Call the law, or handle it yourself

[Pucky Freak]

Curious to know what others would have done in this situation

Last year I walked in to IA public ground deer hunting and set up for ambush. About an hour later a truck pulls up, parks illegally, and guy gets out and walks in directly towards me with the wind at his back. I figure he can see me (horrible assumption) because I am dressed like an orange flashlight. Next I hear gunshots, then the sound of several slugs whizzing past my head. I walk towards the guy and he stops shooting, and see a deer that was between us bound away. When I'm about 100 yards from him he starts yelling out, asking where I am parked. When I get up to him, I can see he has a waterfowl shotgun with open sights, which has an effective slug range of about 50 yards. The deer was 200+ yards from him when he was lobbing rounds at it. I calmly point out that his slugs nearly hit me. He changes the subject, so I leave.

I was in shock at first, and it wasn't until about an hour later that the fear and anger started to sink in. It was also really disturbing that someone wouldn't even blink after learning they had nearly killed someone. I didn't hunt for about a month afterwards due to the trauma.

So what would you have done? Take cover and wait it out? Give him an earful, and more? Take his license plate # and call law enforcement?

If I could do it all over again I would have waved my arms and got his attention when he was first walking in, then if he still didn't see me, start screaming bloody murder once his first shot rang out.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Send a slug his way,It shows you care.
Joking--Yell like a screamin' banchee!!

 

[MTGomer]

Valve stem removal.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

It's always a good idea to remain calm when firearms are involved. The disturbing part of the story was that he didn't seem bothered shooting in your direction. That's a tough judgment call. I would be heated too.

Personally, I avoid public land during rifle season in the Midwest. There is a desperation here that really pushes me away! Bowhunting is my primary method in Minnesota.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Sometimes you just gotta take your licks and walk away. Minus waving ur arms right away u were kinda screwed. And never a good idea to start a heated discussion with two loaded shotguns ready to aim.

 

[Werty]

I guarantee he was just as much rattled as you were. it just hadn't set in yet. Like most most people, when someone accuses you of something your first reaction is to push back. Also, it takes time for people to understand there actions, some quicker than others. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who had almost the same thing happen to them, heard 5 shots wiz by my head.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Valve stem removal.

On The person or the vehicle?

 

[Brauee20]

In a democracy, you have to be a player.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

In a democracy, you have to be a player.

WTH!?

 

[NYyotekiller]

One of the many reasons I haven’t hunted with a firearm in many years. Being shot at and slugs flying over your head and into the trees was way too familiar for my liking so now I’m strictly stick and string hunting.

Not sure what else you could have done differently other than getting the guys hunting license number and reporting him.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I guarantee he was just as much rattled as you were. it just hadn't set in yet. Like most most people, when someone accuses you of something your first reaction is to push back. Also, it takes time for people to understand there actions, some quicker than others. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who had almost the same thing happen to them, heard 5 shots wiz by my head.

Maybe it hadn't sunk in for him yet, or maybe it never did. Hard to tell

He knew there was an issue when he saw me walking towards him long before I said anything. He was definitely nervous, maybe worried about what I was going to do once I got close to him with my firearm in hand.

I'd be a bit more understanding if his actions leading up to the shots fired were ethical/legal, but they were not. I had banked on having a good set up that day, which would have been the case had he not parked illegally. But like Big Fin says, if there is a road, expect vehicle traffic on it whether or not it's legal.

 

[Scott85]

As disappointing and screwed up as the situation is I don't think its very uncommon. I've heard all kinds of stories and witnessed some pretty stupid thing done by so called hunters.

 

[Pucky Freak]

One of the many reasons I haven’t hunted with a firearm in many years. Being shot at and slugs flying over your head and into the trees was way too familiar for my liking so now I’m strictly stick and string hunting.

I'm not going to take a week off from work this year for shotgun deer like I usually do, and instead will just take more time for bow hunting. I have a few gun season spots on public that are very inaccessible where I can hunt alone, and will hit those up.

 

[Werty]

I'd be a bit more understanding if his actions leading up to the shots fired were ethical/legal, but they were not. I had banked on having a good set up that day, which would have been the case had he not parked illegally. But like Big Fin says, if there is a road, expect vehicle traffic on it whether or not it's legal.

Ethical and legal are not the same thing. It appears your more pissed that the guy ruined your set up, not being shot at.
Not being familiar with IA law, I will have to take your word as gospel as to him breaking the law with parking.
I will say this, I would bet good money, that that guy had no plans on shooting at you when he started his morning. So to think that he did, only makes the situation worse.
I know it sounds like i'm defending him for doing what he did, I am not. I believe everyone should practice safe hunting and follow the law . With that being said, I read all these stupid comments on here like, " I'd shoot back" blah blah blah. Everyone is a tough guy until there in the trenches. I think you did the right thing by talking to him. You informed him of his careless actions.
I'll leave with this, unless this guys is an absolute dipshit, I bet he learned a valuable lesson that day.

 

[elkduds]

Justin Burns's Alleged Killer, Guy Pohto, Charged, Sued Over Tragic Hunting Death

In recent days, we celebrated the eight best bike trails in Colorado's national forests as chosen by USDA Forest Service personnel — two of which are located on the Grand Mesa, one of the most spectacular spots in the state. I know this from personal experience: As noted in the...

www.westword.com

 

[Pucky Freak]

I appreciate your perspective - this is why I posed the question to the entire internet.

It appears your more pissed that the guy ruined your set up, not being shot at.

Absolutely not. If I inferred that, then I was not clear. Getting shot at is about 1000 times more of a problem than losing an opportunity at game. Set ups on public ground get busted all the time. That goes with the territory.

Had this guy not parked illegally, this never would have happened. To hunt the area he would have needed to access it legally like I did, seen my vehicle parked at the trailhead, and known another hunter was afield.

I usually hunt areas far away from (legal) access points to reduce the liklihood of these types of encounters from occurring in the first place.

Not being familiar with IA law, I will have to take your word as gospel as to him breaking the law with parking.

I looked it up in the IA Code afterwards to confirm, and am 100% certain it was illegal.

I will say this, I would bet good money, that that guy had no plans on shooting at you when he started his morning. So to think that he did, only makes the situation worse.

I agree that there is no way he had plans to shoot at a person, and I'm not sure what I wrote that would allude to him having this motive. Part of the issue here is that he was shooting at an animal way beyond his range, which resulted in approx 5-6 shots fired. I don't know how many more rounds he had, but he may have just kept plugging away until he ran out of ammo. If he was in range, he would be much more likely to see what was beyond his target, and also dispatched the animal with one shot, which greatly reduces the possibility of one of his rounds hitting something it shouldn't.

I'll leave with this, unless this guys is an absolute dipshit, I bet he learned a valuable lesson that day.

I've met worse, unfortunately. I always try to treat people the way I would like to be treated. When I don't, I feel regret. If I was in his shoes, I would hope someone would come up to me and tell me how my actions affected them, so I could learn something important.

While it would have been nice for him to say "I know" or "I'm sorry" or any kind of acknowledgement after I told him that his slugs nearly hit me, I also try to be understanding of what he was going through. I don't remember what the look on my face was when I approached him, but "stern" is probably an understatement. Maybe he was afraid of me, or in shock, so the words just didn't come out.

It's a lot easier to throw stones at someone for their bad behavior, assume they have bad intentions, and otherwise malign them. For this reason I try and stick with the facts: illegal parking, unethical shot range, and no acknowledgment when informed he nearly killed another human. The rest is anyone's guess.

 

[WyoDoug]

This is an incident that I would of turned him in to a game warden. You should of tried to get his plates if possible and the best description you could of. From the sounds of it, the guy cared less about hunting ethics and law. Confronting him might of turned deadly. So turn him in.

I told this story before. I was rabbit hunting at the time, too young to do deer hunting with the big guys and a round went over my head knocking my hat off. I went back to camp and showed my hat to my dad.

On way home, we stopped in Idaho Springs to eat. While in there some guy commented to the effect, "Well I didn't get anything or see anything, but I sure got a lot of sound shots off." My dad punched this guy in the face and his partners stood there and watched not sure what to do. My dad took my hat and showed it to him. He told the guy that his sound shots might have come close to "killing my son". There was a cop in there that was about to get involved but everybody sat down and nothing was said other than the manager of the place asked the guy that boasted the sound shots to leave as he was surrounded by hunters that don't appreciate sound shots.

So I am well aware hunting can be a dangerous sports when bad actors get involved. Nowadays, everyone involved in a scuffle gets kicked out I think.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

What are you going after elkfever for? If this happened, most people on this forum would not care about the spot first.

With that being said, I read all these stupid comments on here like, " I'd shoot back" blah blah blah. Everyone is a tough guy until there in the trenches.

Where are these comments? Almost every comment was affirming the OP's decision.

 

[Addicting]

If the deer was 200 yards from him, how far was it from you?

 

[Pucky Freak]

If the deer was 200 yards from him, how far was it from you?

About 40 yards. I did not see the animal before he shot at it due to terrain undulations. This was open terrain - no trees, which was part of the reason I assumed he saw me as he was walking in.