Stupid hunters!
Mark Edell
Registered Users Posts: 672 Major grins
At the very end of Hood canal in Washington state the is a wetland nature preserve. It's a place with trails for people to walk and enjoy wildlife. Somehow, the hunters got some sort of agreement with the state that allowed the a 20 foot wide area right where the wetlands end and the shoreline begins to hunt ducks. This is only accessible by boat. Well it's duck hunting season and when you go out in the morning you will hear the occasional shot from one of these brave duck hunters that camp right on the edge of a wildlife sanctuary. You can always tell when the mornings hunt is over and they are ready to pack up by the barrage of gun fire. This is when they want to shoot their guns one more time before they leave. apparently this is the time when there is no rules and these brave hunters shoot anything that moves. I have seen it many times. there is a river that leads to the mouth of the Hood Canal and you will often see buffleheads, seagulls and a verity of shore birds floating in with the tide. Well, yesterday morning I was out taking pictures when, right on que the hunters start to unload their guns. In from a distance I saw a familiar shape struggling to fly to safe ground.
A female Northern harrier with a wing full of buckshot.
A female Northern harrier with a wing full of buckshot.
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you and me both! I am told that this may be a cooper's hawk, not a harrier. Can anyone confirm?
Hunters...no
It's not what you look at that matters: Its what you see!
Nikon
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I have rescued hawks before on wildlife refuges that had been shot.
I used to be an avid hunter, but now shoot with a camera instead of a gun. As in any group of people that enjoy a legitimate pursuit there are always those the make the whole community look bad.
As with many of the Wildlife refuges and areas they were established with fund raised by taxes on the sale of sporting equipment and Federal and state duck stamp funds or groups like Ducks Unlimited.
Best thing you could do is report bad behavior and document it since most times you will have a camera. They sometimes has to be permits issued to use such areas. Any information you could provide to the Wildlife service might help. I turned some shots of fisherman snagging salmon on a river near here. Do not know if it helped at all but sometimes it is the same ones that do this all the time eventually they might get caught.
Stepping of soapbox now.
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This post set off a fire storm over at fredmiranda.com. Shame, the original message seems to have got lost.
I went and read the Fred posts wow!! I was not saying that you were putting down hunters. I have known and seen to many of them that are STUPID.
And stupid should hurt. But it is a good thing to report and try to discourage such behavior if you can do it within safety realms. No matter who is doing wrong . hunters or photogs or birders
I had a guy ask me to ID some ducks he shot one time. I knew they were Western Grebes which were protected in that area, due to it was a breeding area.
I told him I did not know what they were, but that the people at the check station were always interested in such rare species which should be recorded and they could tell him what he had.
I did not want him to get spooked and ditch the birds by going off on him as to what he had done. When I left the area I ask the guys at the check station if someone brought through some grebes. They said yes and they wrote him a nice citation and took his hunting license.
Some people are just too thin skinned if they assume you are dissing their homeys.
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Haha, that is classic! good on you
No, I didn't think you misunderstood me, I just wanted to post a disclaimer here just in cases.:D
I have reported this as I reported some of them last year when I caught them hunting in the wetlands itself. I did not get a shot of the hunters this year, they were too far away and I have not way to get out to where they were. Unfortunately I doubt much will be done about it. There is a lot of land out here and few fish and game officials. I do know that SOME of the hunters have been reported for other offenses as well. I have a client that has a house with some land just across the water from where these guys were and he has caught them on his property several times.
x2. Stupid people suck no matter what they're into. Sorry you're having to deal with it. Hopefully they're brought to justice as this just sucks.
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Try and get photos of indiscriminant shootings and sooner or later it will help out............
I hunt but I will not go predator hunting.....I only hunt for food.....not just sport....that really sucks to me. as does what happened to that hawk....If you can show cause for that strip of wetlands to be closed to the hunters for this reason that could happen before catching the culprits....
Oh, I reported it right away.
I just got a call back from a fish and wildlife officer and he said that they were going out to talk to every hunter they see and warn them that they were going to watch the area for the rest of the season. I went out again this morning and did not see any sign of the hawk. I guess that could be good or bad.
a few bad seeds ruin everything. :beatwax
It's not what you look at that matters: Its what you see!
Nikon
http://www.time2smile.smugmug.com
Thanks for your post Mark! I hope its a powerful message to fight that kind of reckless ignorance out there!
You are so correct. I am a hunter an these types of action sickens me. One time I was out Bow hunting and observed a similar situation where two idiots where shooting at almost anything, chipmunks, song birds etc.. I was not going to confront them so I trailed behind until they went back to their car I wrote down the lic number and reported it and later was informed they lost their hunting privileges for ten years.
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I am certain that this guys did not plan on eating a hawk and being a former hunter myself, I know these guy know the difference between a hawk and a duck.
Thanks to everyone here for not taking my words and anger about this indecent out of context and making this about something other that what it is. A few bad apples.
Cheers, Richard.