OT; Got My Deer

[Jstpssng]

About 5-6 years ago, one of the people caught shooting at a fake deer was a Maine State Trooper if I remember correctly.

I don't think the fakes are entrapment, more like an intelligence or integrity test - you can choose to shoot illegally or not. Those who shoot at the fakes, sure don't belong out in the woods IMHO, I am glad they get caught. Real entrapment would be something like putting a fake deer out that would be almost legal except for some small detail, then charging those who shoot at it.

Remember the lady who was shot dead by a deer hunter at dusk a couple years back? She was hanging laundry in her own backyard. Rare, yes but it happens.

I don't post my land, local hunters wander through every year, never had a problem. But I wear the blaze orange and keep the dogs extra close during deer season. And I don't go deep into the woods during season either. When I was a kid hunting with my father, people gave access to hunt on their land, I try to 'pay that forward'.
Dave.

Methinks you're showing your age.
Both of those incidents happened 20+ years ago.
The state trooper got busted for shooting from the road onto posted land, back when the rules were changing. ( It used to be that you could shoot a deer on posted land, them get a warden to help recover it. YOU didn't trespass... the bullet did.)

The second incident occurred in Hampden, I believe it was in ,88; the woman's name was Karen Wood. Nobody knows for sure why she was in her back yard wearing white mittens. Her death though, was the driving force for better hunter responsibility laws in Maine.

It sounds like you aren't a hunter; yet you keep the traditions alive. I for one' appreciate that. I hope that some of the users stop once in a while to say hello at the very least; if not to share some game, then to split some firewood or to help mend a fence.

If this hasn't happened yet then let me know where you live and what you need done; I can probably find a few hours to help keep access open.

RHW

 

[dave1949]

Methinks you're showing your age.
Both of those incidents happened 20+ years ago.
The state trooper got busted for shooting from the road onto posted land, back when the rules were changing. ( It used to be that you could shoot a deer on posted land, them get a warden to help recover it. YOU didn't trespass... the bullet did.)

The second incident occurred in Hampden, I believe it was in ,88; the woman's name was Karen Wood. Nobody knows for sure why she was in her back yard wearing white mittens. Her death though, was the driving force for better hunter responsibility laws in Maine.

It sounds like you aren't a hunter; yet you keep the traditions alive. I for one' appreciate that. I hope that some of the users stop once in a while to say hello at the very least; if not to share some game, then to split some firewood or to help mend a fence.

If this hasn't happened yet then let me know where you live and what you need done; I can probably find a few hours to help keep access open.

RHW

Okay, this case was 15 years ago, not 5 or 6.
TROOPER PLEADS INNOCENT TO TWO HUNTING VIOLATIONS
Portland Press Herald (ME) December 17, 1994
Page 1B
A state trooper charged with two hunting violations has pleaded innocent in Biddeford District Court. A trial for Stephen Emerson has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Jan 13.
Emerson, while off duty, was charged with criminal trespass and not having his hunting license Nov. 25. Game wardens claim he shot at a decoy deer on private property off-limits to hunters. Wardens use the mechanical decoys to catch poachers.
Emerson was placed on unpaid leave after charges were brought against him,...


And this girl was 100 yards away from the house, they probably mentioned the Hampden case in the article (you have to pay $2 for the whole article)
Hunter tied to shooting death is charged with manslaughter
By PAUL CARRIER Staff Writer
Portland Press Herald (ME) December 16, 2006
Page A1
State officials charged a South Paris hunter with manslaughter Friday in the Dec. 7 shooting death of 18-year-old Megan Ripley, who was killed in a wooded area behind her family's farmhouse in that town.

Timothy P. Bean, 51, was arrested at the Oxford County Courthouse in South Paris and released on personal recognizance, according to a statement issued by the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, which includes the Maine Warden Service. Bean had previously...

Ha Ha, I ain't totally decrepit yet.

I do try to keep the Maine traditions alive even though I am not from here. People generally asked about access when we first moved here, now they just wave. That's okay with me. No, I don't hunt myself, get more kick out of watching wildlife than shooting it. But that's a personal choice. There are miles of open land behind ours, people are on their way in or out of that area usually and our lot has always been the 'local' way of getting there. Same for snowmobiles. So, I try the live and let live approach and have no regrets.

Thanks for the offer on help though.
Dave.

 

[Jstpssng]

Guess I should get out of the woods more often. I wasn't even aware of the 2006 accident.

Do you go snowsledding? That's a sport that has evolved over the years.

 

[20 20]

Look, it happens here in Maine too. But, it doesn't happen often enough to threaten our heritage of hunting.

This is where I believe you're thinking that extremist will just look the other way. If it happens once a year oh well, if it happens twice hmmmmm, happens three times or more WOOOOOOOOOO all kinds of pooo hits the fan. In NY and other places there are hundreds of stories that hit the news stands about bad "hunters" {I don't classify myself with disrespectfull/uneducated gun owners so this is a bad term.}

In one of your 1st post you said it does not happen now you're saying it does . That's fine but how often, and should you maybe be alittle more alert? Like I said before 1 bad apple spoils the batch. If WE{true hunters} show that we don't care for this type of behaviour then wouldn't that benefit our stance? Old saying "ignorance is bliss" just because it is ignored does not mean it goes away.

The percentage of these incidents compared to the number of hunters is waay low.

The number of serial killers is low compared to the population of the planet so should we just ignore that also?

And about the fake bear or deer....It is entrapment in a sense and IMO, rather than set someone up, which can be dangerous in it's self, why aren't the authorities going out to help real people with real problems.??

This is not entrapment at all, infact it helps to catch those who deserve to be caught. We have low man power for our DEC so this way they can spend more time catching the jerks instead of harrassing those who are honest. Just imagine you get out to your stand early in the morn. Sun is just comming up and there stands a nice 10 point. Then just as your taking site a loud crash comes through the woods, its DEC checking your lic. Now which is worse? Or you're sitting there and here comes a bunch of ying yangs doing the brown is down mentallity shooting, at what ever moves or makes a sound? Or that 10 point you've been watching for a month ends up spot lighted and is found under your stand wasted, because it was shot but not harvested?

Hmmm....Do they have too much time on their hands.??

Just the opposite not enough time on their hands. I'm not saying all DEC are great blah blah blah. Most of them around here are decent folks just doing a job.

The hunting problems here in Maine are few and far between. Look at the numbers.

I think that is great use to be like that here also. Watched it change over the years. Lived south of here and hunting slowly got more dangerous{more accidents, Another bad term}. I've watched the idioticy{sp} slowly move north and it is a sad shame

I wish you many years, along with the other true hunters here, of very happy/safe hunting. I'm just saying don't turn a blind eye or you'll end up just like this state!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dave1949]

Guess I should get out of the woods more often. I wasn't even aware of the 2006 accident.

Do you go snowsledding? That's a sport that has evolved over the years.

I'm pretty sure my memory 'blended' the facts of the Hampden case and the more recent one. Both accidents with very odd circumstances. Not sure I grasp it, but the wardens say people are so intent on hunting deer, then they see something in the woods and in their mind, it is a deer.

Don't own a sled, although I have thought about getting one. We have just been too busy and on a budget building and getting the basic things together the past three years. I am glad the neighbors go through on their sleds, makes a decent walking trail by mid-winter Last winter, the snow was so deep and fluffy I couldn't snowshoe with any fun at all. I normally enjoy getting out on snowshoes once in a while. Great to be out in the woods when I can actually see more than 30 feet and nothing biting me.
Dave.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Oh Lord, this thread is getting ugly, I can sense it.

First, Karen, the woman who got shot in her back yard was indeed wearing white mittens. BIG DEAL>!!!! That SOB should be in prison for at least 15 years. HE was wrong and she wasn't. Period. A jury found him innocent. BIG mistake on their part.

Same on the teenager. She did nothing wrong and the hunter who shot her should pay dearly....years in prison.

These 2 tragedy's happened years apart from one an other AND the laws changed after the Karen Wood incident. The law now clearly states that a hunter needs POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION of the game he/she is about to kill.

Nobody had better tell me that I don't care about these things BUT, what can I do about it.?? Answer me that. What can I do about it. Until an issue shows up on a ballot in a voting booth can I have my say. Drunk drivers kill people every day....Do we need to abolish cars and trucks.?? Heck no. Serial killers kill the innocent, nobody can stop them. Period. What can I do to stop them.?? Law enforcement has a hard time finding and prosecuting them. What can I do.?? It is up to the cops and judges to put the loonies away for a loong loong time.

Hunting is safe and I refuse to dwell on the low percentages of careless accidents. Like, waay low percentages. In the last 20 years Maine has probably had 2 or 3 innocent deaths. At 200,000 hunters in the woods each season at 15 years is 3 million hunters and less than a handful of deaths. Those numbers are staggeringly safe. Get over it people. I don't need to go to capital hill with a sign on a stick bouncing it up and down saying we need to make hunting safer. I would sooner outlaw alcohol. THAT'S where a big problem lay's in this country. Hunting ain't a problem at all. Gun control bothers the heck out of me...but the issues about hunting do not. Yawn.

I enjoy hunting and I refuse to fear it. So, you guys just carry on about ALL the problems connected to hunting and I will be the happy hunter just going about my business in a lawful way. I ain't scared and I'm sorry you are. Sucks to be you.

The hunting heritage is strong here in Maine and if you want to see staggering numbers, try to abolish it here.

 

[Baranx4]

Well opening weekend passed here with no kills on our lease. With Texas new buck rule of spikes or 13" spread (outside ears) there will be fewer bucks killed here in East Texas. I am on a new local lease this year and they (lease manager) put in a no doe rule this year also. Many hunters on the lease may not get a deer this year. Seeing a fair amount of younger bucks around on friends game camera. Only one seen (on camera) that would be real close to a legal buck.

.

Here in Pa., bucks have to have atleast 3 points on one side, You wouldn't believe all the Y and spikes I saw this year prior to getting an 8 pointer. I have to admit until the changes you really didn't see many large bucks, mostly the great racks were nocternal deer. With the rutt going on I saw 4 legal shooter bucks this past saturday while trying to fill my doe permit. We don't shoot does on my property til Nov. just a rule the family started. Of the 4 bucks three had better racks than what I got with the bow. A few years ago you would never have seen that.

ALso the 7.5 acres of food plots doesn't hurt either.

 

[Jstpssng]

Oh Lord, this thread is getting ugly, I can sense it.

First, Karen, the woman who got shot in her back yard was indeed wearing white mittens. BIG DEAL>!!!! That SOB should be in prison for at least 15 years. HE was wrong and she wasn't. Period. A jury found him innocent. BIG mistake on their part.

Same on the teenager. She did nothing wrong and the hunter who shot her should pay dearly....years in prison.

These 2 tragedy's happened years apart from one an other AND the laws changed after the Karen Wood incident. The law now clearly states that a hunter needs POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION of the game he/she is about to kill.

Nobody had better tell me that I don't care about these things BUT, what can I do about it.?? Answer me that. What can I do about it. Until an issue shows up on a ballot in a voting booth can I have my say. Drunk drivers kill people every day....Do we need to abolish cars and trucks.?? Heck no. Serial killers kill the innocent, nobody can stop them. Period. What can I do to stop them.?? Law enforcement has a hard time finding and prosecuting them. What can I do.?? It is up to the cops and judges to put the loonies away for a loong loong time.

Hunting is safe and I refuse to dwell on the low percentages of careless accidents. Like, waay low percentages. In the last 20 years Maine has probably had 2 or 3 innocent deaths. At 200,000 hunters in the woods each season at 15 years is 3 million hunters and less than a handful of deaths. Those numbers are staggeringly safe. Get over it people. I don't need to go to capital hill with a sign on a stick bouncing it up and down saying we need to make hunting safer. I would sooner outlaw alcohol. THAT'S where a big problem lay's in this country. Hunting ain't a problem at all. Gun control bothers the heck out of me...but the issues about hunting do not. Yawn.

I enjoy hunting and I refuse to fear it. So, you guys just carry on about ALL the problems connected to hunting and I will be the happy hunter just going about my business in a lawful way. I ain't scared and I'm sorry you are. Sucks to be you.

The hunting heritage is strong here in Maine and if you want to see staggering numbers, try to abolish it here.

You're right we have gotten off topic. Glad tou got your deer. I'm in the woods every day; yet I never seem to get much hunting time in. Tomorrow though I need to go to town for cement and rebar for my garage slab;
I may myself in the woods for a few hours.

Saturday I may get some time in also, after being in Auburn helping my father cut firewood on the cordwood saw behind his new L2800. (Unless he decides to use his 8N... or his Ferguson 35)

Hopefully that last line has steered us back to the original thread, plus included a Tractor theme.
;<)

 

[Thomas]

jayste
"Thomas, that's a nice looking buck! What did he dress out at?"

He weight 185lbs completey clean,and he had scares to prove he was fighter.

 

[NH-Rob]

Well I finally shot my first deer. It may not be huge but I will not complain. I shot it on a buck or doe day at 4:40pm with a ithica 308. I am going to try to cut it up myself so any tips are appericiated. The last photo shows the view of where I shot the deer.
Rob