IS IT LEGAL?

Is is legal to sight in a deer rifle on public DNR land? I have a spot not too far from my house and it is safe/there are NO other people that use this piece of property - including bow hunters. IF anyone was there I would not even stop. I have a bluff as a backdrop. Just looking to put a few shots on paper to make sure nothing got knocked off. The range is an option but it is quite some distance away

"Sighting in your firearm and “target shooting” is the same activity….there is no distinction between these two activities." This is a direct quote pasted from the warden in my area. Where I live (Washington county) according to the hunting regulations book it is definately illegal. I could not find anything either allowing or not allowing it in other parts of the state. Either way it is insanely dangerous since you never know when someone or their dogs will come running around a corner or pop out of some brush. From the regs: • possess any loaded or uncased firearm or air gun while within the exterior boundary of state-owned lands posted with department signs in Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Racine, Sauk, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago counties or on state forest lands in the Kettle Moraine or Point Beach State Forests, or State Recreation Areas, except as follows: 1. while engaged in hunting in accordance with the open seasons listed on pages 7-9 and 11. 2. while shooting at an established target range (this is the only target shooting permitted on these state lands). 3. while training or trialing dogs under department license within designated areas

The purpose of the no guns afield this Friday is for law enforcement reasons so it won't tempt people to shoot a deer Friday and then register it Sat. (Here goes another debate) Besides, it's not a "ban" on any firearm posession. You can still duck hunt or sight-in at a range. How does that infringe on our 2nd Amendment rights? Why did this thread deviate so far from the original post? Tim

good thing i asked early enough! apparently they had to have a big meeting on the subject. they got back to me today and NO you can't wolf hunt on friday. IF you have one in a trap, you can call the warden and im assuming he will hold your hand on the way in and watch you shoot it. BTW that statewide firearms ban on friday goes against another law we like to call THE US CONSTITUTION.

According to the DNR signs adjacent to the public hunting grounds,target shooting is not allowed. Yes, that was addressed in my call to the DNR. It is ILLEGAL to target shoot on public lands BUT according to a warden, it is LEGAL to sight-in a deer rifle. Please re-read one of my early posts. There is a difference and I am sure there would be some discretion made. They also made it a point to say that you need to make sure you have a safe backdrop. Rather that discuss it on here ad nauseum, why don't you simply call your local warden or the Info Line? I am merely reporting what I was told by DNR personnel. I was quite surprised to get the answer I did. Tim

Follow-up question: Beth WOD: Good morning, what may I help you with? David: Hello, Just spoke with Cindy, she cleared up part of a question, but part is still puzzling. This Friday, wolf hunting is confined to bow or trapping (use of a firearm not allowed during the 24 hours prior to deer opener) - but what if someone with a wolf permit has a wolf in a trap? Do they have to kill it some other way? Beth WOD: Yes you are correct: If a person wants to hunt wolves this Friday outside the CWD zone they would be limited to using a bow or a crossbow, becuase of the general firearm restriction prohibiting possessing a loaded uncased firearm on that day. Beth WOD: Answer from Law Enforcement: In much of the state (areas outside the CWD zone), it is not legal to possess a loaded uncased firearm afield on the day before the regular 9-day gun deer season. In the CWD zone it would be legal to possess and use a loaded uncased firearm on this day. Outside the CWD zone, there are a number of exceptions in the law, such as for waterfowl hunting, hunting on a licensed Bird Hunting Preserve or Deer Hunting Preserve, target shooting at an established range and landowners sighting in firearms on their own land. There is not an exception for shooting trapped animals. Because the NRB created the requirement that a trapped wolf must only be killed by shooting it with a firearm, this does create a conflict between the 2 sets of rules. Law Enforcement recommends that if a trapper catches a wolf on that Friday, that they call the local warden and get approval to humanely shoot the wolf. Beth WOD: Hope this clears up your question!

Cindy OSH: Hello, may I help you? David: Good morning. Question about wolf hunting on this coming Friday - we've had conflicting reports from people that you either can or cannot hunt wolves with a gun this Friday. Can you please specify? Cindy OSH: This Friday, you would need to confine your hunting to bow only. It is not legal to possess a loaded firearm on Friday, except in a few circumstances. David: Thank you. Mind if I print this off and post it for the other guys? Cindy OSHure, go ahead, that would be very helpful. The deer regulations explain the circumstances where is it okay to gun hunt on this Friday. It is on page 19. David: Thanks. FYI - page 19 shows you can target, or hunt waterfowl, or birds on a licensed game farm, and that's about it.

According to the DNR signs adjacent to the public hunting grounds,target shooting is not allowed.

Go to the dnr website and go to contact us. You can call them or open a live chat with them you can get all answers to your questions. With the live chat you can print the answers bring them with you just in case your questioned by the authorities. I just use it to see if I can coyote hunt in northern Wisconsin during gun season. Since they made the rule after the regs where printed out. It is open this year. The story with the sheriffs there has to be more to that story. Like is it legal to discharge a firearm in that area or where they doing it in really unsafe manner. Why wouldn't you do it if some one is there? Is that for saftey or courtisy? If its for saftey then don't do it all. Because I would assume that there is always somebody there.

Look, all I did was call the DNR Info line. Got a reply back through a warden that it is LEGAL to sight-in a deer rifle. I would say that if you are shooting paper with a high powered rifle, that's sighting in. With a .22, not. Shooting clay targets with a shotgun, not. I am sure there is some discretion allowed as per each situation. Not everything is black and white when it comes to these issues. To the previous poster before the last one, if a Sheriff came to fine someone, that's not his area to cover if it's DNR land. We are talking about DNR lands so if the Sheriff popped someone on non-DNR land, I could understand it. If you really wanted an answer to this question, would it not have been better to call a warden than to open it up to everyone and get a different answer in each reply? Tim

So you're saying it's legal to sight in your deer rifle on state land but it's illegal to target shoot? Please explain what sighting in your rifle is if it's not target shooting?

It is illegal some people from down south did this not to far from my house sheriff came by took their guns and issued them a big fine.

the comment about asking for info from the dnr helplines and getting some random person looking through a regulations book is not correct. i emailed a question about wolf hunting and trapping on the day before gun deer season and my email was forwarded to an ecologist in the furbearer department (a person that actually hunts and traps - i know! amazing, but true!) FYI wolf hunting and trapping is allowed on the day before gun deer season! yes, i was as amazed as all of you are right now.

The lady on the info line got my number, asked a warden, and called me back a bit later. The number was a 715 area code. I do not think the DNR would be haphazard in giving out answers to questions like this (or anything involving laws or regulations.) Are you calling a warden a liar? Why don't you contact your local warden and ask him/her? Tim

Really? What warden said that? It is absoloutely NOT legal to sight in your gun on state land. Don't listen to me, I'm just some bonehead on the internet. Call or email your local warden and you will get the same answer with a lecture about gun safety. Its pretty dangerous. The dnr info line is not a warden, just someone with a regulations book.

My "no" answer was based on my hearing the warden say that it is illegal to target shoot on state lands. I hear it at every one of my Hunter Safety classes when he or she does their presentation. I had a PM about my that reply and curiosity got the better of me so I called the DNR Info Line. Try it some time and you'll get a correct answer the first time! (1-888-936-7463) It is LEGAL to sight-in your deer rifle on Public Land. Obviously you should make sure there is a safe backdrop. This came directly from a warden. Target shooting is not legal. (clay targets, bottles, cans, shooting paper with a .22) That jives with what the warden has always said at my classes that target shooting is not legal. I have deleted my original post. Sorry for any confusion. Tim