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| What's wrong with this picture? Answer: those wimples should be fluorescent orange |
Just another reminder that shotgun deer hunting season started last Saturday. We could tell, because of the fusillade of shots we heard coming from north of us (we're half a mile south of the border for Burlingame Park.
The season runs through Sunday, December 11 and from Monday, December 26 through Sunday, January 1. From Saturday, December 3 through Sunday, December 18 and from Monday, December 26 through Sunday, January 1, shotgun season is open on private lands. NOTE: you should post your land for no trespass or hunting if you want to prevent shooting on your property.
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| RIGHT: Bobby Bacala wearing more than enough orange |
All the more reason to heed RIDEM's requirement that if you are going out into the woods in state management areas, be sure to wear at least the requisite 500 square inches of luminescent orange above your waist, on your clothing and hat.
RIDEM will fine you for failure to do so - whether you're out there Bambi hunting or bird-watching or tending your still. Or you might get shot by some juiced up trigger-happy fool. You can't count on every Daniel Boone type out there to be an honor graduate of the NRA's gun safety classes.
And be careful, even if you're not on state management land (e.g. Burlingame) since the boundary line may not stop a shotgun blast.
I know some of the hunters are out there for food that they need to feed their families. To them, I wish them good hunting (though I still root for the deer). I know about the Second Amendment. I know about hunting being part of our rural tradition.
I just can't wrap my mind around the idea of human beings taking pleasure out of killing these beautiful animals for sport.
But it's not my call. So, please, let's see if we can keep to carnage, both human and deer, to a minimum.