Shell Shock

R

roy reali

New member
This morning my dog and I went looking for some birds. We went to this state property along the river. It is open for hunting. There is a lot of brush there with a nice little trail that meanders through it. Beautiful area except for one thing, empty hulls on the round, litter if you wil.:mad:

Every hundred yards or so I found about six or seven shotshell hulls on the ground smack in the middle of the trail. They way they were arranged, it seems as though a break open type shotgun must have been used. I know that pumps and semi's tend to scatter the hulls around. These seemed like they were removed from a gun and just dropped there. The gun must have had extractors to boot. This would indicate the ultimate in laziness and downright disregard for others. I hunt with a self-loader. I will crawl through brush to find my empties. I took those shells in and by God I will take them out, empty or full.

Nonhunters use this area. I am sure they are thrilled to see the trail littered with empty shotgun shells. This is public property. If someone wants to scatter garbage on their own land, I don't give a rat's behind. But I will get really ticked off if a no-hunting sign is posted there. I'll know why.

I picked up those empties. It took away from the time I could have used for my own hunting pleasure. It just made hunters look bad.

Why are there hunters that do this? Hunters that are busted littering should be either banned from hunting for an extended period of time or be put on a chain gang to clean up a forest somewhere.
 
One morning in a dove field, I got so fed up with the hulls littered everywhere.. I set my gun down and pickup up shells out of this farmer's field.. I filled three shopping bags full of 12 gauge hulls.. The only other hunter in the area was my dad, and the birds were flaring toward him while I picked up the hulls... Picking up the hulls told me two things, one being the hunters therethe previous day were idiots and two they couldn't hit the broadside of a barn... It's not the first I've stop hunting to pick up litter other hunters have left in the field :mad:
 
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re:weatherbymag

It's not the first I've stop hunting to pick up litter other hunters have left in the field
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I hope that if any slob hunters read these posts their conscience will slap them upside their head. I doubt it.
 
Candy Wrappers and Cigarette butts

During the ethics portion of Hunter Safety. We bring up a point that it's strange how a candy bar can trun into garbage by throwing away the wrapper. How it's no effort at all, to put the wrapper in your pocket and dispose of it later. As far as any cigarette butts, do the same or bury them and the harm they might pose to wildlife.
That the only thing that a Hunter should leave in the woods, is tracks.


Be Safe !!!
 
Same thing happens where I hunt here in GA on public land. Trash, beverage cans, using trees as target stands, etc.

It's because people feel no responsibility for public land, and no respect for anyone else who may use that land.

Most of the "problems" we have today stem from lack of respect for our fellow citizens.
 
Agreed. I ALWAYS pick up my hulls (using a SXS with extractors sure helps!) AND I pick up other hulls I encounter, sometimes until my vest won't hold any more. That's depressing.
 
They only time I don't pick up shells (I use an autoloader most of time) is when I knock down a bird and know it's not dead when it hits the ground. I usually don't have the luxury of hunting with a dog, so I've got to be on top of the bird myself before it disappears wounded. I'll try to go back and find my empties after I bag the bird, but they're not always possible to find. I always pick up hulls from other people, cause I imagine some hunters are going through the same thing as me. However, I agree with everyone else. If there's a pile of shells or you keep finding shells all over the place, those people were just being slobs and I despise that. Same goes for cigarette butts, beer cans, candy wrappers, and don't even get me started on how much trash I usually find in firepits and around campsites...Gets me so hotheaded sometimes...especially the broken glass I always end up finding!!
 
re:jamesh

especially the broken glass I always end up finding!!
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Broken glass is the worse. At least hulls can easily be picked up by someone else. Little pieces of glass are almost impossible to gather up. I wonder what would happen if I ever spot someone shooting glass containers on public land. The scenarios that I run through my mind don't end well.
:D

re:DaveR

(using a SXS with extractors sure helps!)
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I believe that is what the person or persons shooting in this area must have been using. Like I said, the shells were on the ground within inches of each other. I use a semi-auto, I only wished my gun threw hulls into such neat, easy to find piles. My 11-87 seems to throw hulls into the next county.;)
 
I agree to the full most with what everyone above has said. As hunters we want to do as little damage to the eco system as possible. I even pick up brass from the .22 and dads .270.

Thanks for bring up the topic.

MK
 
I've got literally cases of hull's. Saved over the years just in case I ever started reloading shotgun shell's.:rolleyes:

I like an onion sack to carry for debris. They're quite.

Leaving our hunting grounds better than we found it, is all our responsibilities.
 
If that happens on private land, it doesnt take long for it to get posted. We had someone come through our land leaving big 6" ruts in our fields, there were cans littered everywhere, the next day the signs went up, if someone is nice enough to ask they still get permission if we aren't using it, but no one who doesnt check in first is allowed.
 
You know when I watch hunting shows on tv I have never seen any of those "hunters" pick up their hulls. Maybe that give those big city doctors and bussinessmen that have never hunted a day in their life the wrong impression and they think its ok to leave hulls on the ground.
 
I used to see a lot of empty shotgun hulls when I hunted, but it's decreased drematically. Arizona started citing folks to leave them (litterning), and the game warden doesn't have to see you drop them to cite. If you've taken birds, you better have some empties with you.

I stick them in my bird bag, and dump them in the bed of the truck when I get back. Since I don't reload shotgun shells, I toss them out when I get home.

That said...

Here in the Az desert, the biggest problem with littering comes from illegal border crossers. The desert here is littered with empty water bottles, broken backpacks, and other nasties I'd rather not mention.

One of these days I'm going to show up at an illegal "rights" rally with a truckload of broken backpacks picked up from the desert.

Daryl
 
I havnt purchaced shotgun shell hulls in years. I carry a box of ammo in my vest and when I come home I usually have the vest 1/2 full or better and 2-3 boxes of spent hulls. Its a shame that a few hunters can leave stuff laying around. Of course, we have become a "disposable" society, but at least dispose of it properly.
 
My pet peeve, trashwise, is

beer cans!

One public tract I hunt invariably has 2 or 3 places where someone dumps a six pack :mad:. I can't believe someone with a 6 pack under their belt would be in the woods with a loaded firearm. I was always taught: "Alcohol and gun powder don't mix".
 
It's not just hunters. I recall a hike with a group of young people from church early in the spring, shortly after the snow had melted from the cross country ski trails. We picked up water bottles, discarded items of clothing, broken ski poles, and a variety of other kinds of trash--candy wrappers, plastic bags, etc. There are slobs all over. My kids now just expect to bring other people's trash out of the woods when we hike, and we bring plastic bags along so we can.
 
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