Bowhunting during ML

[BowGuy2]

I am bowhunting today and I know it's ML this week/end and I have heard about 5 shot guns go off 1 guy shot 3 times! Makes me wonder if some guys say heck with it and take the shot gun anyways hmm would not suprize me one bit

[Stonegod]

That's hard to believe.

[Seeker Bp]

Very good chance that it was Bunny hunters, ran into several people out bunny hunting today.

[mrbb]

HAHAHA, well I dis agree
I was hunting once in Ohio on private lands and had a guy show up with an AK , came right up to me and asked me if I seen any deer as he was looking to get at least 2
and MANY MANY times here in PA I have caught people with rifles in late season deer hunt
muzzleloader/bow season
and sen many with shotguns too deer hunting
Now don't get me wrong its not a TON of folks that do,this, but sure as birds fly folks do do that all over>
there will always be cheaters
sadly!

[BowGuy2]

As was walking out there was 2 guys 1 with a ML and one with a pump shot gun I was like are u kidding me

[Stonegod]

So the way I read your post bowguy2.....you saw one guy with a muzzleloader who was deer hunting......and one guy with a pump shotgun who was rabbit hunting?

[Seeker Bp]

Bad Eggs Good Eggs...What you gonna do. If you know they are hunting deer with improper weapons, call the law. If I am hunting in my tree and some dude comes walking up with an AK and tells me that, I am calling the Law. Common Sense prevails! So called "Cheaters" as you call em are called Poachers and lawbreakers in my neck of Ohio. If your witnessing these acts and not reporting it, your part of the problem. Just my Opinion, you know!

[whodey1966]

As was walking out there was 2 guys 1 with a ML and one with a pump shot gun I was like are u kidding me

Did you report them??

[MICH]

Did you report them??
thats what i was wondering,????? would like to see all states raise the fines up some....like x 5
maybe people would rethink doing wrong

[Seeker Bp]

Did you report them??

Exactly, if he was hunting deer with a shotgun, why would you not report him Bowguy? Cant figure that one out! Someone so sure he was, should not be afraid to report an offense like that. Especially if it was really something that was affecting you! Worse case, he is a bunny hunter and he will pass a quick lookover, if not he will get fined and hopefully learn a valuable lesson.

[mrbb]

sorry on the slow responce, but yes I did report them
it was actually how I got to meet the local game warden where I hunt in Ohio, a real nice guy too
said I wasn't the first to report the people either, he seemed to know exactly who there were!
I do not know if any fines were handed out or not, but yes I did report them
I always try to help out with reporting things like that if i can
BUT sadly, over the yrs, its been far to common for NOTHING to happen about it
I once told on this site of , having a guy in FEb, here in PA long past deer season, one winter drive his truck out in one of out food plots at like 2 am, druck, got stuck, while stuck shot a deer, then walked down to our cabin to ask for help getting unstuck
he didn't know it was our property
there was a solid 15+ inches of snow(we were at camp snowmobling, dumb luck us being there that time of yr)
when we got to the guys truck we seen the drag mark of the kill from the tree line to the truck, deer in his truck, and we took the gun off him
got back to camp, called the local game warden
told him what we had
and he told us to call the state police, as no way he could prove the guy did an illegal kill??
it was a WTF moment, like how much more red handed did a guy have to be??
we did get the guy arrested for trepassing, property damage, and he got a DUI
and thats it
game warden never even showed up??
But yes I report things all the time,as a fact I keep all the wardens numbers where I hunt programed in my phone!

I have lots of cheaters by me
I have stated this many times on this site, it really pisses me off too!

and I also said , that in all the states I have hunted in
the PA game dept is the worse of them all!
and I can tell of many many stories to back it up too!
its a shame
But like I said there are cheaters all over, and that's too bad, makes it a lot harder on the honest hunters that hunt for the challange and the joy of it all!

[radicalxl]

I think they wanted to know if bowguy2 reported it.

[Stonegod]

Yep.....we are all wondering if bowguy2 reported it. Don't see any reason why he wouldn't!!!!

[Big_Holla]

Kinda thought this was going to be about who was out bowhunting during Muzzy season. I sure wish I could have made it down to Ohio to do just that as this was my planned weekend to do so. Oh well, keeping my girl busy with her softball camps is more important these days.

As for actually spotting someone carrying a shotgun during muzzy season and pretty sure they were deer hunting....I sure hope you lived up to your name and reputation BowGuy2 and actually reported them.

[PlayTheWindMike]

BowGuy you should not have reported them and here is why. I would first have my facts together. I read it as though 2 hunters with muzzle loaders and 1 guy with shotgun, and you heard 3 shots from one guy. Well they could have been close together (maybe hunting around the same valley) and the guy with the shotgun could have had the muzzle barrel on it. If you looked close enough and saw that it was not a muzzle barrel then it's your call at that point. Years ago I had a guy approach me ripping me pretty bad for being out there with a shotgun. He calmed down once I explained to him his ignorance and showing him it was a muzzle barrel. Then I had to explain to him he was tresspassing and I was calling the sheriff so he left.

[BowGuy2]

No cell service and they were gettin unloading when I was walking out and I walked up and seen one was a muzzleloader and the other gun was already put away? I guess who am I to say one was a bunny hunter and one was a deer hunter idk but not Likly. They were getting in the truck when I was walking by I remembered there licen plate number and called it in when I got home the office took my name and number and was suppose to give have a officer call me but never received the call. Seems like the game wardens just don't care around here

[ghunter]

That's everywhere that they don't care. I once reported someone shooting doves in july and the GW never called back

[hortontoter]

Maybe they had bigger fish to fry, who knows.

[Seeker Bp]

Hmmmmmmmm....go figure!! Just dont know what to think about that!!

[BowGuy2]

I called on someone shooting one in the city at the start of bow season and it took them 4 days to even call me back I think next time I'm just going to call the cops and when they show up I'm sure the game warden will be right out if the cops call them

[Seeker Bp]

Every county is differant I guess...they have alot of ground to cover... And I am sure they are overworked with calls every day, but I am sure if its a situation that merits looking at, they will make contact and investigate. Proper identification of vehichle type, and license plate surely helps them along with checking into things. Being limited numbers, I would guess that they have to be pretty selective on each call, since there are so many "cheaters" out there.. I do know that they count on the Law abiding individuals to help in there everyday task to keep it safe for us and the animals that we legaly hunt. Break the law, and I witness it, and I can promise you........The game warden will show up!! Its not just there job to keep things right out there, its up to us to teach the ones that are coming into the sport of hunting how to do it correctly and by the rules applied to us.

[Griz]

Every county is differant I guess...they have alot of ground to cover... And I am sure they are overworked with calls every day, but I am sure if its a situation that merits looking at, they will make contact and investigate. Proper identification of vehichle type, and license plate surely helps them along with checking into things. Being limited numbers, I would guess that they have to be pretty selective on each call, since there are so many "cheaters" out there.. I do know that they count on the Law abiding individuals to help in there everyday task to keep it safe for us and the animals that we legaly hunt. Break the law, and I witness it, and I can promise you........The game warden will show up!! Its not just there job to keep things right out there, its up to us to teach the ones that are coming into the sport of hunting how to do it correctly and by the rules applied to us.

Right on Seeker, these looser's hurt all hunters. Most of them are stupid enough to brag about what an how they did it. I shun them and make sure everyone I know hears about it, including the wardens. I must ad mit that some of the wardens let in one ear and out the other. They think we are jelious, because the looser has a bigger wall of fame them us. So Mrbb, I relate when it comes to wardens. But I will always report it.

[Big_Holla]

The more information you can provide the more likely they will show up. They need to know the call is legit, that they have some actual info to go on and possibly make an arrest from. Everything they do they have to weigh out the likely hood of things turning out, if not the other 100 calls they get will be next in line. One thing to also remember, vehicle info. is especially important because that can lead to future investigations. That puts a person on a list of people to consider and watch out for.

[mrbb]

well not to get off subject here, BUt some times the warden is the problem
Not to bash on anyone, bu here in my area, many of the wardens before they became wardens had the worst reputations in teh area for being outlaws
and its like magic here how family members here all seem to get the jobs too! LOL
I won't bash on game wardens any more , as I know there are many many great one's out there
just saying some times there are bad apples in there too, just like some bad hunters and every other walk of life

and like most things in life any more, how much effort that happens all sems to revolve around the mighty dollar more than doing what's right
SAD but ??

[BowGuy2]

I also went and told the land owner which doesn't allow many people on the land and he said that there wasent suppose to be 2 of them he only have permission to one of them and he said that he will not be invited back. Which is more important to me from this stand point bc there effecting me bc they are on the prop that I hunt and since the warden doesn't wanna do anythin about it this is the next best thing with all the deer firearms done with now for this season I am very happy I'm tired of seeing deer run by at the speed of sound haha

[deerguy10]

The Wardens are pretty busy this time of year and considering there is only one per county here in Ohio I doubt it was a case of them not wanting to do anything about it and more of a case of them not being able to do anything about it...

[ManOfTheFall]

I also went and told the land owner which doesn't allow many people on the land and he said that there wasent suppose to be 2 of them he only have permission to one of them and he said that he will not be invited back. Which is more important to me from this stand point bc there effecting me bc they are on the prop that I hunt and since the warden doesn't wanna do anythin about it this is the next best thing with all the deer firearms done with now for this season I am very happy I'm tired of seeing deer run by at the speed of sound haha

I definitely agree with you on this one. I hate the split shot gun season. Why can't they just start the Saturday after Thanksgiving and go 9 consecutive days. First you have youth gun season the weekend before Thanksgiving. Then gun season. Then another 2 days of gun season 2 weeks later then muzzle loader season another 2 and 1/2 weeks after that. They should just run these seasons consecutively and get it done and over with instead of totally messing up us bow hunters for nearly 2 months.

[Seeker Bp]

Please guys, lets not get on this disscussion about shotgun vs Bow again. Its been disscussed and has stirred up all kinds of crap. It is what it is, and we all have to deal with it in our own way. The thread has contained some good advice and info, dont screw it up with bickering.

[ManOfTheFall]

I don't have a problem with gun seasons or gun hunters. I just don't like how the state spaces it out. I wish the state would just run them consecutively. I think this would actually benefit all. It would be easier to set vacation time off work and I think this benefits the guys that strictly bow hunt as well by only stirring up the herd once during the season.