Poaching, Unethical Hunting Or OK?

[lazarus]

You might try to talk to your neighbor before calling the law. Then if you ever had to call DNR for obvious poaching you would not be the town crier.

Why? Only one who is going to know is going to be DNR. I soibt if a warden showed up they tell the hunters/poachers "oh yeah, they guy in the house over there called us".

Frankly I'd call DNR. It sounds like poaching. The distance is likely to be safe, especially if they are using stands. It is possible they are just uneducated abou the hunting laws, which safe distance there is no excuse. That said if they are willing to break one hunting regulation/law, what other ones are they breaking it willing to break????

 

[lazarus]

You might try to talk to your neighbor before calling the law. Then if you ever had to call DNR for obvious poaching you would not be the town crier.

Why? Only one who is going to know is going to be DNR. I soibt if a warden showed up they tell the hunters/poachers "oh yeah, they guy in the house over there called us".

Frankly I'd call DNR. It sounds like poaching. The distance is likely to be safe, especially if they are using stands. It is possible they are just uneducated abou the hunting laws, which legal hunting distance to a residence there is no excuse. That said if they are willing to break one hunting regulation/law, what other ones are they breaking to willing to break????

for example they might be a safe distance taking a shot at Bambi, but what if they track one to the edge of the wood line and take a shot from there and miss clean...and hit your house?

 

[outrider58]

Are they displaying a hunting license? I think (may be wrong) but the license should be displayed in one of those plastic tags with large safety pin?

No longer required.

As for "coming out at 9:00". Sometimes, when hunting a particular spot, the hunter gets 'covered up' with deer. The hunter(if he's smart) will stay in his tree until the deer move on so as not to spook the deer and tip them off about his whereabouts.

 

[Speed3]

Why? Only one who is going to know is going to be DNR. I soibt if a warden showed up they tell the hunters/poachers "oh yeah, they guy in the house over there called us".

Frankly I'd call DNR. It sounds like poaching. The distance is likely to be safe, especially if they are using stands. It is possible they are just uneducated abou the hunting laws, which safe distance there is no excuse. That said if they are willing to break one hunting regulation/law, what other ones are they breaking it willing to break????

OP sent me the address and I would bet $$$ they aren't 150 yards from an occupied dwelling.

I don't know for sure if they are hunting in an unsafe manner. Typically bow hunters hunt from tree stands and shoot down towards the ground, so I don't think there would much danger honestly, but you never know.

Deer can run upwards of 200+ yards after being shot, from the satellite photos, there is a chance it dies in someone else's yard.

OP, its your call, you have to feel comfortable with your decision.

 

[Clark W. Griswold]

The woods are county owned, as they are considered wetlands- that is where they hunt. The pasture/field is owned by "their friend".
They are definitely hunting within 150yds of >20 residences- mine included. The pool is at the condo buildings.
I won't post my address, but this will show you the neighborhood they're hunting. Google the following:
Warren's Auto Service Pikesville
Click Maps
Click Satellite View
That is my neighborhood and where they're in the woods until ~9:00pm almost every night. I am very pro 2A, as well as pro food and population control hunting. I question the ethics of hunting here. This is why I started asking questions.

If the are hunting te woods between the apartments/pool and the houses on Church Ln, there is no way they are 150 yards from the houses (or the condos). They would need permission from everyone to hunt closer than 150 yds.

Those woods are owned by the condominium complex according to the tax maps. They would need written permission from the owner to hunt.

410-260-8888 is the number, your decision on whether to use it or not.

 

[danb]

Go over and ask them when they come out.

Confronting people with weapons, who are possibly doing something illegal, what could possibly go wrong?

This is what the DNR is for.

This might be safe, but it does not sound legal because they need permission. The problem with illegal hunting is that it creates a bad impression for everyone. People inclined to poach may be knuckleheads in other ways. There are like, a gazillion legal ways to kill 10 deer a year in Baltimore and Howard county, why do it illegally? What is going to happen with a gutshot bambi roaming around the woods and dying in the wrong person's yard? Then you have a knucklehead in camo arguing with an asshat liberal with police get involved.

Advocates try to get the 150 yd yard rule reduced every year, but knuckleheads like this spoil it for everyone, because they invariably create a bad experience that hunting haters exploit. The 150 "safety" rule really becomes: I don't want no knuckleheads in the woods near me. 95% of us are safe, 5% spoil it for the rest.

I am very pro-hunting, even in close quarters, and I've done it- but in urban and suburban areas I think people need to be careful not to create a situation that makes everyone in camo look like knuckleheads.

Short of calling DNR, I would give the property owner a call at least find out more info.

 

[Derwood]

This is the type of activity that can lead to something unsafe happening, followed by a story in the paper and more onerous hunting regs laid upon the rest of us.

Personally, I'd go with the note approach first, since you live there. I wouldn't want to go up and basically accuse someone of a wildlife crime a short walk from where I live. The note could be simple, "Friends: I noticed you hunting close to occupied dwellings. Hunting is an important part of wildlife conservation and I have no problem with it. However, I hope you have permission to hunt here because the DNR might come through to check. Be safe."

Fair warning. No need to involve the law and the officer's time if it can be handled otherwise. If they don't clear out after that, call the DNR to get them to check on the activity. Maybe they do have permission, but I looked at that map and it's pretty tight.

+1 on the comment about Warren's Auto Service. That made me laugh.

 

[Squaregrouper]

OP again...
After my post surgery doctor's appt, I am going to walk the woods and look for stands. I will also leave a note at the access point that I am pro 2A and pro hunting, but they are hunting illegally. If they continue to hunt there, I will call DNR.
Warren's Auto, to the best of my knowledge, has been there since the 1950's and is grandfathered.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Squaregrouper]

If the are hunting te woods between the apartments/pool and the houses on Church Ln, there is no way they are 150 yards from the houses (or the condos). They would need permission from everyone to hunt closer than 150 yds.

Those woods are owned by the condominium complex according to the tax maps. They would need written permission from the owner to hunt.

410-260-8888 is the number, your decision on whether to use it or not.

That's the spot

 

[HortusQ]

deer=hooved locusts, tasty too

 

[clandestine]

I wouldnt bother them.

 

[MikeTF]

Leave the hunters alone. Most hunters are not poachers. They are using bows, even the 50 yard law is stupid. Most of my shots are within 20 yards. You definitely know what you're shooting at, and more often than not it is at an angle that would have no chance of hitting anyone.

 

[Inigoes]

OP again...
After my post surgery doctor's appt, I am going to walk the woods and look for stands. I will also leave a note at the access point that I am pro 2A and pro hunting, but they are hunting illegally. If they continue to hunt there, I will call DNR.
Warren's Auto, to the best of my knowledge, has been there since the 1950's and is grandfathered.

Thanks for the input!

If it is not your land: do not leave a note or go looking for them.

Calling DNR is sufficient.

If in the off chance they are hunting legally, you will be opening up yourself to disrupting a hunt or harassing hunters. You can be criminally charged for that.

An old article about a St Mary's fella interfering:
http://www.biggamehunt.net/news/nrp-arrest-man-interfering-hunters

 

[cryptoman]

DNR are the good guys. If they are hunting legally, they will tell them to have a nice day.

 

[94hokie]

I just played around on Google Earth and the farthest I could get from an occupied building in those woods was about 63 yards so there is no way they are legally hunting there

 

[POP57]

Not a hunter but I'd leave it to DNR. As mentioned, that's what they are there for. Sounds like enough with expertise on the forum agree with you that it could be a safety issue. My .02 cents.

 

[outrider58]

If it is not your land: do not leave a note or go looking for them.

Calling DNR is sufficient.

If in the off chance they are hunting legally, you will be opening up yourself to disrupting a hunt or harassing hunters. You can be criminally charged for that.

An old article about a St Mary's fella interfering:
http://www.biggamehunt.net/news/nrp-arrest-man-interfering-hunters

^^^This. Period.

 

[Erno86]

They could be field dressing a deer or tracking a wounded one after dark; or just having a beer at the landowner's house. I think you're splitting hairs, if you think they're still hunting around 8:30 or 9:00 pm. during daylight savings time.

 

[Squaregrouper]

Just walked the woods. I doubt they are using tree stands- none there today and they didn't take any into the woods yesterday- plus the trees are all <6" diameter. I did however inadvertently get my picture taken on their trail cam.
Someone mentioned the woods they're hunting belongs to the condo assoc- I just confirmed it.
For those who think I'm being anti hunter...
They are hunting a patch of woods roughly the size of a baseball infield, surrounded by houses and (presumably) doing it from the ground. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[eruby]

Sir, don't give the 'nattering nabobs of negativism' a second thought. You are good people.

Too many lately on MDS not only must be right, but in addition to you being wrong, the want to crush you, see you driven before them, and hear the lamentations of your women.

My advice is Lou45 90%. Call DNR. Not necessarily in that order.