Comparing legal shooting time to driving the speed limit

[Ford]

FSW ---- Hunters are shooting in the dark prior to 30 minutes before sunup . Yes , they are shooting in the dark .

 

That was my cousin, lol. He had an AD at 45 minutes to sun-up, last year. Scared the living crap outta me!

 

Thankfully, the rifle was pointed in a safe direction. Still don't really know what happened. I am sure everyone who heard it thought....

 

Edit to ad, I keep mine unloaded until I am in the stand. Now he does too. unless you are worried about bears, lol.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Ford

[Doc]

When you talk about compliance of our laws you should mention that the Gov't that makes the laws doesn't even abide by the laws they are swarn to uphold. So they are not a good example for us to follow, if they don't follow the laws then why should anyone else.

 

I believe what we are talking about here is individual responsibilities to live within a society of laws. No, I am not an anarchist and I do believe that laws are necessary, and good citizens of a society should probably abide by them or work to get them changed. If your solution to government corruption is to simply disregard all the laws that keep us a civilized society then all I can do is disagree.

 

[Buckmaster7600]

Having a little experience on the subject there is ABSOLUTLY no law stating that a Leo can't write a ticket for 1mph over will you ever see it, no. When I was in the marine corps MP's would write you a ticket every day for 3or 4 over. I honestly couldn't care less about what laws you guys choose to break and follow as long Your not putting people at risk I just don't understand how someone can admitedly drive 22mph over the speed limit but not shoot 3minutes after "legal" shooting hours.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Buckmaster7600

[Doc]

I will say that when I exceed the speed limit, it is not a determined act in defiance of the law and is an unintentional slip-up. As an example, when I get on the NYS Thruway, I set my cruise control right at the speed limit. I do not go out there with the intention of breaking the law by setting it higher. On the other hand, all hunters know or have the capability of knowing the legal shooting times, shooting outside the legal hours is an intentional illegal act known to the hunter that does it.

[Ford]

Having a little experience on the subject there is ABSOLUTLY no law stating that a Leo can't write a ticket for 1mph over will you ever see it, no. When I was in the marine corps MP's would write you a ticket every day for 3or 4 over. I honestly couldn't care less about what laws you guys choose to break and follow as long Your not putting people at risk I just don't understand how someone can admitedly drive 22mph over the speed limit but not shoot 3minutes after "legal" shooting hours.

 

Most speeding tickets are administrative. Especially one mile over. Shooting a deer before or after is a violation. Maybe some hunters don't want that kind of thing......Just saying. 

[Uncle Nicky]

Good analogy, IMO. But, if you shoot something or someone by accident because you weren't following the law, prepare to have the book thrown at you. Same as if you were to kill or cripple someone because you were speeding in your car.

[Buckmaster7600]

I will say that when I exceed the speed limit, it is not a determined act in defiance of the law and is an unintentional slip-up. As an example, when I get on the NYS Thruway, I set my cruise control right at the speed limit. I do not go out there with the intention of breaking the law by setting it higher. On the other hand, all hunters know or have the capability of knowing the legal shooting times, shooting outside the legal hours is an intentional illegal act known to the hunter that does it.

So if you drive at a speed in excess of the posted speed limit when you have a speedometer 2 feet from your face it's an accident but if I shoot a deer 2 minutes after "legal" shooting times because I forfot to check my watch it is an "intentional illegal act" come on, give me a break.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Buckmaster7600

[nyantler]

In the real world if the law was 30 before and after a person could not push it any further because it would be freakin dark out. We carry a pretty safe record here in Ny and as you can see from just this little group, most already go by their own time limit....And we still have that same good safe record!!!

 

Then watch how many are shooting just "a little" after dark... after all, what's a few minutes after dark matter.. right? Because "most already go by their own time limit anyway" and who has time to check their watch?... do you see where this is going??? A person could absolutely push it a little further and would.

[Carbonelement]

all of you hunters who are so strict abt the time are full of crap!  I would bet my last dollar everyday and twice on sunday if a 140s or 150s walked out a few min before or after legal shooting light there would not be any looking at your watch!  Why are hunters the most jealous people in the world? 

 

 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Then watch how many are shooting just "a little" after dark... after all, what's a few minutes after dark matter.. right? Because "most already go by their own time limit anyway" and who has time to check their watch?... do you see where this is going??? A person could absolutely push it a little further and would.

I dont believe it because we are all hunters and we all know what its like out there. There is plenty of time to shoot after legal time but it also comes a time when its dark. A half hour after sunset, its dark.so you cant see a deer most times anyways.

 

My point is that its been complained about on here and has been going on for years and Ny still has a great safety record. By the sounds of shots where i hunt down in the southern zone there are an awful lot of people making their own times and nobody has been shot?

[nyantler]

I dont believe it because we are all hunters and we all know what its like out there. There is plenty of time to shoot after legal time but it also comes a time when its dark. A half hour after sunset, its dark.so you cant see a deer most times anyways.

 

My point is that its been complained about on here and has been going on for years and Ny still has a great safety record. By the sounds of shots where i hunt down in the southern zone there are an awful lot of people making their own times and nobody has been shot?

 

All the more reason to leave well enough alone... don't fix what ain't broken.

[Bow Addict]

all of you hunters who are so strict abt the time are full of crap!  I would bet my last dollar everyday and twice on sunday if a 140s or 150s walked out a few min before or after legal shooting light there would not be any looking at your watch!  Why are hunters the most jealous people in the world?

Amen Carbonelement! Anyone that says anything different is full of crap!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Amen Carbonelement! Anyone that says anything different is full of crap!

You would have to be in the woods to have to make that decision though, wouldn't you? At that point you have made the decision beforehand that you would take the shot?

[Dave]

I think what is missing is common sense and the reality of what goes through the hunters mind when he sees a deer. If there is enough light to clearly see the deer even though it might be a few minutes before or after legal shooting time. They will probably take the shot. Most of these laws are guidelines for safe hunting. I know plenty of hunters that go into the woods at dark and leave at dark with no wrist watch. I have never read in the hunting manual that a watch was mandatory for hunting, or a pen to fill out your tag. And glasses to read the deer tags. Just remember common sense trumps all, thats what its all about common sense. Not splitting hairs over a few minutes. As hunters we are bigger than that, give your fellow hunter a break, we are talking about minutes.

[growalot]

Then I with the up most confidence am calling full of craps so that your eyes are Brown!....

[Dave]

I believe what we are talking about here is individual responsibilities to live within a society of laws. No, I am not an anarchist and I do believe that laws are necessary, and good citizens of a society should probably abide by them or work to get them changed. If your solution to government corruption is to simply disregard all the laws that keep us a civilized society then all I can do is disagree.

 

 

Who said anything about disregarding all the laws. Are you saying anyone who shoots a few minutes before or after legal shooting time is not a good citizen? They are breaking down the moral fabric of civilived society!!  Doc, you are reading too much into this issue, what about common sense? I think you have gone off on a tangant.

 

[steve863]

all of you hunters who are so strict abt the time are full of crap!  I would bet my last dollar everyday and twice on sunday if a 140s or 150s walked out a few min before or after legal shooting light there would not be any looking at your watch!  Why are hunters the most jealous people in the world? 

 

 

I have always believed the same.  I don't think it would even take a huge buck for most to shoot after legal hours.  Be it a doe or a buck, if the season was running out, and they hadn't bagged a deer yet, they sure as hell would be gunning after it as long as they could get their gun sights on it.  In fact, I knew one dude, who thought everyone else was a poacher or hunted illegally.  One evening a good 20 minutes or more after legal shooting time I saw him unload on a group of deer in an open field.  Yeah right, he ALWAYS obeyed the law while everyone else was a bandit!  LOL

[BizCT]

I said it once and I'll say it again. I don't see how the speed limit is a relevant comparison. If you want to compare to cars, it would be leaving the starting line early in a race. It's cheating.

 

1+ min past the legal time on the last day of the season means you shot a deer out of season. So to me there is no difference between a deer shot out of season by 1min, 30min, or 6 months in the middle of June. To those of you can shoot a deer out of season and be proud with it on your wall, that's your choice. But I just couldn't do it.
 

[Five Seasons]

Then watch how many are shooting just "a little" after dark... after all, what's a few minutes after dark matter.. right? Because "most already go by their own time limit anyway" and who has time to check their watch?... do you see where this is going??? A person could absolutely push it a little further and would.

 

what you're neglecting to recognize is that sundown and sunup are not the same as dark. I have yet to see someone on this board advocate for shooting in the dark. But it is certainly light up to 30 min before and after. Now if the law was 30 like many states and it was a cloudy overcast day and 25 min before and i didn't have a safe shot due to visibility I wouldn't take it. At 30+ minutes before and after it's dark. Doesn't matter if the sky is clear and the moon is out.

 

That is the difference.

 

[Lever action]

I have a hard believing some of you actually check your watch and start or quit hunting at the exact minute of sunup or sundown.If you were watching a big buck slowly working his way to you but by the time he came within range it was a minute past sundown you're not going to shoot?Yeah right.

[Five Seasons]

I have a hard believing some of you actually check your watch and start or quit hunting at the exact minute of sunup or sundown.If you were watching a big buck slowly working his way to you but by the time he came within range it was a minute past sundown you're not going to shoot?Yeah right.

 

i have no doubt that some do. But remember on the internet everyone is a law abiding citizen with a legal degree.

[BizCT]

I have a hard believing some of you actually check your watch and start or quit hunting at the exact minute of sunup or sundown.If you were watching a big buck slowly working his way to you but by the time he came within range it was a minute past sundown you're not going to shoot?Yeah right.

 

For me, it works like this.

 

I get to my spot 45-60minutes before legal shooting time. I sit down on the ground against a big tree or stone wall with my gun or xbow standing up next to me leaning against the tree or stone wall. Once my watch (which matches my phone) shows the legal shooting time, I grab my weapon and lay it across my lap and I am now hunting.  When my watch/phone shows the end of legal light, I unload my weapon and stand it next to me. I typically stay seated for a while until completely dark just to see if anything comes out.

 

I disagree with NY's hunting times, I wish it was like other states (PA, CT, etc.).  But until they legally make the change, I will continue to obey NY's rules and not cheat/shoot out of season.  I save every single rack of a NY buck I have ever shot, and I am proud to know that each one was shot 100% legally under NY rules. No baiting, on legal property, during the legal hours, etc. I wouldn't be proud of a deer that wasn't 100% legal. I am very confident that if I baited in my area (3N), that I could definitely draw bucks in and odds are I would never caught. Same goes for shooting before/after hours. But as I said, I would never be proud of that deer since I know I bent the rules/cheated, so I don't bother doing it. If baiting becomes legal, I would definitely try it. If the hours are extended, I would definitely hunt during them.

[Dave]

Just to make a point the sunrise and sunset times change by a few minutes every day. Also depending where you are hunting in NYS the times are totally different by just a few minutes.  So how much does just a few minutes really make when hunting ?

[growalot]

These two threads... using others tags and this...has made me realize the difference, other than gender, between woman and male hunters....our "woman hood" isn't connected to a dead deer, racked or other wise... I see that many male hunters man hoods are firmly attached to them and racks. Why else are they so quick to justify going out side the law and then presuming others must be do it as well? Why not just try to change the laws instead of breaking them, if you think they are so restricting ? I'm pretty sure if it was 10 mins. after close or you had already filled your tag but your dads was open...and a 140" class buck walked by......Your junk wouldn't fall off if you passed on it...well most of ya at least

[Grizz1219]

Personally.. my home state is 1/2 hour before to a 1/2 hour after... Still plenty of light for safety... If you don't feel like you are being safe, you should stop hunting and leave... But I'm not sure if NY will ever change that law..