Hunting Regulations?

[edsollen]

Quote from Trailkeeper, My quote feature didn't seem to work:-)

"@SharpShooter88: I'm not trolling, I'm just concerned that I or someone else could be accidentally shot. These "hunters" are discharging firearms in the direction of wilderness paths less than 10 meters away. I just thought I'd get some input from y'all before taking my issues up with them directly."

This may or may not be the case, but, I wonder if this is a wilderness path on State Game land payed for by hunting license?
Again without further evidence I do not want to unfairly accuse the OP, but I get a little tired of people figuratively taking over hunting land that was bought and payed for specifically for hunting, just because the sight or sound of a firearm makes them "uncomfortable"

Furthermore they may have been small game hunting during the late season, the more I think about it I wonder if we are not hearing from an anti hunter, "just sayin".

[ReconLdr]

So, if I'm hunting deer during deer season, I can discharge a firearm 10 ft from an occupied park, so long as I'm more than 25 yards from the road and 150 yards from a house? That seems kinda ridiculous. First of all, I don't know many guns that can't shoot more than 25 yards and secondly, how does this regulation protect anybody from accidental shooting if you can shoot 25 yards from a road?

There is a park near me that allows hunting. (shotgun/muzzle loader and archery only) There hasn't been an accidental shooting there, EVER!!! This has been going on there since the township park was established in 1932. The only change to the rules has been disallowing rifles when the surrounding land was purchased by the school district for a Cross Country course, and developments started popping up.

Quote from Trailkeeper, My quote feature didn't seem to work:-)

"@SharpShooter88: I'm not trolling, I'm just concerned that I or someone else could be accidentally shot. These "hunters" are discharging firearms in the direction of wilderness paths less than 10 meters away. I just thought I'd get some input from y'all before taking my issues up with them directly."

This may or may not be the case, but, I wonder if this is a wilderness path on State Game land payed for by hunting license?
Again without further evidence I do not want to unfairly accuse the OP, but I get a little tired of people figuratively taking over hunting land that was bought and payed for specifically for hunting, just because the sight or sound of a firearm makes them "uncomfortable"

Furthermore they may have been small game hunting during the late season, the more I think about it I wonder if we are not hearing from an anti hunter, "just sayin".

I think we are dealing with an Anti Hunter as well.

[SharpShooter88]

Maybe I got the wrong first impression on this post. Like stated previously, contact your local WCO or Game commission office, and inquire about the laws and rules. Let them know there "may" be a poaching issue in the area and let them know what you "know" about the situation.

I am a fellow hunter, and a true sportsman. I do NOT appreciate Poachers of any kind.

[TrailKeeper12]

Hey guys, thanks for all your help and input. I've contacted the game commission and told them all that I know. They told me that without more direct evidence of poaching they couldn't/wouldn't investigate. I realize that these "hunters" may have been acting totally legally and safely, it's just that I doubt it very much. Moving forward, I have set up surveillance of the site to determine the exact and specific nature of the activities there. If I find that these "hunters" are acting legally and safely as has been explained to me here, I will simply deliver them a letter reminding them that the trails near their stands are used and to therefore use proper precautions. If not, then I'll be talking to the police and the game commission again.

I just want to say that I'm not anti-hunting. In fact, I go deer hunting every year (without much luck, though) and I have several firearms for home protection, hunting, and target shooting. I think that responsible and effective firearms use is part of being a good American. I just am very concerned by the evidence that I see. I think that you all would be as well.

Thanks again for your help, you have definitely been of great assistance to me and your input has probably benefitted all parties involved. I'll update you with the results of my surveillance if you want...

[SharpShooter88]

Update away, I always like to hear about poachers getting busted, if they are poaching. If they aren't, then your plan of action sounds like a good one, to remind everyone politely that safety is the number 1 priority when you are out in the woods, and is followed by having a good time/getting your game which some people seem to get backwords now adays.

I am glad to see there are some other people in the woods of PA that are likeminded about safety. Don't forget, introduce a yougster to hunting, and teach them the RIGHT way, the SAFE way!

[SharpShooter88]

That's great! Hopefully you will also be reminding people who use the trails that go through hunting areas to use common sense during hunting season and wear orange.



If you don't mind, could you expand upon your reasons for suspecting poaching? It's very possible we would agree.

Bill

I also agree with him.....

[TrailKeeper12]

That's just the thing guys, it's not a "hunting area" it's a protected wildlife area surrounded by houses and developments. The reason I think they are poaching is that I visited the area several times during the deer hunting season and did not find any evidence of hunting. When I visited the same area six days ago, I found three tree stands, spent shotguns shells, and litter type debris (soda bottles, candybar wrappers, etc.) in the area. From my measurements, the first tree stand is exactly on the line of the protected wildlife area, and the others are 2-3 meters back from the first. Considering that all of the stands face downhill into the wildlife area and are in such close proximity to the border, the probability is that shots are being fired into the wildlife area. And as the stands and shells appeared after deer season, the probability is that any hunting there occurred outside of season. It would be more convenient if I had actually seen someone shooting into the wildlife area, but if I had, there's a good possibility I would have been in the line of fire. Even if they're not poaching, it still concerns me. It's not a place where you'd think hunting might possibly be going on. People bring their children to enjoy the outdoors. You're not even allowed to bring dogs, horses or bikes on these trails, so you'd naturally assume that you're in virtually no danger of being accidentally shot by a hunter...

[bronco]

So who owns the property that the stands are actually on? Which park are you talking about? Who designated this property a "protected wildlife area"?

[dk99358]

Another question. Are the stands on a 'Red Tag' property? The PGC has a program for farmers that allows them to give doe tags to hunters but the Red Tags can only be used AFTER the regular deer season is over.

Could the people using the stands be standing up facing the tree and looking around it while using it for cover? Sort of like Peek-A-Boo with your kids?

I think I would politely ask the landowner if he knows the stands are there.
Better than getting everyone ticked off by sneaking around getting pictures of what you think is illegal activity.

Dale

[TrailKeeper12]

So who owns the property that the stands are actually on?

I've been attempting to determine the ownership of the land directly adjacent to the park and so far, all signs seem to point to Verizon, as they own the microwave transmission towers for which the lot was set aside.

Which park are you talking about?

Peace Valley Nature Center.

Who designated this property a "protected wildlife area"?

The County and State.