As a general rule, there’s no hunting in National Parks.
National Forests, OTOH, are, as the signs used to say, “land[s] of many uses” including hunting.
I don’t know if the guy’s got any resources, but of course the family of the slain kid could also file a wrongful-death civil suit.
Thanks, Marley23. I should have looked further before posting.
I noticed the Mt. Baker website lists hunting under the heading “Special Places” but the Special Places page doesn’t say anything about hunting except in relation to wild blueberries.
But he was able to pass those “mandatory hunting education” requirements when he was only 9! How thorough can it be?
That kid and his brother are probably devastated. I don’t think they should have been in that position without more experienced guidance. They may have been too quick to pull the trigger, but I think the licencing system also let them down.
Most states and provinces have graduated licencing systems for new drivers that prohibits them from drving without a licenced adult accompanying them. But WA let’s children who aren’t old enough to even drive hit the trails totally unsupervised with firearms. Something is a bit defficient there.
There are thousands of trailheads around here*, and they all have signs and “you are here” trail maps behind glass. Many of them also have bins where you can take a free trail map (some are full color and spiral bound, others are just crappy photocopies). These trailhead signs are maintained, some better than others, and some more regularly than others. Occasionally, they add an “Active Bears on Trail” sign when there has been a sighting. They also post signs when areas are temporarily restricted.
I’ve seen similar things at the dozens of trails I’ve been on in several states in the U.S. too. How much more difficult can it be to add a similar warning sign: “Hunting Season Open”? They do it all the time with other signage. Even if a ranger only goes by once a week. I’m actualy amazed by the number of rangers I’ve met while in really remote areas of U.S. wilderness.
In other places there have been nothing but metal cans with a slit for you to drop off your parking fee in an envelope they provide. So if someone comes by to collect that, then there’s someone around to put “Hunting Season Open” signs on the peg board next to the trailhead map, right?
Not for the hunters, but to warn all the families that use the recreational trails.
In my OP there was a picture of the relevent trailhead. It’s hard to tell what those little scraps of paper say, but from that distance, I’d want to be able to read “Warning: Hunting” slapped up on there. If there’s no trailhead, I’ll assume it’s “use at your own risk”. But if they have one of those information boards at the trailhead, I expect to see critical information on it.
*Referring to Crown land in Canada, regional forests, Provincial parks etc.
That really is confusing.
With more effort you can find an FAQ that asks about fishing, hunting, and firearms regulatins for that area, and it links to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website, and also says the following:
So what does that mean? Yes, you can do that according to the regulations of the WDFW. But you can’t shoot a gun within 150 yards of a “developed recreation site”. What’s that? Does the trail count or do they mean picnic areas?
And “C” seems to suggest you aren’t supposed to shoot near the hiking trails.
I wonder why the website isn’t more explicit about whether or not you can expect to cross paths with hunters.
Again, hunters rarely hunt near the trails in the White Mountains because there are hikers there and the hunting is no good. The risk to people on trails is extremely low. Those of us who bushwack to lower elevation peaks are the ones who need blaze orange and to be aware, but we don’t use trailheads as much and we all know when deer season starts.
There danger level is quite low, but not non-existent. Here in NH hunting season and the popular hiking season don’t really overlap much. Maybe it would be beneficial to post signs, but, as I’ve said, there’s never been an incident.
I would guess that a trail is not a developed recreation site. Trails aren’t sites, they are trails.
C is only a problem if there are people on the trail. If you identify your target, identify the backdrop (which every hunter is supposed to do), and are aware of the environment then I don’t think there would be a problem shooting across a trail, not that I would want to do so myself.
Hikers and hunters have gotten along for generations. It hasn’t been a major problem because most hunters are very responsible and don’t hunt near hiking trails that get a lot of use. There have been a few very unfortunate cases in the past few years of hunter/non-hunter shootings. I think that the numbers may be increasing but it’s hard to say.
I forgot to add, in NH, I don’t believe there is any time of year where it’s not legal to hunt something. Pretty much every trail would need a sign saying that you might see hunters year round, so it would eventually just be ignored.
No kidding. Whoever heard of going hunting without beer?
Umm it doesn’t happen often.
That’s why my #1 beef is that juveniles are allowed to hunt on public land without adult supervision. Hunters that have at least half a brain in their heads knows not to hunt in high-traffic areas. Not just because there are too many humans that might get in the way, but also because our presence chases all the game away. These kids were too inexperienced to go where the game is. They shouldn’t have been farting around a heavily-travelled trail system. If they didn’t know any better, they should have been accompanied by someone with more experience.
As much as I detest hunting, I recognize that the deer cull is important to a lot of regional ecology, and peaceful co-existance suits me fine. Most of the hunters I’ve met have been in Canada, and almost all have come across as contientious, responsible adults.
Not really. Most parks post permitted uses and prohibited uses (eg/ camping is not always permitted, campfires are not always permitted). If hunting is always permitted, that’s good to know.
You can’t go wrong listing “hunters” with the other users. That’s the other part of my beef. A lot of guidebooks and trail maps I’ve seen aren’t listing hunters. They’ll tell me if we can expect a mountain bike crossing the trail, but not hunters. That’s the other half of my beef. The White Mountain website lists “hunting & trapping” under their list of recreational activities. I’m happy with that. The trail wthe deceased woman was on, doesn’t list hunting under recreational acitivites, and you have to poke around a bit just to find it listed vaguely under “special places”. That’s not so cool.
Yeah, I heard about this one on the news. My parents live only a few miles from Sauk, and I was thinking about going hiking there before summer’s over. Looks like if I do, I’ll be wearing blaze orange the whole way. :eek:
Yeah, I’m a bit confused on this too. Is the Sauk trail in a National Forest, National Park, or other? I was under the impression that carrying any firearm in a National Park was against federal law (at least for now). I’d be interested to know, since if I’m going to run the risk of some idiot shooting at me, I may as well be able to shoot back. :dubious:
It appears (from an earlier post) that this incident occurred in the National Forest. If it happened in the National Park there would most certainly be other charges against the hunter.
Many of the trails in NH go through private property, so there’s always the chance of hunters. In Maine, there’s huge numbers of trails on private land and hunting is at the whim of the landowner. The default in NH and ME is that unless land is posted against hunting, hunting is allowed. I believe this is the case in many states. The onus is on land owners where hunting is not allowed to post their fence lines. The default for all National Forest land is that hunting is allowed. I’m no longer a local, but I think there would a bit of a cultural objection to posting signs warning people against hunters. Not rational, I admit, but I think it would be there.
One additional problem with posting warning signs at trailheads is that there is an implied liability. If the sign is knocked down and you don’t replace it, are you now liable because people expect there to be a sign if hunting is allowed? Once you start posting warnings people have expectations that your warnings are complete and accurate. I’ll let some lawyers comment further on this.
Although it’s a commonly used hunting aid, it isn’t absolutely necessary: this kid proved quite capable of mistaking a woman in a blue poncho for a bear without it. Though admittedly that critical hunting skill is aided by the use of alcohol.
I was pretty well versed in basic programming by age 10 and I know of a couple kids that could probably be employed in web design/programming at 13-14.
Remember, kids that age are basically professional students, its what they do all day. In addition many such tests are written at no more than 6th-8th grade reading comprehension levels.
Article in the Seattle Times: “Matter of time” until a hiker got shot
Well, to be fair, you do have a nice rack.
Let’s outlaw hunting and gathering!
The bear is bull, no way the kid thought the woman was a bear; either he shot before even knowing what was he firing at or he is covering some other, even more preposterous and stupid truth than mistaking a woman in a bright blue poncho, among other people, in an open field, at 120 yards with a frigging bear.