RE: backyard archery practice.....gone wrong...
 

i had an arrow slip under my target and under my neighbor's fence. he walked over and asked if it was my arrow and asked me to shoot in a different direction (which i now do) but he broke my arrow :(it was pretty expensive at the time. i was a paperboy and the arrow was an easton xxx78 in camo with an inserted nock.

RE: backyard archery practice.....gone wrong...
 

If you must shoot in your residental backyard use your own house as a backstop, not someone else's. The sheathing on a garage will not stop an arrow either. I once shot thru the target in the garage and the arrow stuck in the AC unit behind the garage.

RE: backyard archery practice.....gone wrong...
 

Most municipalities used to read that it was illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits,but the lawyers (God bless em) changed it to "launch a projectile",(at least by me), which technically makes batting a ball with your kid illegal!

RE: backyard archery practice.....gone wrong...
 

Sounds to me like you have a VERY unsafe place to shoot and honestly, you should not be shooting there. Regardless of draw/miss-fire accidents, you can get a bounce off the target top or anything else. Haveing ANYTHING like what you describe within probably 100 yards, not feet, yards, behind the target makes it 100% unsafe.

the neighbor has a right to be pissed. You should not be shooting in the area and direction you are shooting. Not all yards are setup for shooting, in fact most are not. Join a club or find a safe place to shoot.

RE: backyard archery practice.....gone wrong...
 

Gary - accidents happen buddy. You try to cover all the bases, and sooner or later, you're bound to have an arrow get away. It happens. Don't beat yourself up over it.

My advice would be to build a little bigger backstop, or move it to an area where you're shooting into a hillside or something.

As far as shooting within the municipality goes - most boroughs and townships don't have any specific ordinances relating to bows, so my position with that kinda thing is thatyou're probably OK to keep doing it until somebody tells you to stop. As far as safety concerns go - if you honestly think it's a borderline decision, from a safety perspective - whether it's safe to shoot due to the proximity of other homes/roadways/businesses, then it's probably a good idea to err on the side of caution andtake your target elsewhere and practice.

When I was a kid, I put an arrow through my neighbor's garage window, and stuck one in the side of my buddy's barn. Live and learn bud. No harm, no foul.

RE: backyard archery practice.....gone wrong...
 

If you were shooting illegally, I'd just thank the guy for his understanding. I'd also not shoot there again.

If you were shooting legally, I'd do as others have mentioned and get a bigger backstop. ;)