel that is a fair way to handle things instead of a blanket "no shooting a bow in town" rule.

Tim

[FrankM]

OK, my last response was kinda flippant. Seriously, I used to be a cop. The cop was right to stop if archery at home isn't allowed. If he drove by and someone was shot, he'd be in trouble. Sometimes cops do get bored and look for things to do. I could tell you some stories. You may have been caught on a slow day. Cops see violations all the time, but if it's small, and they're going to a call, they ignore it. The best thing to do is what everyone says about checking into it and trying to comply.

[KEG]

As others have said, ordinances like this are because of people who do not think or do not care. If your child got shot by one of these careless  people out shooting a bow, would you say "it's OK I'm an archer too?" The cop doesn't know that you are responsible he was just doing his job.

[8Charles]

I see some of you agree with me regarding the crude comments.  Nowhere does wisconsinteacher bash the officer.  His issues obviously lie with the ordinance, law or statute.  The simple remedy is to go down to the municipal building and look it up.

My point on bringing this website down a notch or two is not the discussion of the laws governing shooting a bow, and the discussion on the topic.  It is the people, no matter how few,  who have seized the oppourtunity to bash police officers. It makes me wonder about their past history with "the cops". Doesn't the old saying go "Dont shoot the messenger".  Discussion regarding knowledge and changing laws is fine, name calling and bashing is not acceptable.

[wisconsinteacher]

First and formost, I would never bash an officer.  I work at an alternative school and work with some great ones and bad ones, but I have a lot of respect for everyone that wears a badge.  The reason for starting my post was because I have never heard of this.  I have lived in different towns all over the state and have shot in everyone with no issues.  I will not shoot and try to get away with it, I am just looking for advice on how to handle the situation and if there was a way to work with a village board to get my range approved.  I shoot with a safe background (an 80 acre field) and only shoot when no one is around.  If someone comes by, I always take my gear inside until they are finished doing what they are doing.  As far as using the work cop, that is what I have called them.  I see it as saying soda or pop, both mean the same thing.  I am sorry if I upset anyone or if anyone feels any disrespect from me.

[OkKeith]

Matthew I don't see where anything you did or said was disrespectful.

The comments about law enforcement don't really bother me all that much, they put up with a lot more crap than that on an everyday basis. It just rolls off like everything else. You either have respect for officers or not.

What bothers me more is the idea that someone should ignore a LAW just because it is inconvenient.

Perhaps we should ignore when seasons start and stop. I sure would like to hunt turkeys two weeks earlier. Fact is no one would ever know. I wouldn't be hurting anyone. How can it be against the law if I can't see any need for it? Season dates are arbitrarily set anyway? Right?

There are more deer on my hunting property than all the other places around me. Who's gonna care if I shoot a few extra. I'm not affecting anyone else. What's the big deal?

Odd how it is OK to flaunt the law when it's convenient for us, but we give compound shooters no end of grief for using a legal (IN EVERY STATE) means of killing game for being slobs and unethical. Pitiful.

OkKeith

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

When in Rome...


I (heart) police.