Hunting Regulations?

[Clayfish]

The problem is definatly a mindset or attitude. On our hunting property we have cought the same folks on more than one occasion poaching. One time a guy was hunting in a field on the property (with permission) . He was sitting on a bucket on one side of the field watching a spike when from the other side a shot cracked and the deer fell. When the friend with permission stood up the poacher saw his vest and took off running. It's a good thing the gentleman wasn't shot. Last year some idiot who was poaching in the same field stole my nice two man stand that I had bought so my wife could hunt with me. That same field is farmed by a farmer who leases it so I think it was one of his hired help. I also think that's why we have alot of poachers. One more example is a couple years ago a gamewarden (friend of mine) was trying to bust someone for turkey hunting over bait and was walking up on them when they heard movement and shot. He was shot in the abdomen with turkey shot from about 10 yards and barely survived. It's hunters that have no respect for the law that give us a bad name.

[Windjammer]

You guys will love this,

Last night in my son's hunter safety course, Wildlife Officer Lucas was telling us some war stories. ( I could listen to war stories all night)

Last season the Wildlife Dep. was receiving a lot of reports of someone deer hunting at night in fields from the roads. When they finally caught them, it was a husband and wife team. Between 3:00 - 5:00 am she would drive around in their truck until they spotted deer in a field and he would use a rifle with night optics on it to kill the deer. But that's not the kicker... guess what was in the back sit of the truck........ If you guessed 1 infant and 2 small kids, then you need to work at the state fairs as "Fool The Guesser".

I guess this is what they considered quality family time.

As I said before, no amount of tests, rules or laws will stop people with kind of mind set. I do not know what to do about this kind of person, it baffles me on how they can think that way.

[Art Eatman]

I haven't seen all that many incompetent shots in a deer camp. Sure, there will always be a few, but overall there aren't enough to warrant the taxpayer expense to set up a full-bore shoting program as part of Hunter's Ed.

There MUST be some element of personal responsibility in our lives.

As for ethics, how can you tell ahead of time? All you can do is punish after the fact, which the way our system is designed. I really doubt that "You might be a poacher..." is grounds to deny a hunting license. "You poached." justifies denial of future licenses.

The idea of a hunter safety course for young people is wise because the message which comes from an Official Person from outside the family has weight in the mind of the student.

I don't remember the exacyt numbers, but the number of deer hunters and bird hunters is way up in the millions. Accidental firearms deaths from all groups of the total population is around one thousand. Given the reduction in firearms accidents among hunters, declining faster than in the general population, I'd say our hunter's ed programs are working.

Art

[Windjammer]

Officer Lucas said last night that since the hunter safety course program has started in NC, there has been over a 50 % reduction in hunting firearm related accidents.

The number one hunting accident now is tree stand falls.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but the number of deer hunters and bird hunters is way up in the millions. Accidental firearms deaths from all groups of the total population is around one thousand. Given the reduction in firearms accidents among hunters, declining faster than in the general population, I'd say our hunter's ed programs are working.

To back this up Officer Lucas said the stats show ... considering all the people that hunt compared to the number of accidents .... Hunting is one of the safest outdoor activities to be involved in.

[Harley Quinn]

I think they will have something to say about Hunting and why it should not be taken up. After all the information that is pumped into the younger set by Walt Disney films etc....
I am surprised that we don't have more people telling us how bad it is to shoot all their little friend's... (It is tongue in cheek but it is still pretty apparent to some).

Sorry had to say it.

Harley

[SeekHer]

Here, in Manitoba, Canada, we have to take and pass a Hunter Safety Course consisting of classroom and field time and from then on the hunter education certificate or last years licence must be presented before a hunting licence will be issued...If you had X number of hunting licences prior to the law being enacted then you were grandfathered in and didn't have to take the course...and therein lies the problem…

We were field shooting geese, for the last bird of my limit, I shoot and hit one fairly solid, it flies on for a ways and then drops about 100 yards behind me and about 5 yards in front of another hunter…I walk back to claim it and the s**t for brains points his shotgun at me and says it’s his bird…I ain’t dying over a goose…I limit out about 30 minutes later and leave…

On the family farm (1½ sections owned, 2½ sections leased), I and five friends were driving in the van to the ground stands for the evening hunt…we had just gotten to the first stand and as George is unloading his gear a truck drives around the clump of trees with 3 hunters in the back, driver and passenger in the cab, none of whom are wearing proper hunting attire of blaze orange vest/hat…I ask them if they have permission to hunt on this land and they say ”we don’t need any F**ken permission"...I point out that they are trespassing on my land (which is posted) and ask them to kindly leave…all this time the mother humping SOBs in the back are pointing their rifles at us…they drive off and we hear shots about two minutes later…we drive over and they’re dressing out a large doe, I call the RCMP and was told that it wasn’t their jurisdiction (lazy [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]s)… I point out trespass and pointing a weapon and they come but can’t arrest them as they have fled the scene, actually drove off quietly as it took the police 5 hours to get there…

During the upland bird season, the "hunters" will drive the roads dividing our property, which is OK, but they'll stick their guns out the windows of their cars or trucks and ground or tree shoot the ruffled or spruce grouse they encounter...I unknowingly gave permission to some of them to use the paths through our property...the problem is that they'll shoot out the whole covey of birds without leaving any breeding stock for next year...

In a ten year period we have lost 4 cows (DEER) and 1 prize winning bull (MOOSE), 1 pig (WILD BOAR), 2 dogs (WOLVES) and numerous tame ducks & geese (THE SAME)…one idiot was standing on our front lawn and shooting, towards the house, at a domestic goose…The MOOSE & WOLVES weren’t in season yet and the “hunters” didn’t have licences for them anyway, The DEER & BIRDS were at least in season…but none of these a**holes know what any of the animals looked like…the WILD BOAR, of which there aren’t any around here to begin with and as such there is no season for, was shot in her pen as were the cows, the bull and some of the birds...

Our posted signage reads "NO Trespassing, Hunting, Camping, Shooting or Off-Road Driving without written permission by owner. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

One of the biggest problems we have around these parts is "Jack lighters"..."Hunters" that drive around at night with big spotlights on their vehicles and as soon as they see a deer, flash a beam of light at the eyes, which stuns the deer, and then they shoot it...they do it all year round and if in season, without a hunting licence...this depletes the amount of animals available for legitimate hunters...

One guy, two towns away, that I know of, has been arrested five (5) times, for poaching, by Natural Resources, but as he's feeding a family of 9 or 10, he gets off with a $50.00 fine...I know first hand that he takes between 10 to 12 deer a year and has been for at least 30 years...I don’t consider it poaching if you and your family is starving and you shoot the deer to feed them...this guy shoots them, sells the meat and then buys domestic meats...