Gotta vent!

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

OK, so I did it. I went and wrapped up my bum knee, donned my primitives, took my flinter to the woods to hobble around and see if any stupid deer would allow me a shot. Muzzleloader season opened Saturday. I stumbled through a small section of woods on the ranch, spooked a couple of smart deer who ran away letting every other critter within range know I was there.(hard to sneak with yer knee all trussed-up). Watched some squirrels at play, found fresh tracks of a very big bobcat, life was good. Yeah the knee hurt, but what the heck, I'm enjoying myself. So, it's time to head back to meet the kids when they get off the bus, I head out, and just as I am about to clear the woods, there lays our beautiful 8 point buck that we have let go several times this season, both with regular firearms and archery. See, we are under antler restrictions anyway, and besides, we are meat hunters, not horn hunters. Well, regular season ended three weeks ago, then came the antlerless only portion, which closed two weeks ago, then archery, now muzzleloader. Confusing I know. I found him lying not far from my haying equiptment, and from the looks of things, he was shot very nearby. First, he was killed in between the seasons where antlered deer can be legally taken , second, he was killed by someone tresspassing, third, they had to have shot in the direction of the house, barn and horse patures, and finally, never bothered to go look for the animal, because there is no way it could not have been seen where it was laying. I know who did it, but of course, cannot prove it.

GRRRRRR!!!! I despise people like that.

Sorry, had to vent.

Bo

[Matty Bottles]

I'm not a hunter, but I've helped a neighbor track his bow kills through the unincorporated land near my parent's house. When I found his deer, it died of a clean shot through the lungs, but carried in its skull, practically in its eye socket, a broad head from a previous the season. The end of the arrow head stuck out of the skin, and it had healed around it and the shaft was broken off. I don't know how long it carried that arrowhead in its skull.

I worked with a guy who talked about the time he almost got a ticket because the DNR thought he poached a deer. He had shot it in the back of the head with his bow because, he said, "that was the only shot I had." He unscrewed the arrow shaft but couldn't get the arrowhead out. He took it to be tested for CWD and they gave him a ticket, so he made them butcher it right there to recover the arrowhead from its brain. I told him that it seemed a little stupid to go right for the skull - me thinking about the deer I found with the arrowhead in its eye socket - and I say "what if you didn't kill it?"

And he looks at me like I am the dumbest person he has ever met and he says "But that was the only shot I had."

Like I said, I'm not a hunter, but I think you might be missing some of the broader lessons of hunting if you can't wait for the responsible shot...

[Matty Bottles]

So I guess What I'm saying is there are @$$holes all over.

EDIT: What did you do with the carcass? Moving it over to the suspect's barn and calling the DNR might be an option...*

*This suggestion should not be considered an endorsement of potentially criminal activity.

Edited December 22, 2009 by Matty Bottles

[Silkie McDonough]

My father was a hunter. One of his hunting buddies was a veterinarian. The man would not shoot unless he knew he would be able to drop the animal and he carried a stethoscope with him to be sure the animal was dead.

My friend Judy's brother loves to hunt but hates to kill so he hunts with a lense and gets some seriously GREAT wildlife photographs.

I don't understand the others out there who just shoot to shoot ..why not go to a shooting range? Dolts.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

There is nothing left but fur and bones scattered about in a twenty foot circle. Nature has reclaimed all but that. I did get the skull and antlers, maybe I'll make something from them. what a waste. I know it wasn't there last week because I went out to check the tarps on the equipment, and the week before that was the antlerless season, and I took Warren out a few times, it wasn't there then either. It was not an archery kill due to the lay of the land, where he fell and my thirty years hunting/tracking experience. This is also the third nice buck carcass we have found un-recovered in the past four years, all in the same field, which is also where Blondie rides and trains horses. What sucks is there is no legal recourse without catching the person in the act.

Bo

[callenish gunner]

Can't blame you Bo! These kind f folks are one reason I don't hunt during regular season anymore and only hunt flintlock season. I have had folks shoot at my former place when they took it as abandoned because they saw no lights or cars in the open. I post and patrol my land armed.

Hunting for sport is what is wrong and many don't play by the rules. With game wardens spread so bloody thin they usually get away with senseless carnage and leave the remains everywhere. I have found deer with legs missing and never tracked, or the one who's lower jaw was shot off so he starved to death or died of thirst because he couldn't swallow. Every year we have livestock killed in our area by so-called hunters. There was an incident last month where poachers trespassing on a man's land opened fire on him and killed him; they claimed he opened fire first. The DA let them off for killing the land owner.

[LadyBarbossa]

That is just wrong. Sad that the deer was wasted. And sad that some hunters have to be so arrogant!

Hopefully, Bo, the DNR or someone else will catch those who are poaching.

At least the hunters could have made an effort. Doesn't sound like it. And worse, highly dangerous for your family being in the line of fire.

Stay safe, mates.

~Lady B

[Captain Jim]

Got a question, Bo; you said the wasted deer were all in the same area. Were they killed at approximately the same time of year, give or take a week? If so, you've got a pattern on your poacher. Hunt him next year (with a camera, silly, and/or a witness) and put the bastard away. See if the local DNR has a couple of trail cams to lend. Of course declaring war on a neighbor can be tricky...unless you give the credit to the DNR and make sure you don't have to testify openly, which is usually possible with DNR.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

This county is not what you'd call a haven of law enforcement professionals. Inluding those assigned to Highway Patrol, MDC(our conservation dept.), or DNR. This is where they send the ones who perform poorly in the other areas, or the rookies just starting out. Most of the sherriff's deputies grew up road-hunting too.

The ranch is not ours, but the one belonging to our good friend Cowboy K who was killed last year, and his lady still lives there all alone. It is too isolated, and we worry about her with the goons behind her. Pretty sure there is a functional meth lab, I can smell it cooking when the wind is right. Dangerous situation all around.

She is moving back to Nevada after this school year is over, and we don't know what will become of the place. If I were finished with school and working, I'd put this place up for collateral and buy it, but that is not going to happen soon enough.

We will just have to watch out for it and take it as it comes.

Bo

[Rumba Rue]

I don't believe in hunting/killing animals just for the fun of it.

However, if providing food for the family, then I have no trouble with it.

[Ransom]

Last year here in our county there was a person/persons going around shooting bull elk. They would pick the biggest, healthiest one, shoot it, and leave it. Just leave it. They killed about six or seven that way, and were never caught. I think the only reason they stopped was because the whole county was in such an uproar, they figured everyone would be on the lookout for them, and if they were caught, they would be lynched by an angry mob.

[Coastie04]

Just recently there was an article in the local paper about a pile of deer found in Sitka, AK. Only the choice cuts were taken, and the rest of the carcasses were left for nature. It's a complete waste and I hope they do find who did it (although the law enforcement officials are skeptical that they ever will). I do enjoy hunting, especially because up here in Alaska, there's plenty of wildlife and it is a very renewable resource. However, I hate people who waste the animal or, as in Bo's case, shoot in a dangerous direction. It's people like that who give firearms a bad name in the first place. 99% of gun owners are responsible, safe, and law abiding. It's the last few @ssholes that ruin it for the rest of us.

Coastie

[Captain Jim]

Oh, Oh! Can I be in the Angry Mob?

Hey, Bo, if its the guys from the meth lab, just rig a long slow match under the floor. No problem.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Unfortunately, they have children. no can do.

Bo

[Badger]

Gonna add my thoughts...you kinda asked fer it' after all!

I dont hunt, though I stalk fer fun, an' cause I love wilderness. I gots no problem wif meat hunters.... Sport-hunting repels me, but it IS a biological inheritance in our species.

That being said, we GOTS ta hunt (at least in th' lower 48), cause we stupidly an' regrettably got rid o' most o' th' big predators in most o' th' territory long ago, an' as every hunter an' student o' nature out there knows, th' deer an' pigs an' all would overbreed, eat all th' plantlife, destroy th' forests, an' starve horribly if'n we stopped. whether or not ye is an animal-lover (I am), that is no fate to wish on them, or us. Nature's balance demands it. Hunt away!

Hunting is always gonna be hit, miss, an' maim. It is as cruel, and no more, as nature's own game. Scum that do it in an extra cruel an' wasteful manner, however, should be dumped in an oubliette.

For those o' ye livin' in Alaska or th' (very) few other 'unspoiled' ecosystems, PLEASEPLEASE learn from th' stupid, shortsighted mistakes o' th' past, and treasure yer wolves, bears, an' pumas. They keep nature in true balance, an' make yer prey WAAY more fit and healthy. Plus, they are beautiful, an' God gave them a right ta live, too. We tamper with his designs at our peril!

Can ye tell I'm passionate about this?

Lastly, that (insert expletives) creature who shot at yer house, an' on yer land, he probably left it 'cause it WAS too close, an' he feared yer wrath if ye heard th' shot an' came. Thats my theory on why he has left 3 nearby. ScumScumScum. My sympathys, an' I hope ye gets 'im....somehow!

[Captain Jim]

Unfortunately, they have children. no can do.

Bo

Gaah! Do you mean to say that they're breeding, too? Another generation that disrespects nature is not what we need.

[callenish gunner]

We ended up having a full on fire-fight about 30 years ago; when shots were fired at the house at night we flipped on the porch light after the first shot broke a window. The idiots shot the light and opened fire ....needless to say this ol' gunner was kind enough to return fire with the five friends there as well. We disabled their car and captured them at gun point. There was a half empty case of Seagrams' 7 among five guys in the car, held them tied up in the barn (suspended from harness pegs on the beams) until the state police arrived 45 minutes later. there were five guys never so happy for the cops to show up to take them to jail. ...Let's just say we seriously f+<ked with their heads while waiting for the troopers.

Three of the five in the car did some serious jail time for assault and weapons charges, the non-firing additional two were charged with criminal trespassing and all were charged with conspiracy to commit attempted voluntary manslaughter for good measure. ...Nice to have the DA as a neighbour sometimes.

[Quartermaster James]

Damn! They're lucky you're so even tempered Gunner!

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Sometimes though, children can overcome their circumstances and turn out just fine.

Bo

[Lady Alyx]

So sad, when people do the arrogant hunting thing. I am not a hunter. I can understand if you live in a wilderness area and the rangers have set up a specific hunting season and you take meat to eat, but just to shoot and kill for the sake of doing that. It's horrible...not even animals kill for pleasure, and yet we are evolved from the animal kingdom, sometimes our smarts is not so smart. Too many animals are just expendable at our hands for pleasure. Sigh....