Always a bit amazed...

[landtracdeerhunter]

So, I guess we are saying that abiding by laws is conditional on the size of the buck ..... lol. Filling an antlerless permit is done according to law, but if it happens to be a trophy, legality can be ignored. Interesting mindset.

 

Posted this on another thread, but I'd would bet that 60% of "All" deer shot is during illegal light times.  Most hunters I talk to don't even know when sunrise, sunset time are, let alone care.

[Paula]

I am a rules kinda gal. Lol. I look at my book at night to check next days times if I am going out. I know a few who don't care baca use they can still see

[CuseHunter]

I just find it interesting the people who post here are always 100% to the T with rules yet every person I know in the "real world" would shoot 5 min before or after if they can see their target and beyond it. don't know if because it's a public forum and people want to act perfect or if it's actually the case.

[Paula]

Why does it bother you that are some who really read the rules?

[growalot]

The rules are there for a reason...it's nice to think EVERYONE has great eye sight...the fact is they don't...the fact is the hunting population is aging and one of the FIRST things to go is your ability to see well in low light...Some ppl have to wear glasses to see well at a distance...not all wear them due to them fogging over...Now I'm one of those getting older ppl and everyone around me is...one of.those getting older ppl...

 

I can admit that the eye sight is not as good as it was...in fact I mention a couple of months ago my night vision walking in with out a light isn't as good...many ppl can not admit these failings...just like ppl getting older can't admit hearing problems...I personally don't want to have to worry about a stubborn older hunter shooting in low light like "the good ole days"

(sp)

Edited November 20, 2013 by growalot

[d-bone20917]

So NY has more old and going blind hunters so we should be sunrise to sunset when nearly every other state is 30 minutes before and after?  We should be able to hunt when it's light out, and its light out before sunrise and after sunset for a period of time.  It works great everywhere else, why not here?  

[Five Seasons]

Not sure, i am paranoid about doing the wrong thing and knowing DEC was there while i was squirrel hunting might make me think twice. But i think if i feel the shot will be good and it will stay on property i just might but....

 

don't be paranoid about the little things. I'm not condoning illegal activities, but fact of the matter the ECOs are spread very thin and if you've ever watched an episode of wild justice, you'll see it sometimes appears harder to convict someone of poaching then it is to convict someone of murder. Hunt safe and ethically and you'll be just fine.

 

To grow,

 

a hunter needs to know their personal limits. If you hunt within your own limits then you'll be fine. If it's legal light and snowing sideways and I can't see my target I'm not shooting either. And there's no law against shooting when it's snowing sideways during legal light.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Belo

[waterweasle]

first shot I heard on opening day was right at 6am, made me laugh when I heard it

[thphm]

The sunrise to sunset rule could also be to save the people that wear camo from head to toe so they can blend into the background and not be seen.

As for eyesight getting worst as you get older Not True with everyone.When I was in my 50's and some time before I had to wear distance glasses to pass my eye test fo driving now 20 years later I no longer need them.Tests given by my eye Dr. , Regular Dr. and at the MV office. But I do need reading glasses for bills, books and the news paper.

By me I have not heard 1 shot this year before or after legal shooting hours. 

[Zag]

Opening morning the 1st shot was at 6:34, kinda scary. In my yd pickin up sticks and heard a 5:03 shot 2nite. Stupid!!

[TeeBugg]

Buddy heard a shot at 617 opening morning....just a tad early

[growalot]

http://www.abledata.com/abledata_docs/Night_Vision.htm

 

 

 

http://www.visionaware.org/section.aspx?FolderID=6&SectionID=116&DocumentID=5979

Edited November 20, 2013 by growalot

[Doc]

I just find it interesting the people who post here are always 100% to the T with rules yet every person I know in the "real world" would shoot 5 min before or after if they can see their target and beyond it. don't know if because it's a public forum and people want to act perfect or if it's actually the case.

Actually my comments are not about shots fired 5 minutes early. What I was hearing Saturday morning was 1/2 hour and more before legal shooting time. Some of those shots you would have to admit were in the dark. That goes beyond legality and crosses over into the area of safety. My thought is that some of these people who whine about hunting start and stop times would have no problem with shooting deer at night if the right snow and moonlight conditions were to occur. There comes a time when you have to call that mentality just a pure poaching mindset. And either you believe in poaching or you don't. I don't.

[DanceswithSkunks]

the fact is the hunting population is aging and one of the FIRST things to go is your ability to see well in low light...

 

 

 

Wrong. The second thing that goes is your memory. I'll be damned if I can remember what that first thing was.

 

---------------------------------------

 

Many years ago in Pennsylvania it was called "Legal Shooting Hours" which were 30 minutes prior to sunrise until sunset, adjusted to your longitude. Then in the early 90's it was changed to "Legal Hunting Hours" and the  definition of hunting was expanded to include just about anything involving game animals or birds. Many a WCO took it upon himself/herself to issue citations to hunters coming out in the evening after "Legal Hunting Hours"  This didn't sit well with hunters in Pennsylvania who already held little regard or respect for the WCO/DWCO. A number of groups spoke at the annual Game Commissioners meeting in January and asked why it was light enough to "shoot" 30 minutes before the sun comes up but not light enough to shoot 30 minutes after it sets. Some "expert" was brought in and he spent the better part of an hour babbling about pink light and indigo light and so on. Changes to the legal hunting hours were made about 5 years ago and we are now permitted to "hunt" from 30 minutes prior to sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. I can remember as a young guy sitting in my stand listening to shots going off at 5:30 AM which is about an hour early. I always figured it was someone that left his weapon loaded since last year or just wanted to see if it works. Or, was using the vehicles lights to get "their" buck before someone else does.

[SteveB]

Maybe the people I know That hunt are completely unethical hunters who might take a shot before or after legal time, even though there is adequate light. Yet I find it hard to believe everyone else follows these rules. I don't know anyone else besides these forums that follows the rules to the T. Yesterday I was hunting a field, legal sunset was 4:35pm, It didn't get even get low light till 5:20 where I was. My point being, I would have shot at 4:45 most definitely.

 

The woods I was in yesterday got too dark by 4:30 to even think about taking a shot where one could identify the target, pick a spot, and be sure the lane was clear with nothing beyond.

 

You can't have a law that varies for conditions and is open to interpretation.

It has to be for worst case scenario which is for thicker woods.

[bubba]

Well with a low light scope sure you can see in those conditions.  How well do you see with the naked eye?  My guess not very well unless you are sitting in the middle of a field.  Then comes the issue of I can not see it that well I better look through my scope and poof it is a hunter on the other end.  So many reasonable arguments why this is not safe and the only response is to wear orange so in low light when a person should not even be attempting a shot after or before legal hunting hours does not do something stupid and illegal.  Seems counter productive to me in so many ways. 

[Doc]

You know, there is another aspect to this lighting situation. The closer to absolute dark that you do your shooting, the harder it gets to find "first blood" when that becomes necessary. Some hits, the deer goes right down.....Great ... no problem. Some hits the deer goes a ways (sometimes a long ways) before any blood is dropped. Sometimes you are looking for specks of blood or even some sign of a track. Yes, hopefully the tracking job can be done by flashlight. But on the more difficult blood-trailing activities, a little bit of daylight left at the end of the day can make the difference between getting off to a good start on the blood trail vs. another lost deer.

[bubba]

so true.

[Five Seasons]

The sunrise to sunset rule could also be to save the people that wear camo from head to toe so they can blend into the background and not be seen.

As for eyesight getting worst as you get older Not True with everyone.When I was in my 50's and some time before I had to wear distance glasses to pass my eye test fo driving now 20 years later I no longer need them.Tests given by my eye Dr. , Regular Dr. and at the MV office. But I do need reading glasses for bills, books and the news paper.

By me I have not heard 1 shot this year before or after legal shooting hours. 

 

at 6am i have a headlamp on. if you shoot at a headlamp i'm not sure what could save me...

[Five Seasons]

You know, there is another aspect to this lighting situation. The closer to absolute dark that you do your shooting, the harder it gets to find "first blood" when that becomes necessary. Some hits, the deer goes right down.....Great ... no problem. Some hits the deer goes a ways (sometimes a long ways) before any blood is dropped. Sometimes you are looking for specks of blood or even some sign of a track. Yes, hopefully the tracking job can be done by flashlight. But on the more difficult blood-trailing activities, a little bit of daylight left at the end of the day can make the difference between getting off to a good start on the blood trail vs. another lost deer.

 

yet rule of thumb is to stay in your spot for at least 20 minutes after the shot anyhow. So a legal light shot might still mean a dark track, especially if it's a longer one. One nice 8 point I took many years ago during legal hours did not go far, I got up quick because of the light. I came to him, dying in a ditch. No reason I should have had to seen that but I was worried about the light. By the time I put the execution bullet into him it was dark.

[Paula]

Poachers?

[OCHuntin]

Come to 8A/8G, there's no "one shot" before sunrise; it's always 6 or 7.

[NFA-ADK]

Scary. 

[Doc]

Seriously, as of 11:00 am Saturday morning there had been more shots fired before legal shooting hours than there was after.....by quite a wide percentage too.

[Adkhunter1590]

I have got to have the earliest shot heard out of you all! Monday morning at 418. Wind was blowing hard all night but had calmed down to nothing around 4. I woke up about 355 and was just taking my first sip or two of coffee standing on the front porch of my hunting camp with my old man and we heard a gun shot go off and about 2 seconds later and loud exhaust revving and tires squeling. Now our camp is on the side of a mountain and we can see quite a big valley down in front of us. We can hear cars on quiet days on the mtn side on the mtn clear across the valley. This had to of happened down in one of the farm fields at the bottom of the valley. We could see headlights after the shot too. My guess was someone was out driving around with a spot light and saw a nice buck in the field and shot it. I'm not sure if they hit it or not I never went down to look in the fields and I didn't call DEC either as we are out of cell service there and I didn't feel like driving 20 mins to town. But I couldn't believe it when I heard that gun go off. I hate people that do stupid stuff like that. And by the way the vehicle took off so fast after the shot there's no way they got the deer, just left it there to rot. Pathetic!