Do you think 150 feet is too close for bow hunting near your home?

Stabile Column: Bill would allow bowhunting closer to homes

The Assembly passed it 66-11 last year, but the measure didn't make it out of Senate committee for a vote, so it had to be introduced in the current session. It's A-1683. Last month the Assembly prefiled the bill for reintroduction, so it must've known the Senate wasn't going to post it last session.

Hunters would be required to get written permission from owners of buildings to hunt within 150 feet, which in suburbs could save municipalities money by allowing archers to take deer instead of having to pay companies to cull deer.

The bill wouldn't change the 450-foot requirement for firearms hunters. Last year, a law was passed to allow Sunday bowhunting on private property and at wildlife management areas. For towns without hunting, pay-to-slay companies charge $300 a day, plus $200 a deer.


<LI itxtvisited="1">
Impressive deer at last weekend's Deer Classic awards included a nontypical archery category Monmouth buck that scored 173 4/8, a Hunterdon typical shotgun buck was 166 6/8, and a nontypical shotgun buck from Monmouth measured 167. Heaviest deer was a 230-pounder from Salem County.