Airport Property...

[Shoalcatter22]

Does anyone know the technical legalities of bow hunting property that is owned by the county airport (in Texas)? I believe I've gotten myself into a situation where I'm asking some different groups of authorities and they have no clue, but their instinct/fear tells them they should just say no, and that's what I'm getting. I need to find an expert and would love to not hire an attorney. I have one more person to ask permission of, the airport manager. I was advised to do so by my county commissioner via email, which is the first positive sign I've had in this pursuit. Judge's office felt unsure so they decided I don't have permission. The property is about a 50 acre triangle with the airport high-fence on one side, FM road one another, and a super deep drainage ditch and county road on the third. The FM road has a narrow strip of county-owned land on it, then it's a coastal shoreline, and people have parked on the side of the FM road and crossed this 80 yard strip to wade fish for years and years, no problem. Can anyone share some knowledge to help me get permission to hunt this spot? I'd like to have it for when a warden sees me drag out one of the 10 points using this property to relax on.

 

[Long Cut]

There was a guy here hunting the local airport, I heard he was an “employee” aka they paid him $1 a year to “manage the property”.

Because he was on payroll it wasn’t tresspassing per FAA guidelines was my understanding?

I only know this because my Dad is a retired Cop that worked the case. Unfortunately the gentleman I’m speaking of saw a giant buck standing next to a hanger, shot the buck with a 300 Win Mag and the bullet penetrated the hanger. There was also blood...

Naturally the Cops, FAA, Feds got involved and the person lost their ability to hunt an amazing piece of land.

There’s going to be a lot of laws and rules to follow. I suggest you read up somewhere else outside of an Internet forum.

 

[Drenalin]

There’s going to be a lot of laws and rules to follow. I suggest you read up somewhere else outside of an Internet forum.

OP, I admire your willingness to persist until you get the answer you want, but this is likely the best advice you'll find in this thread. If everyone is saying "no", that might actually be the answer. Good luck with the airport manager, if that person will speak to you, it's probably your best bet.

 

[Buzby]

I hunted a local airport for a season. It was great, very unpressured animals. The airport manager wanted the deer killed off, they would wander onto the runway occasionally. The deal was just between him and I. He acted like he didn’t want the board to know about it. He didn’t want any tree stands either. He let the grounds keeper in on it, so he recognized my truck, and didn’t bother me. The next season he wasn’t keen on it for some reason, and avoided the conversation. The following year, they put up a high fence around the whole property and killed the deer off.

 

[stanginthe11s]

general rule is you cannot use a firearm anywhere near an airport so you may be limited to bow only. next you have to determine what kind of airport it is and who really owns it (state,fed,county or private), from there you call the appropriate entity and ask what the rules are. your first call should have been to the warden as he probably has knowledge of your area however if its a private air strip the warden has no say.

 

[Shoalcatter22]

general rule is you cannot use a firearm anywhere near an airport so you may be limited to bow only. next you have to determine what kind of airport it is and who really owns it (state,fed,county or private), from there you call the appropriate entity and ask what the rules are. your first call should have been to the warden as he probably has knowledge of your area however if its a private air strip the warden has no say.

Small county airport, high fenced. The property boarders it and is about 50 acres, unfenced. Same owner, county. Airstrips and offices are in large high fenced section. First call was to the game warden. He had me send him a pin of the location so he could do some homework. He replied a few days later that he is not sure who to ask, which I thought was strange, but to legally BOW hunt it, I would need written permission and need to carry that while hunting.

 

[Shoalcatter22]

And it sounds like I'm at the last straw. I'll head up to the airport on Monday and ask for the manager by name, and basically just come out with it and ask for permission to bow hunt their property across the fence. I've never done this before. Used to see my dad go and knock on farmers' doors in Iowa to pheasant hunt. I think I saw him turned down once out of 20 times. Any advice from anyone on the right words or phrases to use when asking permission to hunt?

There was a guy here hunting the local airport, I heard he was an “employee” aka they paid him $1 a year to “manage the property”.

Because he was on payroll it wasn’t tresspassing per FAA guidelines was my understanding?

I only know this because my Dad is a retired Cop that worked the case. Unfortunately the gentleman I’m speaking of saw a giant buck standing next to a hanger, shot the buck with a 300 Win Mag and the bullet penetrated the hanger. There was also blood...

Naturally the Cops, FAA, Feds got involved and the person lost their ability to hunt an amazing piece of land.

There’s going to be a lot of laws and rules to follow. I suggest you read up somewhere else outside of an Internet forum.

Do you have any suggestions on where else to read up on this subject? That's pretty much what I'm here asking.

 

[Poser]

I knew pilots that flew for a small airline with a government subsidy to fly to smaller regional airports. They regularly hunted the rural airports with firearms that they brought with them. I also knew a guy who killed deer on contract at a international airport: night vision set up + suppressor and a fee of $500 per deer.

 

[h2so4]

Maybe start with the fishing. If you've done it, tell him about it. Ask if you need permission to fish. The gentle ask if you can take your bow in that area during bow season, too? It will be much easier to talk about something that is already happening without trouble and ease into something new. Additionally, depending on the size of the town, etc. I'd see if you can approach him outside of work. If others hear your conversation, its more likely he will say no to be "on the safe side".

 

[Werty]

Just ask!

 

[stanginthe11s]

every state is different so heres what I can tell you based on what we do here and yes I hunt airport property that is also shared with an air force base. If the property is owned by the county then the county website should have info on hunting rules for county property, if not go down to the county building and ask and show them the property in question. place your pin on the furthest point from the air strip and do not bring up the air strip, also be clear you only want to bow hunt there. unfortunately we are in different times so words like hunt and airport don't seem to go well anymore.

 

[Somthingoriginal]

There likely isn't any protocol to allow you to hunt. And nobody is going to put their job on the line to allow you to hunt. If you really want to hunt this property, I would suggest lobbying your local county board members individually to propose an ordinance that would provide a hunting opportunity.

 

[Rich M]

Nothing against OP or anyone else. I had to go thru airport training to work on airports a couple of times and all kinds of risks to deal with and know.

Too many "additional" concerns - especially if commercial flights or jets use the airport. A big no imo.