I just don’t get some of the laws the Feds make about hunting. The one that really blows my mind is the not hunting migratory birds from moving vehicles. What’s the difference between standing in some field getting bothered by bugs or riding in a truck with the a/c on(inotherword hunting in confort)?
Another thing that I don’t get is why you can hunt nonmigratory birds in this fashion but not migratory.
Now some more specific points of the law. I understand if you are parked you can hunt from a vehicle. So what if your driving around see a few doves on a high wire stop turn off the motor open the door and take a skillet shot at the birds on the wire? Does that constitute a infraction of the law or was it legal?
On and anothe question that is totally unrelated. Is Goboy now named Gobear? If yes, why did he change it?
I don’t know whether this is true in all states, but in California, it’s illegal to shoot any animal from a car, regardless of whether the car is moving. Also, I’m not sure it would be legal to shoot at dove sitting on a telephone or power wire; even if it were, it’s a stupid and potentially dangerous thing to do.
As far as hunting migratory fowl from the comfort of a truck, I don’t think it would be practical. You’d need to drive right up to the wetlands where the li’l duckies land. (Remember that your shotgun has a range of maybe 100 yards, so you’ve got to be really close to the birds.) Assuming that the rangers don’t chase you off, you’ve got a real good chance of getting your truck stuck in the mud: definitely not the best way to hunt.
Personally, I kind of enjoy hiking out into the field, waiting for the sun to rise, and hoping that I bag something.
I too thought that it was illegal to shoot any animal from a vehicle. I assume the reason is because you are either shooting close to other cars and people on the road or you are tearing up habitat going off road to get away from the people and cars. Both are not good.
In Oklahoma it is illegal to hunt from a moving vehicle, most noteably whales. :rolleyes: (I am not kidding)
As Steverino said, it’s dangerous. The driver would be paying more attention to tracking the fowl than where he was going.
In Texas I am pretty sure you can hunt quail from a moving vehicle. But you have to get out before you can shoot. Dove I don’t think you can even do that. Which like I said doesn’t make any sense. As far as other vehicle there usually are NONE. You are out on a ranch dirt road doing maybe 5 to 10 mph which is not very dangerous. And like I said you “usually” stop before you shoot.
Aside from the points already made in this thread (stupid, dangerous,unethical) I will hazard a WAG and say that they probably don’t want to give you a loophole next time you’re caught blasting a road sign with your shotgun - “But yer honor… it had a dove on it!”
I know, those damned short sighted Oklahoma lawmakers.
You buncha smart asses.
It is illegal to hunt whale from a moving vehicle. I can’t imagine why they thought that law was necessary. When was the last time a whale found itself in the Cimarron River?
Because if you don’t cull the herd of, say, deer, they will completely strip the area of everything edible and then move out into populated areas and do damage to homes, property and automobiles and die painfully when struck by automobiles.
Because some of us eat what we kill. Venison is a lot better for you than beef and not all the world is populated by vegetarians. I like venison, my kids like it, and hunting season is a definate highpoint (and we are not turning this into a veggie vs meateater thread)
The only way to get your fair fight is to equip deer hunters, for example, with antlers and an equivilant of those hooves.
Hunting is by no means limited to Americans either and not all of us use rifles for it. I bow hunt when I go.
SteverinoAlaReno,
Hey, we’re both new guys here. But apparently you don’t spend much time hanging around the Great Debates forum, or you’d have clued in already. Let me help you out, newbie to newbie.
Have you noticed that nobody else in this thread is taking Wildest Bill seriously? That’s because, to put it kindly,…
::confidential whisper:: Wildest Bill is a f***ing nutcase!
But for what it’s worth, I understand it’s officially illegal to hunt the Loch Ness Monster from a moving vehicle.
I understand the concept is that if you can afford a moving vehicle you can afford the necessary conkers to establish that the monster exists and therefore deserves your unfailing support (as we all know the only food that can properly sustain said monster is US Dollars).
I’d debate, but…your point about not eating the birds is a good one. So I’m reconsidering. (And Dove is delicious!)
And xanakis:
A) Wild game tastes good! (Farm raised stuff tastes totally different. The difference wild duck and farm-raised duck is so great that they taste like different animals.
B) A lot of non-hunters have the misimpression that all hunting consists of is grabbing a gun and shooting wildly until you hit something.
That’s not the case. It’s hard to hunt with the rules imposed on the hunters (correctly). If it were just a man with a gun vs a deer, no holds barred, in a cage match, sure. The man wins. But given the limited number of rounds allowed in the gun, the skill in tracking the animal and the skill it takes to get close enough that you’re comfortable taking that shot (since no responsible hunter (the vast majority) will take a shot unless comfortable that they can kill the animal), it’s not as easy as you’d imagine.
And, unless you’re a vegetarian, you got no business telling anyone to “leave the animal alone”.
stop before you shoot.
But for the most part, dove, quail, and wild duck are delicious.