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.
There are a few less turkeys in Maine to hunt this year. A few months ago, Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation , captured and released more than 50 birds into East Texas with the hope of rebuilding their population. “Eastern turkeys are where the restocking efforts originally began,” explained Shawn Roberts, Director of Field Operations for the National Wild Turkey Federation, “We tried in the 1920’s but it didn’t work. We tried pen-raised birds and that didn’t work either. The only thing that was successful was to trap birds and relocate them to good habitat.” “We started this current effort in the early ‘80s and we had to begin looking outside the state to see if we could get them moved in. We didn’t want to violate The Lacey Act so we had to come up with a way to compensate the states that were giving up a resource either by trading other wildlife or paying them monetarily,” said Roberts. Texas is on the very edge o
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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