Over the weekend in Maine, 3 hunters were shot. One man died. Also over the weekend, 2 dogs were shot and killed as they were mistaken for coyotes. In this article, John Holyoke talks about what its like for him to talk to his non-hunting friends and how bad the sport or hunting looks when so many incidents happen over such a short period of time.
I must say that it makes me happy that I hunt on family property and that Dad and I know WHO is hunting in the area with us (they sit in tree stands) but it is so, so scary to think about how quick something like this could happen and how absent minded some hunters can be while carrying a loaded weapon. Yes, I throw that gun up over my shoulder and shimmy up into my tree stand without worrying, but I also have a constant voice in my head yelling at me the minute the front of my gun comes up to where it would hit Dad's calf.
It is unfortunate that these serious incidents happen at all, but to have 5 of them happen in less than a week is scary and unnecessary. A man lost his life. The idea of hunting already has stigmas attached to it and when things like this happen, it doesnt help our cause.
This week, my interview with Steve at The Maine Outdoorsman went live. Steve said yesterday 200 people hit his site viewing over 500 pages. That is a lot of people reading about little ole me and hunting. Why? When I think of women who are in the general public's eye and hunt, I can think of 2 - Country singer Miranda Lambert and Sarah Palin. Why only two? Why is the female hunter such a fascinating thing? (I should probably note that I do not have cable so any and all female hunters on the hunting stations are lost to me. I'll keep it to the general public because that's what I am familiar with.) People/media were fascinated by the fact that they could get footage of Palin and her gun, shooting (and gutting) animals but I feel like the nostalgia would be lost if they had the same footage of McCain. Lambert and her hubby Blake Shelton tweet photos of their kills, and comment on what/where they are hunting. I only know this because I follow both. That's it....
So many times we hear of similiar accidents. It is not that hunters are absent minded it is just one of those unfortunate things that we tend to forget.
ReplyDeleteI cant remember there being so many over 1 weekend. Usually, someone shoots themselves (as awful as that sounds) but for hunters to shoot other hunters... scary and hopefully, we wont have any more stories for this season.
ReplyDeleteHow sad! I hate reading stuff like this. I am so glad we hunt private property too but it is always in the back of my head there's always that "one" that wants to trespass or something....so we stay alert as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend, dad walked under a new hunting stand with a new hunter in it. Maybe 1/4 mile from where I sit in my tree seat. He has not been there in the past 4 years we have hunted that land. I dont want to, but we may need a find a new spot.
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