Civilians at risk

[starsandstriper]

I went deer hunting over the weekend and changed tactics a little. decided that moving around would be the best way to hunt new land. Well, im walking down this trail and i see something moving on the side about to cross the trail. I wait to shoulder my gun until i identify the animal. Then i see a man walking about 20 feet behind what i thought was a small doe. Well, it turns out that the small doe that i resisted drawing my gun on for until i saw what it was, turned out to be a german shepherd. Now i could just have bad eyesight, but to me, a good size german shepherd in high gras on the side of a trail could easily be mistaken for a deer and put the dog and owner at risk from less carefull hunters. The worst part is, there is no published way of knowing the hunting seasons unless you are a hunter and have a copy of the abstracts. i think the public should be better informed of the seasons so that they arent tking their dogs for walks in the middle of the woods in the middle of the season. My question is, are non-hunters in your area informed as to the hunting seasons and when it is safe to be out?

 

[darkknight]

ya they know and they try to stop you and scare all the deer away beating pots and pans and stuff like that. i would love to see a warden arrest them since it is a crime but they seem not to care.

 

[JohnBT]

The daily paper here publishes a list every Friday in the sports section of what's in season along with the closing dates.

Does that mean the non-hunters read it? No, but maybe they see the pics of the hunters and what they've bagged.

John

 

[rustymaggot]

what about talking to the local pet shops and stick up a flyer on the wall saying to wrap dog collars with safety orange ribbons. while walking them in hunting areas. sign the flyer 'conserned hunters'. might help the dog people protect their dogs and other hunters id the critters quicker. i have never seen a deer wearing a ribbon around its neck.

makes me wonder how many pets are accidentally shot during hunting season.

 

[TrapperReady]

Most, not all, but most of the non-hunters I see in and around the woods (at least during the gun deer season) dress themselves in some sort of blaze orange.

For example, on opening day this year, my ground blind was set up so that I was in a treeline overlooking a small alfalfa field. At the opposite corner was an intersection of two rural roads. During the course of the day, I saw a number of folks just going about their daily business (walking dogs, jogging, getting the mail). Everyone had some blaze orange, at least a hat and usually a highwayman's vest.

Now, the closest town to where I was hunting has maybe a couple hundred people, and I'd bet a large number of them were in the woods that day. Get closer to bigger towns and cities and the chances of encountering people who don't have a clue goes up.

BTW, if I'm using public land, I figure I don't own it. Sure, it can be used for hunting, but if someone wants to go hiking or whatever, they paid taxes too. As long as we aren't intentionally disruptive of each other's activities, then I'm fine with that.

I figure it just makes it even more critical that we pay attention to the Four Rules ALL THE TIME.

 

[Gunslingergirl]

I saw a discussion of this topic on another forum. One of the suggestions made there was that a series of Public Service Announcements be made dealing with safety for non-hunters during hunting seasons.

I'm willing to bet a lot of hunting related businesses would support airing those on local television stations.

GSG

 

[jungleroy]

I know extra gear gets heavy,

Most of the time I am out hunting, I have my old 35mm Cannon camera with a good zoom lense, usually up to 80x. I know it's big and bulky, but it can help me identify many things way past the distance I usually feel like shooting. On occasion I have taken pictures of fools who were out to disrupt hunters, and if you get a good picture of the offender, they can get a ticket for at least harassment of wildlife.
I have found conversations with bunny hugging Peta types to be a waste of time, and even found a guy hiding in one of my families corn fields with a starter pistol to scare away deer. Funny thing, he swore he was not tresspassing, and that he knew the owners, and while he and I were talking, somebody had his vehicle towed from my families private property, and dropped off at a bar parking lot 30 miles away. I deny any further knowlege.

I have since grown up, and realize that there are better ways, so what ever you do to educate the non hunting public about the danger that they may be walking into. Please keep a level head, some of the anti hunting crowd have no problem shooting at us.

 

[MCgunner]

That dog better have a collar on if I see him on MY land.

 

[swampdog]

Please keep a level head, some of the anti hunting crowd have no problem shooting at us.

I've never understood the logic in that. I guess some anti-hunters must enjoy hunting.

PETA doesn't seem to be real popular around here. They enforce the hunter harassment laws, in my area. You are supposed to have a gamelands license to even be on WMA land and you are allowed on the land "only for the purpose of hunting, fishing and trapping". It's probably a different story in the national forests in the western part of the state.

We've got enough idiots "hunting" on public land. I stay away on weekends, or go way in, early. Getting "scoped" sends ice water down my back and doesn't do my temper much good, either.

I've never heard of any incidents involving hunters and "civilians". You'd have to be deaf and blind not to know when it's hunting season around here. Blaze orange becomes very "fashionable" around Oct. 15.

 

[enkindler]

I use to think about this a lot, wondering why people didn't know until I realized that I was majorly breaking rule 2 by using my scope to glass an area! Pick up some binoculars and glass areas with them before bringing your rifle to bare is probably the best option. From a safety standpoint and a political one, lots of non-hunters get raving mad when someone uses a rifle to check them out, hell I'm a hunter and it makes me mad too.