1999: When hunting in Layton pretty much stopped

 "Not much of Layton left for hunting" was a February 25, 1999 headline in the Davis County Clipper newspaper.

At that time, the City Council limited hunting to 600 feet or more away from any houses, other structures or streets. As such, that meant that less than 700 acres in Layton's boundaries where hunting could still legally take place.

Even shooting clay pigeons on town is also illegal, unless you have the 600-foot buffer.

(Given a passage now of more than 2 decades since then, the amount of ground left for hunting in Layton is obviously a lot less now ...)

A lack of hunting opportunities can all be blamed on growth in Layton City.

Back before the 1990s, west Layton -- particularly just west of the Union Pacific railroad tracks -- was a popular place for peasant hunting each fall.

And, even in the late 1970s, hunting in Layton had caused some costly problems. For example, according to the Davis News Journal of Oct. 4, 1979, two cows had accidentally been killed by hunters in west Layton.

                 Some of the rare open farm field left in Layton is west of the rail trail.