What Would You Have Done?

[roy reali]

Yesterday a friend and I went bird hunting. We went to one of our public hunting spots. It is one of our nicer areas. We even saw a bobcat on the way out. Too bad that we didn't have the proper tags for it.

On the way out we encountered two young men entering this area. We exchanged to the usual hunter small talk. They said that they were just going to go plinking. They both had .22 rifles slung on their shoulders. The problem with this is that this area is an archery and shotgun only area. There are several farm houses pretty close to this area.

I wanted to warn them, but they had guns and we had guns and I wanted to avoid an escalation. They may have been understanding, but on the other hand, you never know. I could have phoned our Fish and Game tip line, but sending them a message by pigeon would be more effective.

Now I am thinking back about this scenario. I wonder if I should have said something to those guys. The fine for having a rifle in this area is stiff. However, the map of this area available through Fish and Game has the gun prohibitions written in bold letters.

What would you have done?

 

[Sir William]

911 and report the violation. The R&Rs should be checked into by responsible firearms owners. The F&G publishes them for the public and there is NO excuse for not obeying them. The 22 lr plinkers could greatly endanger others, don't just let it go. Confrontation? I hope we ALL learned a lesson after Vang in Wisconsin. 911 and report.

 

[Big Ruger]

+1 I agree

 

[Scope]

I would have warned them. Depending on how its phrased the warning can be very non-confrontational.

 

[roy reali]

Overkill?

Wouldn't dialing 911 have been over doing it. They met us near the entrance of the site. They were going to have to walk a good half mile to reach the shooting area.

I should have said something as a friendly warning.

It is frustrating to run into folks that can't read game regulations.

Last year I ran into a similar situation. I was deer hunting in a shotgun only area. As I was leaving, I encountered a guy entering the area with a scoped, .30-06 rifle. This really irked me as I saw this as an unfair advantage for him. I did mention I was using a slug gun and that rifles were illegal in this area. He stated that he read in the regulation that a portion of the area was open to rifles. I never saw that part of the rules. So I headed to my truck. I reread the map of that area. I was right, no rifle exceptions were listed.

I called our Fish and Game tip line. They responed with very little concern. Spitting on the sidewalk gets a better response in some cities,

 

[JerryM]

I would have warned them. I sometimes do such on the gun range when someone is doing something unsafe.
I begin by telling them I am just another shooter and have no authority there. However, here is the situation and it is a safety issue. No one has ever seemed to resent it.

So they should, IMO, been politely warned similar to the above, with the statement that it is dangerous to fire anything but bows, and shotguns, and they might get arrested or in trouble if someone complains or the LE folks come out. I would appreciate such a warning myself. I does not have to be the least confrontational.

Jerry