# Doing the right thing?



## MaddBomber (Oct 12, 2009)

So, this is my second year deer hunting my home state of MA. I've hunted my whole life, but usually took two weeks and went to VT, or ME with good results. Now my personal life won't allow me a two week absence, so I decided to hunt in the "Communist State of Massachusetts". Last year, after researching the local gun laws, and hunting seasons, I found that my best chances were to use a bow. 
Well, on opening day I was out in the woods, sneaking around the Berkshires on public property. Saw a few deer, but never got the chance to loose an arrow. What i did see was A LOT of hunters doing the wrong thing. Stumbled upon lots of feeders, came across piled up apples, heard a few gunshots before and after legal hunting hours, but the most upsetting thing i was was a hunter, in full camo (no orange) using a shotgun during the opening week of Archery season. For some reason this deeply troubled me, so i followed this guy. Found out where he lives, and by the seasons end he had 7 deer hanging in his back yard. I called the local and state authorities, and niether one did a single thing. I don't know how many deer tags you can obtain in MA, but you should only be able to get 3. So, the season ended, and here i am; the only person I know who followed all the rules, and the only person i know with an empty freezer. 
That was last year. This year, I applied for a doe permit. Had all my paper-work in by Feb, and was waiting. So with less than a week until the opening of archery season i still had no doe tag. I called, and called, dealt with automated nonsense, until i finaly spoke to a human. A few more redirections and i was in business. Come to find out, that the state 'forgot' to send me my permit. FORGOT?!!!
Went out hunting anyway with my buck tags, and met a fellow bow hunter. I began telling him the story, and he told me he takes a doe every year without a permit. 'Does are for meat, and buck are for walls' he told me. 
I had no comment.
Just goes to show you that doing the right thing -brings no rewards.


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## ShoerFast (Oct 12, 2009)

> For some reason this deeply troubled me, so i followed this guy. Found out where he lives, and by the seasons end he had 7 deer hanging in his back yard.



Must be nice and cold to be able to hang 7 deer in a backyard during bow-season.


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## MaddBomber (Oct 12, 2009)

ShoerFast said:


> Must be nice and cold to be able to hang 7 deer in a backyard during bow-season.



That's just the thing. In my opinion most of the meat must have been rotten. I really don't think it was cold enough. Especially during daylight hours.


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## stihl sawing (Oct 12, 2009)

That would really upset me to see the idiot letting the meat spoil. Might be hard not to kick his azz over that one. He ought to be punished for shooting wild game just to let the meat go bad because he's too lazy to take care of the meat.. If you're gonna kill it then eat it.


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## wavefreak (Oct 12, 2009)

Small consolation, but your personal integrity is priceless and worth a lot of respect.



Next time take a picture of the 7 deer and send it to the local news. :angrysoapbox:


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## deeker (Oct 12, 2009)

Most hunters have high moral ethics. Because there are no referees and very few news reporters. But our conscious is always with us.

Some "hunters" are slobs....they do get a lot of press time though.

Kevin


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## CrappieKeith (Oct 12, 2009)

I'ds have shot a photo then I'd have gone to the local press after trying the DNR option.
That also sounds like wanton waiste which is also illegal.

Get names and badge numbers to reference next time.That usually get's some attention.


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## RacerX (Oct 12, 2009)

wavefreak said:


> Small consolation, but your personal integrity is priceless and worth a lot of respect.
> 
> 
> 
> Next time take a picture of the 7 deer and send it to the local news. :angrysoapbox:




Excellent idea!

Yup some hunters can be real degenerates. I once had an altercation with a couple of bow hunters while I was duck hunting in a state park. Seems these guys were upset because me and my buddy opened fire on a couple of woodies just before sunrise. Somehow they were setup in trees next to the beaver pond we were hunting over (we mentioned to them on the way in that we were hunting on the pond). When we got out the road we were met by a CO who asked if we "saw anyone shooting at a beaver over by the beaver pond. Seems that a bow hunter saw someone shooting at the beaver and called it in." My hunting buddy wanted was so mad he was going to wait for the bow hunters to come back to their car and open up a can of whoopass. Being the more level headed of the two of us I suggested that we just let it go. Some people are just losers. 

It's unfortunate that the good guys sometimes have to suffer from the actions of the bad guys.


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## blueatlascedar (Oct 22, 2009)

MaddBomber said:


> So, this is my second year deer hunting my home state of MA. I've hunted my whole life, but usually took two weeks and went to VT, or ME with good results. Now my personal life won't allow me a two week absence, so I decided to hunt in the "Communist State of Massachusetts". Last year, after researching the local gun laws, and hunting seasons, I found that my best chances were to use a bow.
> Well, on opening day I was out in the woods, sneaking around the Berkshires on public property. Saw a few deer, but never got the chance to loose an arrow. What i did see was A LOT of hunters doing the wrong thing. Stumbled upon lots of feeders, came across piled up apples, heard a few gunshots before and after legal hunting hours, but the most upsetting thing i was was a hunter, in full camo (no orange) using a shotgun during the opening week of Archery season. For some reason this deeply troubled me, so i followed this guy. Found out where he lives, and by the seasons end he had 7 deer hanging in his back yard. I called the local and state authorities, and niether one did a single thing. I don't know how many deer tags you can obtain in MA, but you should only be able to get 3. So, the season ended, and here i am; the only person I know who followed all the rules, and the only person i know with an empty freezer.
> That was last year. This year, I applied for a doe permit. Had all my paper-work in by Feb, and was waiting. So with less than a week until the opening of archery season i still had no doe tag. I called, and called, dealt with automated nonsense, until i finaly spoke to a human. A few more redirections and i was in business. Come to find out, that the state 'forgot' to send me my permit. FORGOT?!!!
> Went out hunting anyway with my buck tags, and met a fellow bow hunter. I began telling him the story, and he told me he takes a doe every year without a permit. 'Does are for meat, and buck are for walls' he told me.
> ...



Yes, but... at least you know you are doing the right thing. My state PA has tons of outlaw hunters or slob hunters I call them.


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## MaddBomber (Jan 26, 2010)

RacerX said:


> Excellent idea!
> 
> Seems these guys were upset because me and my buddy opened fire on a couple of woodies just before sunrise. Somehow they were setup in trees next to the beaver pond we were hunting over.



Funny you said that. I was up in a tree stand about 500 yards from a pond. I didn't know duck hunting season overlaps archery season. Anyway, I was listening to what sounded like a flock of ducks, when a shotgun blast went off. I damn near fell out of the stand. Got my heart pumpin, that's for sure.
I didn't get pissed off. I was actually glad someone was successful that mornin.


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## 55chevyparts (Jan 26, 2010)

This was only a little over a mile from my house. I have caught people hunting and trespassing on my property several times, sometimes with orange sometimes in camo, always with some stupid excuse. Kind of turns me off to allowing anyone hunt on my land the way some people act.

JOPLIN GLOBE Oct 19 2009
GRANBY, Mo. — Newton County authorities on Monday were investigating what witnesses described as a hunting accident that left a 19-year-old dead.

Sheriff Ken Copeland said officers were summoned about 11:45 p.m. Sunday to property at 6646 Raven Road, northeast of Granby. They found Steven R. Cox, of rural Granby, dead of a gunshot wound to the head. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

“It’s still under investigation,” Copeland said late Monday afternoon.

Copeland said Cox, along with a friend later identified as Jacob Shamblin, 25, and Cox’s brother-in-law, later identified as Shane Schmelzer, 20, allegedly had been out hunting deer on the property. Cox reportedly separated from the other two. The land apparently is owned by Cox’s father-in-law, although Copeland alleged that the three might technically have committed “poaching” since they were not hunting during firearms hunting season and in compliance with a number of state hunting regulations.

Cox lived on the Raven Road property, in what Copeland described as a former dog kennel that had been remade into a dwelling, with limited access to water and electricity. Shamblin and Schmelzer also lived in the rural Granby area, he said.

At some point, according to what Cox’s companions told officers, Shamblin heard a noise from bushes that he took for a deer and fired in that direction. The bullet ended up striking Cox, Copeland said. None of the men was wearing a colored vest. Cox was shot with a .30-.30-caliber rifle, a common hunting rifle.

The sheriff said deputies have estimated the distance between Cox and Shamblin at between 20 and 25 yards, although Copeland said the incident took place in “the dead of night” in a thickly wooded area.

“It’s thick out there,” he said. “It’s brush and thicket.”

Efforts to obtain comment from Shamblin and Schmelzer were unsuccessful Monday.

The sheriff said officers re-interviewed the two men Monday morning. He said it apparently was “not unusual for them” to go out at night on the property and hunt for deer, often by using a flashlight.

Copeland said the results of the investigation would be forwarded to the Newton County prosecutor’s office for review, possibly today. He would not comment on whether and what charges his department would seek.

A phone message left for a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Conservation on Monday was not returned.

The department’s Web site lists a number of regulations even for those with access to resident landowner permits. Those regulations include specific dates for firearms season; “shooting hours” that allow shooting only between a half-hour before sunrise and a half-hour after sunset; and restrictions that bar the use of “any sighting device that casts a beam of light on the game.”


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## Taxmantoo (Jan 26, 2010)

55chevyparts said:


> The sheriff said deputies have estimated the distance between Cox and Shamblin at between 20 and 25 yards, although Copeland said the incident took place in “the dead of night” in a thickly wooded area.



Wow. You got an address where I can send their Darwin Award?


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## foursaps (Jan 26, 2010)

i have seen many hunters out not obeying the laws they should. I am an avid hunter, and hunt every season for deer and as much waterfowl/ birds as i can. I frustrates me the same as you to see people breaking laws and bagging deer, while i try my hardest and come up empty handed. 
In the defense of the guy with 7 deer, i have in the past had up to 10 deer hanging off my back porch. only one was mine. i had been hunting in maine with a group of guys, we bagged 11 deer that year. brought them home, and 10 ended up hanging at my house untill i brought them to the butcher 2 days later. it was november, meat stayed cold, none spoiled. don't jump to conclusions about why he had 7 deer, they may not be his tags on them.

as far as hunters not wearing orange:- if i EVER see that, except during bow season, i always make it a point to tell them of their mistake. even if it is people hiking/waking. sometimes it becomes an altercation, and once i have been told i couldn't hunt on my own land. but i always walk away feeling better that i made an effort. 
if someone is hunting shotgun during bow season, i usually call the EPO and let them know, if they can't do anything, local law enforcement is called. there is a shotgun season for a reason.


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## barneyrb (Jan 26, 2010)

A man can never go wrong by doing the right thing or taking the "High Road".
Rep'd you for doing the right thing.


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## 55chevyparts (Jan 27, 2010)

taxmantoo said:


> Wow. You got an address where I can send their Darwin Award?



The "funny" thing about it is that they shot him in the face, then drug him out of the woods before they called 911.


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## MNTAINGAL23 (Jan 27, 2010)

wavefreak said:


> Small consolation, but your personal integrity is priceless and worth a lot of respect.
> 
> 
> 
> Next time take a picture of the 7 deer and send it to the local news. :angrysoapbox:



We have a guy in the neighborhood that poaches elk. 
Real bummer when you have people breaking the law and not following the rules.


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## alleyyooper (Feb 4, 2010)

Personally I'm not buying the whole story. In fact I rolled up my pant legs to keep the stuff off them.
Ya there are a lot of slobs that hunt as slobs. But to follow some one home who had broken the law and snooped around intheir back yard to know there were 7 deer hanging back there, I'm calling B/S on that. Also If the law was called and they didn't follow up on it how were you to know, again I am calling B/S on that part of the story.

A still hunting bow hunter never ever met one of those. they noramlly hunt from a tree stand or a ground blind. Not saying there isn't such a thing but I have never ever met one around here even a gun hunter still hunting is rare.

 Al


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