I've heard a couple of stories lately of stray shots from deer hunters.
Whether they actually damaged anything is fairly irrelevant, as it falls under the whole "Know your target and what's behind it" bit.
Or as I like to call it, "pay attention!"
Since the Farm Fam has actually had a horse shot for being mistaken for a deer (not kidding) I thought I'd take this chance to remind everyone.
Please, be sure what you're shooting at is your intended target, that there isn't something behind your deer in line-of-sight that you might not want to put a hole in if you happen to miss, and that you remember ALL of the gun safety rules while you're hunting.
That being said, happy hunting and here's rooting for everyone!
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11 comments:
they actually mistook a horse for a deer ??? mmm ... i suspect alcohol....
Farmgirl, There are "hunters" in my area who need watching too... either unsafe by nature or don't keep with the regs and common sense. I've found where a bullet fell through the roof over my porch... that's on my shop which is part of my barn. Also, during our muzzleloader deer season, the game warden showed up hunting someone who shot a deer with what appeared to be a full metal jacket. He said he figured it was some drunk riding around looking for an easy target.
Julie, I'd suspect alcohol too. You'd think there were less idiots in this world. Unless they were just that mean and looking for something to test their latest elk load on.
I've always been baffled by the thought processes of a person who takes a shot at a "deer" and ends up hitting a person, cow, goat, horse, wombat, etc.
I mean, is it really that difficult to identify what you're aiming at through a telescopic scope? I mean, I've done it, and it certainly didn't seem all that terribly difficult of a task.
JBO- the thought process is that there isn't one.
They just shoot at whatever moves. On the same level, for me, as people who hunt just for trophies.
Unless I'm killing varmints (prairie dogs, coyotes, occasionally jackrabbits) I eat what I kill.
Speaking of, once the snow stops, maybe I should take some time and do some rabbit hunting... I've been craving bunny.
Alcohol or just plain stupidity... hard to know... And yes, the four rules DO apply in the field too!
The stupid is gettin' think when you have to seriously consider blaze orange horse blankets.
What? You don't have 1000 pound black deer out there? ;)
I think many of these cases are alcohol free, just fueled by overzealous hunters. When I took one of my daughters thru hunters ed here in Washington, the thing they stressed most and often was don't shoot if you're not 100% certain of the target and what is beyond it. A couple years back a 14 year old boy shot and killed a hiker here. He thought she was a bear. I've seen hikers and bears in the wilderness. There is no passing resemblance.
I refrain from riding in the woods during hunting season, as I can imagine some eager hunter mistaking him for a Wapiti. If someone shot one of my horses, purposely or accidentally, I'm certain that a second shooting would follow.
My late father was a guide in NW Colorado. We packed out many elk each year and were accused by other locals of buying all the available blaze orange to drape over the pack horses. At least once a season we would encounter hunters pointing rifles our direction. Guess they thought elk were orange and wore sleigh bells. Idiots!
In Georgia, the Wildlife Management Areas open to deer hunting or, during open season, closed to horses.
It's not that hard to ID your target, shoot or no-shoot, even with iron sights. If it's that far out, that's what binoculars are for.
Sometimes I'd like it if nobody could even legally look at a firearm until they could recite the Four Rules flawlessly. In Pig Latin. Or maybe Welsh.
Of course, I'm a libertarian, so I don't really mean it. But sometimes....
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