Turn my eye or call the PD??

B

brmfan

New member
For the past couple of years, there have been people hunting deer, with high powered rifles, in the woods right behind our house. They're not on our property, but the area they are hunting is city owned and there are several houses and roads in the area. Frankly, I could care less who hunts what and where, except they do it right at dinner time (~ 5:30pm) and often in the middle of the night (once at 2:30am).

Last night someone fired what sounded to be in the .300 winmag catagory within about 75 yards of our house. :mad::mad: My first inclination was to grab my 870 and pepper the area with 00, but my wife and her cooler head prevailed. My question is should I call the PD and let them know what's been going on, or just let it slide:confused:
 
Call the PD, what if a bullet goes the wrong direction? Anything less than 100yards away from a house (n KY) is illegal, not too mention city limits.
 
Are you kidding?

These guys could kill you or your wife.
Poaching at 2am, they are probably drunk.

Call DNR they will be all over these bums.
 
Don't know where you are, but usually there is a safety zone around buildings, depends on your game laws. Also in Michigan the southern half of the state is a shotgun/muzzleloader only area. You have to check your local game laws to find out what is permitted and how close hunters can come to buildings. IF the hunters are indeed breaking the law see you local conservation officer, they like nothing better than busting these guys. The local law enforcement would, many times rather write a speeding ticket. In Michigan if busted by a CO they take everything, guns, clothes (hunters get orange coveralls), and cars/truck, everything is taken!! The hunters loose all the equipment and get fine/jail time.
 
call gaming authorities. They may step in and investigate.

At the least they need to know someone is hunting improperly.

A couple of logged calls will help if it continues and you decide
to escalate it further.

I hate to tell someone to stay low in their own home but...
 
Call the game warden folks. Useful info would include the time of day and which days of the week are most common: During the working days of the week or weekends...

Alert the PD as well, of course.

I would do some quiet drive-bys, trying to figure out what cars/trucks belonged in the area and what cars/trucks are "strays". I'd log the license plate numbers of the strays. But I'd make no overt moves of any sort; that's for the folks with the badges and legal authority.
 
Hate to sound like a rat, but...

Call gaming authorities with as much info. as you can provide.

I hate to say this, but, with the current climate towards firearms, we must self-police and report to authorities behaviors that can only be explained as stupid, idiotic, and/or dangerous. One reason we're all coming so very close (I'm afraid) to losing our rights is because of the extreme minority of gun owners who haven't enough reason, logic, and accountability (among other qualities needed for enlightened citizenship and gun ownership) to act like they've a brain in their heads.

Remember, when one gun owner does something stupid, they pull us all down with them. Ignorance breeds ignorance--both metaphorically and literally.

Stories of irresponsible gun ownership absolutely crawl all over me and all of my family and friends who have gone out of our way to make certain that we exercise our rights with the requisite amount of reason expected and demanded.

Rant over, but we have to be responsible not only for ourselves but for the other folks too. That's the nature of an anti-gun environment.
 
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You can report it if you want to but it's been my experience that unless it occurs in a small town the cops don't care because it's not in their job description and one once told me that he wasn't getting out to confront someone in the woods who might have him outgunned. So I would suggest getting personal descriptions and tag numbers if possible and give them to the game warden but of course the catch 22 is that they have to be caught in the act. So good luck.
 
Yeah, what Art Eatman said and....

I am in Michigan and one of my best buds had a similar situation. He was told by the DNR officer that the STATE POLICE should be called first as they have a much quicker response time then the DNR would. Also, because they are both state agencies they work together very well. You may find a similar situation in your neck of the woods.

Good luck and this could go without saying, there is a reason it's called BUCK SHOT and not poaching, drunk, no game law following, IDIOT SHOT.
 
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If they're shooting in the wee hours, they are NOT hunters, they are poachers.:barf:
Drop the dime on'em and don't look back.
 
Good advice guys! I'm headed over to a police officer friend's house in a minute and I'll talk to him about it. I live in a small community in the deep south so I like to tread lightly, especially when it comes to football & hunting! ;)
 
Call DNR they will be all over these bums.
Click to expand...

Thats for sure. DNR lives for a chase like this. I don't believe that the PD would invest the time and attention that this sitiation warrants. IMHO
 
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At our place in the country we have a deer run that goes by the creek, which intersects the highway. About once every three months some brave soul stops along the highway and takes a shot, sometimes at an and odd hour. The property is all private on all sides and they are clearly poaching. This is life in the country, where not everyone respects everyones property. There are criminals in the country just like everywhere else.

We only called the cops once, which was when a gentleman in his early 20s cut loose with a string of shots with a handgun when the wife and kids were on the way down to the creek to walk the dog. He missed everything and everyone but the wife drew on him. He jumped in his car and disappeared quickly.
 
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