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  1. #1

    Default Hiker Shot after being Mistaken for a Turkey

    Seriously? I thought we looked more like deer! That is why I am averse to anything I have that's white to show in the woods so I keep my S29 All White Ursak covered up.Never thought I might look like a bird although I have been called a turkey before.

    You can make this stuff up! https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...b40c1eee3.html

  2. #2

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    Why do conservation areas allow hikers during hunting season. It is an accident waiting to happen. No surprise from me.

  3. #3
    Registered User sketcher709's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Why do conservation areas allow hikers during hunting season. It is an accident waiting to happen. No surprise from me.
    Umm because if you can not identify what you are shooting then you should not have a gun to begin with? That being said, why do hikers hike in areas where there is active hunting? Even though most hunters are responsible and careful I've know my share who think its fun time away from the wife to head out to the tree stand with their guns and some beer..

  4. #4

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    It’s the show me state, as in “show me you aren’t a turkey or I’ll shoot!”

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Five Tango View Post
    Seriously? I thought we looked more like deer! That is why I am averse to anything I have that's white to show in the woods so I keep my S29 All White Ursak covered up.Never thought I might look like a bird although I have been called a turkey before.

    You can make this stuff up! https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...b40c1eee3.html
    How do you know the hunter mistook a hiker for a turkey? That is not what is reported in the article.

    A turkey shell has perhaps 100 pellets. It only takes 4 to kill a turkey. When the pellets come out of the shotgun barrel, they spread apart. The vast majority of pellets do NOT hit the bird. It is more likely the hiker was hit with a stray pellet.

    I frequently hunt on game or conservation land. Regulations do not allow unleashed dogs and it is requested that hikers stay on trail and wear blaze orange. Do they? No. Dogs loose. No blaze orange. Off trail in the bush.

    They should ban hiking on conservation land during hunting season. Would solve this problem.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Why do conservation areas allow hikers during hunting season. It is an accident waiting to happen. No surprise from me.
    It's probably more dangerous for hunters during hunting season than hikers, especially if the hikers stay on trails. So, maybe hunters should be banned during hunting season also? I sure don't want to be banded from all huntable conservation areas during hunting season. I do like having signs to warn me about the risk of hunting, which were likely posted in this case?

    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    . . . I frequently hunt on game or conservation land. Regulations do not allow unleashed dogs and it is requested that hikers stay on trail and wear blaze orange. Do they? No. Dogs loose. No blaze orange. Off trail in the bush.

    They should ban hiking on conservation land during hunting season. Would solve this problem.
    Banning all hunters would also solve this problem. But, I don't think that is a fair solution either.

    Would you suggest banning 100 hikers per day from an area so one or two hunters per week can go hunting there? At what point do you draw the line, 20 hikers and 5 hunters?

    From the beginning to the very end, it is 100% the hunter's responsibility to know where their projectile is going and what it might hit. If they are not ready for that responsibility, they should not be out hunting. Clearly this was a horrible and tragic mistake that should never have happened.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  7. #7
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    Google tells me that Missouri is one of the state where you can hunt a turkey with a rifle. Could be the hiker was on the other side of the bird, and the hunter did not think about the lack of a backstop.

    Here is a nice one I shot last week (Parker River NWR with a camera).

    8CDFD3EF-B832-4B91-A940-D4B6656E1BE6.jpeg

  8. #8

    Default

    Banning hunters or hikers from public lands doesn't make a lot of sense. Holding those who shoot either responsible for their actions does.

  9. #9
    Registered User JPritch's Avatar
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    This.........
    It is what it is.

  10. #10

    Default

    OK,here's an article on the same incident where the cop's say the hunter mistook the guy for a turkey.........
    https://www.kansascity.com/news/nati...251275594.html

    For the record,I have called up turkeys before and taken a few with my shotgun.It requires a Close proximity to make a clean killing shot.Anybody that thinks a hiker is a turkey and shoots by mistake has some explaining to do......BTW,there's a reason most states make turkey hunting with rifles illegal.I am not clear if a rifle was used but it sounds like the injury to the hiker was serious.

    Personally,I always wear some orange on my person and pack while in the woods regardless of hunting season because I have known a few people that somehow don't think hunting regulations applied to them.

  11. #11

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    Hunting turkeys with a rifle is weird. I am a good shot, regular in the 185-190 range 3P with a 22 rifle. I can't imagine using a rifle on a moving turkey at 40-50 yards.

    It is 4, 5, or 6 shot here. You must be stationary and you must call them in. We generally cannot use rifles hunting. Slug or shotgun. Farmers can use small cal rifles to kill predators but that is about it. Sounds like some bad laws

    This story is hard to comprehend.

  12. #12

    Default

    Also, we have plenty of hiking areas where hunting is not allowed vs very, very few areas where hunting is allowed.

    Hikers should stay out of conservation areas during hunting season or at least wear blaze orange.

  13. #13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Hikers should stay out of conservation areas during hunting season.
    Hunters need to be aware of their targets and their surroundings. There is no need whatsoever to ban hikers from hunting areas.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by CalebJ View Post
    Hunters need to be aware of their targets and their surroundings. There is no need whatsoever to ban hikers from hunting areas.
    Like I said in an earlier post. Hikers off trail, not in blaze orange, letting dogs run loose. I have been harassed several times by hikers when hunting, this is against the law in my state. I never reported them but if I took a picture of them and license plates, the CO would have written a citation. There is a lot of hiking land. Little hunting land, which was mostly paid for by hunting permits. Hunting season is short. Safest way is to keep hikers out. In my experience, they don't follow rules and are generally against hunting. To me the solution is simple, no hiking on hunting land during hunting season.

    Accidents happen even if awareness of surroundings and targets. So, we can just disagree.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Like I said in an earlier post. Hikers off trail, not in blaze orange, letting dogs run loose. I have been harassed several times by hikers when hunting, this is against the law in my state. I never reported them but if I took a picture of them and license plates, the CO would have written a citation. There is a lot of hiking land. Little hunting land, which was mostly paid for by hunting permits. Hunting season is short. Safest way is to keep hikers out. In my experience, they don't follow rules and are generally against hunting. To me the solution is simple, no hiking on hunting land during hunting season.

    Accidents happen even if awareness of surroundings and targets. So, we can just disagree.
    Hikers generally hike on trails and the trails cannot be moved off hunting land during hunting season. The AT crosses some hunting land, but there's not a chance we're closing the AT due to hunting season and the mere suggestion is absurd. The AT is 2200 miles and it is not practical for a long distance hiker to keep up with hunting land boundaries and seasons of 14 different states. If you don't think you can distinguish a person from game correctly 100% of the time before taking a shot, then you shouldn't be hunting. Orange is a good idea, but only as extra safety. If you're shooting at something that moves because you don't see orange, you shouldn't be hunting.

    I'm a hiker and an occasional hunter. I am not against either.

  16. #16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Also, we have plenty of hiking areas where hunting is not allowed vs very, very few areas where hunting is allowed.
    Hikers should stay out of conservation areas during hunting season or at least wear blaze orange.
    Though pubic land and waters used for hunting and fishing are well supported through State hunting and fishing licensing structures, they are not the only ones who contribute funds, time, and efforts to support these public lands. For example special license plates encourage financial participation through a broad cross section of the population. To claim no one outside of hunters do more to support public lands ignores the reality of the contributions of civic and volunteer groups who fund raise and maintain protection of these parcels of land, never mind maintain trails used by hikers and hunters alike. I don't find hunters to be any more or less involved in conservation and maintenance efforts than hikers overall. Volunteers tend to be a fairly broad mix that include hunters.

    While public lands are open to all who follow use regulations, there are pubic lands in NJ that are closed to hikers during hunting season/s, some close on specific days, others close down for extended blocks of time. Essentially these land areas prohibit non-hunters during specific times/dates. https://www.njhiking.com/hiking-nj-d...unting-season/. Conversely, some public lands are closed to hunting during these seasons. Being difficult to keep people out of large tracks of land, there is no shortage of non-hunters going into lands closed for hunter use, or hunters going into lands closed to hunting.

    NJ also subscribes to the PA standard for hunters and non-hunters on public land during posted hunting seasons. It's difficult to see if this is a regulation or a standard between States and what specific hunting season one is involved with. However, this standard is used rather broadly outside of the region so I suspect it is not black letter law. Unfortunately, not all hikers follow these suggestions, conversely not all hunters do either, which the end result over time can be an accident that raises awareness for a season or two before it degrades again until the next one.


    All hunters and non-hunters are required to wear at least 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head, chest and back combined, or a fluorescent orange hat, from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15 (except on Sundays). The orange material must be visible from allangles (360 degrees)" (PA Game Land Regulations, November, 2020)

  17. #17

    Default

    In my state, hunting land was bought and paid for from the sale of hunting permits.

    I consider hikers to be unwelcome guests.

    Just offering the other side of the opinion.

  18. #18
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    Must be a rifle. You would have to shoot someone at very close range with a shotgun to incur a "serious, life threatening" injury. Shotgun pellets only go, what, 50 yds?

    If you mistake a human for a turkey than you don't know what you're shooting at. And that's not really an accident.
    Be Prepared

  19. #19

    Default

    But all of that boils down to hikers making individual choices that don't create risk to others (they can elect where to go and what to wear). The legal responsibility should be on the hunters, not forbidding hikers to take personal risk.

  20. #20

    Default

    Legal responsibility is on the hunter to know the target and background but also some responsibility falls on the hiker as well. If hikers are on land designated as a hunting area common sense must prevail on both sides,wear orange and stay alert. Yes you can hike or take a walk in the woods legally but seriously during hunting season and on posted land sometimes w/o orange,but of course you would be in the right but maybe dead right.

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