Exposing the Big Game

Forget Hunters' Feeble Rationalizations and Trust Your Gut Feelings: Making Sport of Killing Is Not Healthy Human Behavior

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Tag Archives: deer hunting

Carthage man involved in hunting accident in Oneida County

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http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news03/carthage-man-involved-in-hunting-accident-in-oneida-county-20171124

PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2017 AT 10:48 AM
AMANDA MORRIS

CARTHAGE — A Carthage man was involved in a Thanksgiving day hunting accident in the Oneida County town of Whitestown.

According to Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol, Darwin Cooley, 50, Carthage, at around 9:30 a.m. Thursday was hunting with his brother-in-law Travis Dam. 42, Whitesboro, in an area north of the village of Whitesboro when Mr. Cooley shot at a deer that ran between the two of them and the bullet grazed the side of Mr. Dam’s head.

Mr. Dam was able to walk to his four-wheeler and drive out on his own and was transported by Central Oneida County Ambulance, to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Utica, then transferred to Upstate Medical University, Syracuse. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, according to a Sheriff’s Department release.

Sheriff’s investigators and state Environmental Conservation Police are investigating the incident. No charges have been filed and the investigation is continuing.

KENTUCKY MAN SHOT TO DEATH WHILE HUNTING DEER

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http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article186282488.html

BY MIKE STUNSON

UPDATED 6 HOURS 2 MINUTES AGO

A man shot and killed his hunting partner Thursday morning in Breckinridge County, according to Kentucky State Police said.

Christopher B. Stone, 43, of Irvington, was deer hunting with Nicholas Lee Ford, 39, of Brandenburg when Stone fired his rifle into an overgrown field surrounded by woods off JE Haynes Road in Irvington, according to police.

Ford was shot in the back, according to police. He was taken to Breckinridge Memorial Hospital, where he died, police said.

The investigation remains open.

Woman fatally shot by hunter who mistook her for deer

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-fatally-shot-hunter-mistook-deer-article-1.3654778

 

A hunter in western New York fatally shot a 43-year-old woman after he mistook her for a deer, authorities said.

Rosemary Billquist was taking her dogs for a walk in her hometown of Sherman near the Pennsylvania border on Wednesday when she was shot once by Thomas Jadlowski.

Jadlowski heard her scream and called 911. He stayed with Billquist until emergency personnel arrived.

Billquist was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital in Pennsylvania.

“They tried saving her,” husband Jamie Billquist told the Buffalo News on Friday. “It was just too bad…. It’s horrific. It will be with me the rest of my life.”

“This is a horrific incident,” Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace told the newspaper. “….This destroyed two lives.”

The shooting occurred at around 5:30 p.m., about 40 minutes after sunset, when officials say it’s illegal to hunt.

 Jamie Billquist was told about the shooting after he heard his dogs barking and saw an ambulance, according to the newspaper. He went with his wife to the hospital.

“She was always out to help somebody,” he told the Buffalo News. “She never wanted credit and was always quiet about it. She’s just an angel. An angel for sure.”

Jadlowski has not been charged, but the investigation is ongoing.

“Hunters have to understand there are other people using trails, using parks in areas where we as sportsmen hunt,” Dale Dunkelberger of the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s hunter education program told the Buffalo News.

“In this case, it appears from what I gathered this was after sunset, and he shouldn’t have been out there hunting after sunset. You’re done. That’s the law.”

 

Two hunters accidentally shot opening weekend of rifle season

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http://www.wcax.com/content/news/Two-hunters-accidentally-shot-on-the-opening-weekend-of-rifle-season-457080063.html

GRAND ISLE, Vt. (WCAX) Authorities say two hunters were accidentally shot in separate incidents on the opening weekend of rifle season. Neither was seriously injured.

Saturday in Eden, police say 20-year-old Dakota Arnold shot his friend 19-year-old Cody Jones in the calf by mistake.

Then Sunday in Grand Isle, police say a bullet from 59-year-old Frankie Bullis’ rifle hit 61-year-old Randall Glover in the foot. It is believed that the bullet ricocheted in that incident after being fired from approximately 350 yards away. Both Jones and Glover suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

James Francis, of Fairfield, bagged a 167 pound, 8-point buck in Swanton Saturday morning. He told us how he and his brother stay safe when they are hunting together.

“Make sure you wear bright clothing so that other people know that you’re there, and always identify your target before you shoot. We know where each other is at all times, no surprises,” Francis said.

Wardens and Vermont State Police were unavailable for an interview Sunday regarding the accidental shootings. There are hunting safety tips on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website, they say the four basic rules of safe hunting include: treat every gun as if it is loaded, point your gun in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, and be sure of your target and what’s behind it.

 

Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News 11/17

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OKC weekend hunting news:

The most popular of all the Okla. hunting seasons in the state, the 16-day
Deer gun season, opens Saturday statewide.
A state big game biologist states “It is like Thanksgiving and football. That
Is what part of fall is, getting out there for a deer hunt with a rifle.”
If past history is any indication, more than 150,000 hunters will be
In the woods Saturday for the deer gun season opener.
Not only is deer hunting an annual tradition for many Okla. Families,
It is also significant to the Okla. economy as gas stations, convenience
Stores, sporting goods outlets and meat processors rely on the money
Spent by deer hunters per year.
One economic study indicates that Okla. deer hunters spend $130
Million annually.
Based on the number of deer taken by hunters during the archery
And muzzleloader seasons, Okla.’s deer harvest is on pace to reach around
100,000 again.
Okla. hunters killed more than 100,000 deer for the first time in 2000
And since then, hunters have reached near that mark or exceeded it
11 times in the past 17 years.
Last year’s grand total was 99,023 and the 13-year average is 103,000.
The Okla. Dept. of Wildlife Conservation has been pushing the importance
Of letting young bucks walk to increase the opportunities for a trophy
Deer in the future.
More Oklahoma hunters are now willing to practice what deer biologists
Have been saying.
A/w the Wildlife Dept.’s research, 65% of the deer killed by Okla. hunters
In 1985 were yearlings and over the years that no. has dramatically
Decreased.
Yearlings represented 46% of the deer harvest in 2000 and just 23% in
2010. Last year, only 17% of the deer killed were yearlings and last season
The majority of bucks harvested were 2.5 and 3.5 years old.
10 percent of bucks harvested last season were 6.5 years old and in 2010
Bucks that old only represented 3% of the harvest. In 2000, 6.5 year old
Bucks represented just 1% of the harvest.
A spokesman for the Wildlife Dept. states that “It is really a testament
To our hunters. They are actually the deer managers. They are the
Boots on the ground and making a decision every single time they pull
That trigger or choose not to pull that trigger.”

Sales of pink hunting clothing not blazing in Wisconsin

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http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2017/11/10/sales-pink-hunting-clothing-not-blazing-wisconsin/852710001/

, Milwaukee Journal SentinelPublished 2:25 p.m. CT Nov. 10, 2017 | Updated 4:11 a.m. CT Nov. 11, 2017
RICHFIELD – Blaze pink, authorized in 2016 as a legal hunting color in Wisconsin’s gun deer seasons, has failed to make a splash among hunters, according to several retailers in the state.

In fact, Cabela’s in Richfield, one of the state’s largest outdoors stores, didn’t even offer blaze pink hunting coats this season after stocking a limited amount in 2016.

Corporate officials did not return calls seeking comment on the decision.

A few blaze pink coats were available at Sherper’s in Hales Corners, but demand has been soft for the products, said vice president Nate Scherper.

“We haven’t had a huge response to it,” Scherper said. “We’ve really had very few people looking to buy it.”

Scherper said his store had about 95% blaze orange and 5% blaze pink items in stock.

“Most of our female customers prefer the orange over the pink,” Scherper said.

The racks at Mills Fleet Farm in Germantown also had less than 10% blaze pink items. But sales there had been “decent,” said assistant manager Tim Geschke.

“There’s been a moderate reception to it,” Geschke said. “The vast majority of our sales are still blaze orange, however.”

At Dick’s Sporting Goods in Brookfield, blaze pink was selling less than blaze orange, but it “was moving,” said sales associate Joe Schroeder.

When Gov. Scott Walker signed Assembly Bill 291 into law in February 2016, Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to allow blaze pink for deer hunting.

The law elicited a wide range of responses. Proponents of the bipartisan legislation hoped it would help recruit hunters by offering more options.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), who introduced the bill with Rep. Nick Milroy (D-South Range), proudly brandished pink clothing as he talked up the legislation.

“We have no illusions about women flocking to hunting because of blaze pink being allowed,” said Kleefisch at a 2015 hearing for the bill. “We’d like to provide more choice to all.”

The bill obtained 38 co-sponsors in the Assembly.

But many hunters, including women, considered it a joke or worse.

“I think it’s really misguided,” said Sarah Ingle of Genesee, president of the Women’s Hunting and Sporting Association and a hunter for about 25 years. “Among the group of women I hunt with, we find it insulting and demeaning.”

Geschke, the Fleet Farm assistant manager, said the pink appeared to be more of a “fad” and appealed more to the “trend conscious.”

So far, it hasn’t been sufficient to produce strong demand for blaze pink, Scherper said.

Early accidents good reminder for safety, DNR official says

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http://www.marshallindependent.com/news/local-news/2017/11/early-accidents-good-reminder-for-safety-dnr-official-says/

MARSHALL — Of the thousands of Minnesota deer hunters who took to the great outdoors for the opening firearms season this past weekend, very few were injured. However, two of those who suffered injuries occurred in southwest Minnesota.

This past Saturday, the North Memorial Ambulance in Marshall responded to a call from the Minneota area regarding a male individual who had fallen out of a tree stand, while the Tracy Ambulance Service responded to a call about a hunter accidentally being shot in Redwood County.

“We had a hunting party shooting and then we also had an accident where somebody fell out of a tree stand,” area conservation officer Matt Loftness said. “That’s two accidents within a couple of hours on opening Saturday morning. It’s a really important reminder for people to be safe.”

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that tree-stand accidents are the leading cause of injury to hunters, with as many as 1 in 3 people who hunt from an elevated stand suffering a serious injury as a result of a fall at some point in their lifetime.

“Safety is so important,” said Eric Buffington, who works as a sales representative for Borch’s Sporting Goods in Marshall. “People should wear a harness when they’re in a tree stand. There’s times when you doze off and catch yourself, so anytime I step foot into a tree stand, I wear a harness.”

Two weeks ago, avid Minnesota hunter Philip Martinson broke his back after falling out of his deer stand while getting ready for the season opener. According to media reports, Martinson fractured the L1 vertebra in his lower back when he fell, though he still somehow managed to crawl 20 feet to his truck and drive himself home despite the agonizing pain.

Martinson wasn’t paralyzed, but another hunter — 32-year-old Timothy Bowers — wasn’t as fortunate. Paralyzed after falling from his tree stand in November 2013, Bowers, a newlywed and father-to-be from Indiana, chose to take himself off of life support rather than spend the rest of his life connected to a breathing machine, unable to hunt or even walk ever again, according to several media reports. Bowers died later the same evening.

“All the tree stands sold now come with a harness,” Buffington said. “I think it’s the law — or it should be — for hunters to wear a harness when they’re in a tree stand. I wear a harness every time I’m in the tree stand. I also let someone know when I plan to be back.”

For decades, the Treestand Manufacturers Association (TMA) — a nonprofit trade association — has worked to promote better hunter safety through improved tree stand designs and by including a full-body harness with every TMA-certified tree stand they sell. As a result, more than 18.5 million hunter have been provided with a fall restraint system along with their tree stand purchase. The organization also prides itself on educating hunters about the dangers and how to properly use the harness.

The state DNR website offers information regarding safety guidelines, recovery from a fall, the 3 point rule and different types of tree stands in addition to instructions about safety harnesses. There are also links to a hunter safety course and more about TMA stands.

Experts do recommend wearing a harness every single time a person climbs a tree because a lot of things can go wrong from 12-20 feet up — even for the most experienced hunters.

The Minneota man who fell from a tree stand on the opening day of deer season on Saturday received significant injuries.

Manager Dan DeSmet said North Memorial Ambulance was dispatched to the Minneota location early Saturday morning. The individual was transported to Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, but DeSmet was unable to comment further because of privacy laws.

The accidental shooting took place partway between Milroy and Tracy. Investigators say a hunter shooting at a deer hit another hunter beyond the deer. The wounded individual was struck in the leg and was taken to the Sanford Tracy Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Loftness shared that safety needs to be the No. 1 priority when it comes to hunting.

“That’s one of the biggest things we teach in our safety classes,” he said. “You have to know what your target is and beyond. When you’re shooting, you have to make sure you’re clear, whether it’s another deer or a human.”

The injured deer hunter is said to be recovering. Authorities say everyone in the party wore the appropriate blaze orange clothing as required by law. No one was arrested and no charges are pending, they said.

“The accidental shooting this weekend was just into Redwood County,” Loftness said. “Tracy responded to that. Sometimes people don’t realize how crucial the first responders, ambulance crews and law enforcement are. But whether it’s a shot in the side or in the leg, it could be close to arteries so you’re talking about a dangerous situation.”

Loftness, who said he was dealing with phone calls at the time of the shooting, added that Tracy Ambulance was well prepared for the possibility of a hunting accident, though everyone hopes it never really happens.

“They actually trained on that,” he said. “They did training for a mock hunter injury.”

With firearm season continuing into the weekend and beyond, area officials are hoping for safe and successful hunts.

“Hopefully we don’t have any more accidents this weekend,” Loftness said.

Backed Into a Corner

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cornered-deer.jpg

 

Commentary by Jim Robertson

 

Despite humans’ best efforts to destroy her, it seems Nature is not going down without a fight. And regardless of what humans may believe about themselves and their place at the pinnacle, Nature is ultimately much bigger, heavier and vastly more significant in the so-called ‘scheme of things.’

 

Harassed by their bird-dog, a sow grizzly bears charges pheasant hunters (who, of course, shoot and kill her–leaving three cubs motherless); a ‘serial-killer’ elephant tramples 15 Indians (out of over a billion); and just yesterday a new article tells us a about a ‘hunter gored to death by a cornered deer.’

 

Could it all be part of a long-suffering and normally highly (even saintly) tolerant Mother Nature finally fighting back against her one fatal blunder–the fleshy, hairless, upright, arrogant apes armed with their weapons of mass extinction?

 

Homo sapiens may have won countless battles and the arms race hands-down, but Nature will ultimately win the day and eventually, the war, wiping the slate clean for another burst of evolutionary creativity that won’t include the conceited carnivorous primates or their puffed-up fantasies of self-importance.

 

 

Local animal rights group launches online petition to end lethal deer cull program

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https://www.michigandaily.com/section/ann-arbor/anti-deer-cull-group-launches-online-petition
“A local animal rights group launched a change.org petition yesterday
protesting the Ann Arbor City Council’s decision to continue Ann
Arbor’s lethal deer management program. The petition reached 360
supporters as of Sunday evening.
“The petition, which was started by the Friends of Ann Arbor Wildlife
and Nature, argues City Council mismanaged municipal funds to support
a program that, in FAAWN’s perspective, was unnecessarily cruel and
had limited success in controlling Ann Arbor’s deer population.
““Ann Arbor residents want to know that their tax dollars are being
put towards programs that have their best interests at heart,” the
petition reads. “For this reason, we are petitioning the City of Ann
Arbor to stop the killing of 350 deer this Winter and look to
non-lethal options to manage the deer population.””

Parents chime in on decision eliminating state’s minimum hunting age

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By Cearron Bagenda |
Posted: Fri 4:19 PM, Nov 03, 2017  | 
Updated: Fri 6:28 PM, Nov 03, 2017

WISCONSIN The State Assembly passes a bill eliminating Wisconsin’s minimum hunting age.

“I think we’re losing sight of why the original law was put into place, it was put into place to protect children,” said Joe Slattery, a concerned parent.

Slattery opposes the measure. Right now the minimum age to buy a gun-hunt license is 12 years old, but children as young as 10 can be part of a mentored hunt.

This bill removes the minimum age from the mentored hunt program and eliminates the requirement of only one weapon between hunter and mentor.

Jordan Schuld is an avid hunter with five kids. He believes parents know their children’s capabilities.

“Each parent knows their own child and knows when they’re ready to go out in the woods, if they’re able to hold the gun weight wise and if they’re responsible enough to handle it,” Schuld said.

Schuld doesn’t agree with the entire proposal, he still favors a mentor hunt having only one gun.

“I just don’t think that there should be two weapons between the parent and the child, I think a mentor hunt is a mentor hunt, and if you have two weapons it’s not a mentor hunt anymore, two people are hunting,” said Schuld.

According to the Michigan DNR, studies show if children do not have an interest in an activity before the age of 10, it is unlikely that they will continue that activity later in life.

“As a parent, I would like my child to have the same interests as mine, but if they don’t– they’re their own individual,” said Slattery.

Slattery says this legislation would lead to more hunting accidents, like the one that took the life of his son.

“You can get them involved at six, by taking them hunting with you, that’s perfectly legal right now, you just don’t have to put a gun in their hands, my son was killed at the hands of another 13-year-old,” said Slattery.

“If one my kids seem ready and they’re under 10, I’ll absolutely take them hunting, if not, I’ll wait,” said Schuld.

The State Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week, if passed there it would head to the Governor’s desk for his signature.