Wow. Just wow

[Denny]

Barnegat lighthouse area..        Maybe I'm late to the party about hearing about this but I gotta share.  I guess it's been a few years now that the state made a nice little hole for birds and waterfowl just s/e of the lighthouse on the beach. A nice freshwater pond.  I thought common sense would prevail as to no one hunting it as I figured it's on state park property and has signs to stay out for the piping plovers (birds.). Well last day of the season 4guys and 1 youth gave it a shot.  I'll attach the article.      Im not sure if anyone will disagree but in my opinion this is an obvious nono.  It looks bad for hunters.   They didn't even have stamps.  And anti hunters can walk right up to you.  Your literally right in the backyards of the residents shooting over walking paths.  Then to make matters worse you bring a youth.     That's a great idea.   Having all the towns cops/ game wardens show up as well and bird lovers literally crying at their poor feathers friends is just what will make a youth hunter get hooked on hunting... I'm all for holding onto our rights as hunters but this is a little too much for stirring the pot and attracting negative publicity.  I hope your few ducks and pic on social media was worth the tickets and traumatizing a young hunter!

 

 

[Denny]

State, Borough Address Duck Hunting Incident on Barnegat Light Ocean Beach - The SandPaper
https://www.thesandpaper.net/articles/state-borough-address-duck-hunting-incident-on-barnegat-light-ocean-beach/

[mazzgolf]

Quote

“There were no statutes or codes prohibiting the hunters from being there and there were no safety zones.”

Well, that tells me they were technically legal to hunt there. So, in that respect, case closed. No problem. But I agree - you need to use common sense. Just because it's legal to hunt somewhere, doesn't mean you "should" if other circumstances dictate. I don't know anything about that area, so I can't say.

But! Now, this is a problem:

Quote

three summonses for hunting waterfowl without a valid federal waterfowl stamp.

That's a big no-no. WTH? You hunt on a beach in full view of everyone and you don't have all your paperwork and licenses squared away??? They are idiots.

As for this "four summonses for failure to display a hunting license" - the CO just piled on at that point. Once it was found out that they didn't have their fed stamps with them, the COs probably just tacked on whatever else they could. No CO is going to write someone up just for not displaying their license if everything else is squared away (who displays their license on their back while duck hunting anyway?).

So - in the end, I'm glad they got written up (federal stamp money goes right back into conservation - you skip out on that, you are not only poaching but screwing all the other waterfowlers out there that are properly licensed and bought their stamps).

Of course now the town council is going to come up with a bunch of anti-hunting regulations and will probably make it harder to hunt elsewhere in that town where it is perfectly fine to hunt today. I don't know anything about the area, so I don't know if there are town-owned lands that will now be out of reach that used to be perfectly fine huntable locations. If there is, these guys just screwed all those hunters, too.

[Bubblehead]

Aside from the paperwork charges, I see nothing wrong with what they did. Too many guys out there afraid to hunt a legal spot because it may hurt someone’s feelings. If we don’t hunt a spot just because we are afraid someone will complain than the spot is already lost. Many spot I hunt have bird watchers, especially WMAs. Are we to stop hunting WMAs just because they get some non hunter traffic? I sure hope not. 

[Denny]

Na your not familiar with this pond then.  It's not like it's been a pond that's been hunted for years and houses just up and built there.   We got plenty of marshes and public land all over.  This one is just retarded to hunt. If you have any common sense you will understand.  Look at it on the map. ...  Thus why game wardens got them with a bull non display of licence .  The stamp citation blows my mind.  They had to Kno they were gonna have multiple visits.  Can't believe they messed that one up.    Disagree with ya bubble.  

[ModernOutdoorsMan]

I understand the “it was legal” viewpoint but use common sense and understand your location, it won’t look good outside of the hunting community.

I go down to that area regularly, it would be like setting up for a deer hunt on the side of a baseball field

Edited February 3, 2023 by ModernOutdoorsMan
Added info

[vdep217]

44 minutes ago, ModernOutdoorsMan said:

I understand the “it was legal” viewpoint but use common sense and understand your location, it won’t look good outside of the hunting community.

I go down to that area regularly, it would be like setting up for a deer hunt on the side of a baseball field

I have to disagree.   It's us hiding what we do that has caused us this problem.  Aside from stamps they were legal and shouldn't be condemned for it.  The town cant say no hunting and not sure how a no discharge would work in tidal waters.  The more we give in the more they will come for.  I lost 2 very good walk in spots because the state caved

Edited February 3, 2023 by vdep217

[Buckeyes11]

Clearly it was legal for them to hunt there. So hunt it. As for as not having stamps etc. that’s beyond stupid. 

[Bubblehead]

1 hour ago, Denny said:

Na your not familiar with this pond then.  It's not like it's been a pond that's been hunted for years and houses just up and built there.   We got plenty of marshes and public land all over.  This one is just retarded to hunt. If you have any common sense you will understand.  Look at it on the map. ...  Thus why game wardens got them with a bull non display of licence .  The stamp citation blows my mind.  They had to Kno they were gonna have multiple visits.  Can't believe they messed that one up.    Disagree with ya bubble.  

I hadn’t known about it until this thread. I looked, if it’s the pond I’m thinking of than it’s plenty far from houses and apparently completely legal. If it goes against your standards for where to hunt then I completely understand and respect that. But we as hunters are losing ground much faster than we are gaining it. And much of the best hunting in this state is right on the line of legal and not. Just look what the 150ft rule did for deer hunting. We shouldn’t be shaming our own for legally hunting. 
 

it’s my opinion the antis know more about how to get things shut down than we give them credit for. They know how to create in-fighting amongst hunters and how to scare people off. If we allow it they win and we lose. It’s a slippery slope and we must hold our ground 

[ModernOutdoorsMan]

18 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

I have to disagree.   It's us hiding what we do that has caused us this problem.  Aside from stamps they were legal and shouldn't be condemned for it.  The town cant say no hunting and not sure how a no discharge would work in tidal waters.  The more we give in the more they will come for.  I lost 2 very good walk in spots because the state caved

My point is that the public outcry is likely to cause more harm to hunting/access and piss off more people. Just cause you can doesn’t mean you should, we’ll see how this plays out.

The last paragraph of the article to me reads as if they didn’t include a no-hunting ordinance in that area because it was obviously not a prime location, I’m sure that will change very soon.

[vdep217]

16 minutes ago, ModernOutdoorsMan said:

My point is that the public outcry is likely to cause more harm to hunting/access and piss off more people. Just cause you can doesn’t mean you should, we’ll see how this plays out.

The last paragraph of the article to me reads as if they didn’t include a no-hunting ordinance in that area because it was obviously not a prime location, I’m sure that will change very soon.

A town can not implement a no hunting ordinance.   Yes public outcry will cause harm but we allowed it by hiding what we do.  Remember when we had check stations remember when a part of the deer had to be visible while transporting.  Remember walking down the street with your shot gun to go hunting.  We made these things taboo over time and people complain now.  I remember when I started hunting all of the above and no one really complained.   You give an avenue to complain and people will.

  I used to controll geese on a private retreat that had campers and the campers and staff would set up beach chairs and watch us.  Slim to none of that happening today

Edited February 3, 2023 by vdep217

[Bubblehead]

6 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

A town can not implement a no hunting ordinance.   Yes public outcry will cause harm but we allowed it by hiding what we do.  Remember when we had check stations remember when a part of the deer had to be visible while transporting.  Remember walking down the street with your shot gun to go hunting.  We made these things taboo over time and people complain now.  I remember when I started hunting all of the above and no one really complained.   You give an avenue to complain and people will.

  I used to controll geese on a private retreat that had campers and the campers and staff would set up beach chairs and watch us.  Slim to none of that happening today

Exactly. The only way to make hunting “normal” again is to make it visible and make it part of every day life

[ModernOutdoorsMan]

14 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

A town can not implement a no hunting ordinance.   Yes public outcry will cause harm but we allowed it by hiding what we do.  Remember when we had check stations remember when a part of the deer had to be visible while transporting.  Remember walking down the street with your shot gun to go hunting.  We made these things taboo over time and people complain now.  I remember when I started hunting all of the above and no one really complained.   You give an avenue to complain and people will.

  I used to controll geese on a private retreat that had campers and the campers and staff would set up beach chairs and watch us.  Slim to none of that happening today

I agree we need to normalize it again, I just don’t think this was the battle to choose that stance, is all. And I’m aware you can’t pass a no-hunting ordinance, but the last paragraph makes you think they are already going to plan anything to limit it:

“It’s one of those things you didn’t do: have an ordinance that says no hunting on the beach. Who would have thought of that?” the mayor observed of the irony. “There’s no skindiving on our beaches, no fires; we forgot hunting.”  —Staff Reports

[Hunter115522]

14 minutes ago, Bubblehead said:

Exactly. The only way to make hunting “normal” again is to make it visible and make it part of every day life

Those days are over. This country has changed drastically since the days of hunting being so widely accepted. 

[vdep217]

Just now, Hunter115522 said:

Those days are over. This country has changed drastically since the days of hunting being so widely accepted. 

Because we as hunters allowed it to happen.

 

8 minutes ago, ModernOutdoorsMan said:

I agree we need to normalize it again, I just don’t think this was the battle to choose that stance, is all. And I’m aware you can’t pass a no-hunting ordinance, but the last paragraph makes you think they are already going to plan anything to limit it:

“It’s one of those things you didn’t do: have an ordinance that says no hunting on the beach. Who would have thought of that?” the mayor observed of the irony. “There’s no skindiving on our beaches, no fires; we forgot hunting.”  —Staff Reports

They didn't forget hunting they can't stop hunting.  If it's town land yes they can say no hunting from beach but one could put a kyak in and hunt the hi tide line