[svtruth]

Does anyone here have experience with this?
IIRC, Vermont has a Spring season for pike.
Thanks.

[Art Eatman]

Probably not legal, for controlled species. Might be okay for trash fish like carp. Most game departments have a booklet of rules and regs; see the section on "Methods of taking" or some such...

It's a fine old south Georgia tradition, though--but I imagine best done when the game warden isn't around.

:), Art

[countertop]

Its legal in Vermont.

Never partook of it when I lived there, but my neighbor did. The NY Times did a big story on it last year. If I recall, it may also be legal in some counties in Virginia (or at least thats what the NY Times article stated).

[Camp David]

Does anyone here have experience with this?
IIRC, Vermont has a Spring season for pike.
Thanks.

Yes... I grew up in Northern Vermont and springtime meant two things: hunting for fish with a bow/arrow and hunting for muskrats with a rifle (.22). The area around Missisquoi Bay on Lake Champlain offers both in abundance...

A bit about both:

Fish shooting is done by foot with hip boots, carrying a bow/arrow with arrows tied to fish line prowling the flooded fields next to rivers or lakes or swamps...Arrows need to be plastic for strength with barbed arrows, with a line tied to normal fish real... I used 10lb monofilament line and a Zebco real taped to traditional recurve bow (60lb Bear). Typical quarry was spawning carp, pike, or musky in flooded fields along river after iceout.... you would see them ahead as you walked, and shot must be made downward and ahead in flooded field as V wake is from their font fin... Once you hit one, prepare for war as fish generally put up a good fight...Largest I ever shot was a 36 pound musky and I fought him quite a while... I shot several carp that were larger that typically broke line...Fish shooting can be done with rifle but only a loser would use a gun on the fish...that's too easy! Prefer to use bow/arrow!

Muskrat hunting is done from a canoe; the rats leave a telltale V-shaped wake after ice out as they swim through swamps and an accurate .22 is needed; preferably .22 short so you don't damage pelt and shots need to be made to the head of muckrat... A good (prolific) spring rat hunter happens to be the best shot with a rifle known to man, as what you are shooting at is about the size of a postage stamp at 30 - 40 yards!!!

Both of these spring hunts teach you a lot! I recommend them highly!:)

Camp David

[countertop]

Good post David, but what I believe he was talking to is the practice of setting up on the shoreline, waiting for a fish to appear, and then shooting about 2 inches next to it with a centerfire round. The shockwaves rippling through the water destroy the fish's internal organs (their lungs collapse???) and it dies floating up to the surface.

If you hit the fish, of course, there aint gonna be much left to eat.

[countertop]

:evil:

[countertop]

Here's a link (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/InNews/shootfish2004.html) to the article though if you can find a copy of the original NY Times artical, there are some good pictures with it.

FWIW - here is the blog post (http://countertop-chronicles.blogspot.com/2004/05/i-cant-believe-its-in-new-york-times.html) I put up about it.

[Camp David]

Good post David, but what I believe he was talking to is the practice of setting up on the shoreline, waiting for a fish to appear, and then shooting about 2 inches next to it with a centerfire round. The shockwaves rippling through the water destroy the fish's internal organs (their lungs collapse???) and it dies floating up to the surface. .

Thanks!

I grew up there and know that using a gun on fish is like shooting at them in a barrel! Far too easy! Besides, can anyone tell me what happens when you shoot at water at a very oblique angle with a high-performance (high-caliber) round from a firearm? Anyone at all?

Shooting fish with a rifle seems too easy... but God bless them! Hope they have insurance.....

[countertop]

2 thoughts.

1) - yes shooting at an oblique angle can be dangerous, but that is driven more by how sharp the angle is than anything else. At 45 degrees and above, the bullet is going into the water and I don't think there is any risk of deflection. Heck, at 30 degrees I would doubt there was much risk.

which brings me to my next point

2) While shooting fish in a barrel might be easy, shooting fish in a lake is probably much less so. First, you need to get the fish close enough to you that you can see them. If they are more than a few feet away, the chances of that goes pretty far downhill. Furthermore, they need to be close enough so that you can retrieve them when they float up.

If, then, they are directly under you (which in most cases is where they need to be) the angle will be sharp enough so that the concern in #1 is diminished to the point of probably not even being an issue anymore.

Finally, you need to be rather accurate cause if you shoot too close you destroy the fish (nothing to eat) and if your are too far the shock waves don't have the impact (pardon the pun).

Anyway, those are just my thoughts. LIke I said above, I've never actually done it.

[exoduster18]

Sounds like fun...I'm going to check PA's laws right now.

[Kingcreek]

some years ago, I recall fishing in Wisconsin and witnessing a couple of indiginous native americans shooting big musky or pike from a boat with a surplus '03. The fish were spawning in shallow water and one brave was handling the boat while the other was perched on the bow with the rifle. was told it was legal for them but not for us white anglo-european transplants. They were pretty successful at boating some big fish.

[106rr]

I have shot carp in California irrigation canals. We used popcorn to lure the carp to the surface and then fired 12 gauge slugs to stun them. It does work but we only wanted the carp for raccoon bait.
The raccoons ate the carp and successfully eluded both hunters. I learned that raccoons have a higher IQ than mine and that they enjoy carp.

[Oldnamvet]

I used to "shoot" fish many years ago with 1/4 stick of dynamite and a brick + deep hole. IN RVN I graduated to using frag grenades.:evil: Never tried it with a rifle although carp in the springtime on the Mississippi used to be a hoot.

[dfaugh]

I used to "shoot" fish many years ago with 1/4 stick of dynamite and a brick + deep hole.

LOL...went fiching with a guy some years ago...he opened his tackle box and on top were 4 or 5 M-80s...He said they were for days when the fish weren't biting...

[steveno]

I think that Dupont spinners is the way to go