Bountiful ‘B’ mountain bikers recount bullets ‘whizzing’ past from target shooters

BOUNTIFUL, Utah — A Salt Lake City man is sharing a message after describing an unsettling encounter up past the Bountiful “B” that led to calling police.

He and his friends say they experienced a close call with stray bullets from someone’s target practice.

Skyline Drive in the hills above Bountiful is starting to get busy as the weather warms.

Connor Butterfield and three others decided to take a nice Sunday mountain bike ride up the road, saying it’s a good workout on the way up, followed by a cruise back down.

While the group of four made their way back down Skyline Drive, navigating the corners and meandering dirt road, all four of them heard a distinct noise.

“You could hear gunshots, but these seemed really close, so we stopped,” he said.

As they stood still on the road, trying to figure out where the gunshots were coming from, Butterfield said he could hear super loud buzzing right past him and over his head.

“They’re whizzing past, and it’s like, ‘Okay, run! Duck for cover,’” Butterfield recounted.

After waiting for the shots to cease, he explained that they came around what he described as a chicane and found two target shooters who had been shooting in the direction they just came from.

They stopped and talked to the two people.

“We just approached him nicely like, ‘Hey, if you realize, the road bends right around and there’s people on four-wheelers and us on bikes — and your bullets are flying past people,’” Butterfield said.

The Davis County Sheriff’s Office tells KSL TV they get called up to that area weekly because of target shooting and trash complaints.

Usually, the sheriff’s office said, people have taken off by the time they respond, or the target shooters are following the rules and there’s not much deputies can do.

It’s legal to shoot on the Forest Service land, the sheriff’s office continued, as long as people abide by the requirements.

Those rules are posted at the beginning of Skyline Drive, just before the Bountiful “B.” The rules specify that people stay about 5,100 feet in elevation; more than 150 yards away from a residence, building, campsite, or occupied area; not shooting at any object that will shatter, ignite or explode; and not shooting across a road, body of water, or in a manner or place that exposes a person or property to injury or damage.

The sign also includes basic shooting and target safety tips.

Butterfield, who also goes shooting himself, explained that he doesn’t have an issue with target practice — he just wants people to be safe about it.

“Really know the area, look around thoroughly before you just start shooting into potentially a trail right behind, or the road bends around right behind,” he said. “There was plenty of people out that day, and so it could have been aimed at anybody, or it could have missed and hit anybody.”