I have shot several limbs down with a gun. But I live in a rural area, and I always take into account background, and anything else that could go wrong. I have a one deer stand that I will go out once every couple of years and shoot some limbs off of a tree or two that continue to grow and fill my my shooting lanes. It's a lot safer then trying to climb them and cut the limbs down with a bow saw or something but I have done that also at times. This year, I finally just sawed down a couple of trees, completely, as I considered them too dangerous to climb, etc. I once cut a big dead Walnut off at the corner of a garden spot I was making and it ended up spinning slightly and immediately hung up, by the one large and long limb left on it. It looked dangerous as heck. I went in the house and got a 44 mag rifle and shot the limb off. This only took 4 or 5 shots and that tree spun and jumped off the stump, which I had cut high because I wanted the stump for a corner post and came crashing down, totally unpredictable and surprising at the same time. I think it was safest choice for me, and I would do it again, but I live where I can do things like that, and no one else lives close enough to say different or complain.