Shooting illegal birds

[Abrams]

Remind me not to hunt Linwood lake in the future.

[Guest]

I dare not comment much here.

I am simply going to state.. anyone is capable of a mistake. The more experienced hunters, its far less chance to make a simple mistake, but it can happen, and it will happen to some.

Duck hunting can be confusing. Some of us can identify just about anything at a long distance.. others figure out what it is after they shoot it(not good). Divers can be the most confusing of all in flight, especially the hens. Many of us try not to shoot hens, bt if thats all thats flying, or I will be happier with another bird in my bag that day... BANG.

Some ducks are obvious, other ducks are more difficult.. especially in low light. If your on a good multi specie puddler shoot and wigeons and gadwalls are making it into the bag with a mix of everything else.. its really difficult to identify a hen pintail, they look a lot like a hen woody in flight if theyre not 20' from you.

Anyone an make a mistake. Most of the time we dont have to make difficult decisions, but most experienced hunters are capable of making a identity mistake... most of the time it wont make a difference, but sometime or another it could make a difference dropping that hen if you already got a pintail that day.

Its easy to point fingers at others saying mistakes are possible. None of us are perfect... and we never will be. But that shouldnt stop us from doing our best to know exactly what we are shooting at all times.

ALL of us who have duck hunted for a period of time have dropped a duck and learned later it was a different duck than we thought we were shooting at! Like that hen mallard that turned out to be an eclipse drake mallard, or hen shoveler! Or thought they were scaup and turned out to be a golden eye or ring bill.

It happens.

Throw stones at me all you want. It isnt often I will misidentify a bird, others on this site can vouch for that.. but it happens.

[jigging-matt]

Quote:

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I understand what you guys are saying, that there is no excuse....but imagine you're 75 or even 80 years old, your eyesight isn't what it used to be, it just turned shooting time, it's overcast, you see the slihouette of what appears to be a goose coming by low over the water and you haven't seen a swan in your area for years, perhaps ever....it's a perfect menu for making a mistake. Mistakes happen...we're all human. We can't say that we'll never ever make a mistake....the best we can do is try and prevent them from occurring.

Here's a real zinger for everybody....if you by chance did make the mistake of shooting a swan...would you turn yourself in as quickly as you'd turn someone else in? Knowing you'll pay for it dearly?

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That theory works a little better at waterfowl hunting, but what about the old man a few years ago that shot a horse (with a young girl on it) mistaking it for a deer. Being in a law enforcement field, you always need to know your target and even what is behind/beyond it. Granted anyone can make a mistake, but how would you feel if for the most part the mistake is avoidable. I agree with the majority here know what you are shooting or don't shoot.

[eyepatrol]

Well I agree, know what you're shooting at. That's the obvious part. I somewhat figured I'd get ripped for writing that post by a number of people, but I simply wanted people to look at the other side of the coin too. Play devil's advocate. Sometimes we all see our own points of view and don't bother to consider others. Mistakes can happen and do happen. It's human nature. I've hunted plenty long enough to identify swans, cans, and other ducks while in flight. 10 times out of 10 I'm the one whispering to my hunting partners what the ducks are that are circling our spread. I won't be shooting a swan, that's for certain...like many have said, for the experienced hunter, it's plain as spades to tell what a swan is. And, hopefully, people will practice patience and have certain reservations before they pull the trigger. But, mistakes do happen to some people from time to time. That's why I hope it happens on rare occassions if it is to happen at all.

'Nuff said on my part. I gotta get to bed before hunting tomorrow!

[Riverratpete]

Just to put this particular situation to bed..here are the facts since I witnessed it from maybe 100 yeards away...clear, sunny and the Swans were making their second pass..now the drugs?...don't know anything about that but dang!..someones going down hard if it were the same guys. Guess we've beat this horse to death.

[schr0563]

I was chasing pheasants this past Saturday on a farm that borders Tiger Lake in Norwood/Young America when I think I witnessed a swan being shot. I just happen to look out over the lake as one bird of a group of three fell from the sky. The two that kept flying were swans, without a doubt. They even circled over the area for a while (possibly looking for the one that was shot?). Unfortunately, I didn't ID the bird that was shot, and it happened so fast that I can't say for sure it wasn't a goose flying along with two swans.

Either way, it certainly made me feel uneasy to stand there and witness that. A call to TIP was the first thing I thought of, it's just too bad that I didn't have my phone with me.