Every year, on opening day of pheasant season, I watch as lines of cars file by
on the county road, filled with road hunters desperate to spot a rooster.
They don't just target pheasants either. Quail, doves, turkeys and deer are all
at risk. One year, my father and I watched as a pickup stopped, a rifle poked
out the window, and several shots were fired at a buck running across our field
toward the shelter belt through which we'd just walked. A few minutes earlier,
we'd have been directly in the line of fire.
Rural landowners have come to expect road hunters as an annual annoyance during
hunting season, but they shouldn't be tolerated. While specific state laws vary,
it's safe to say it's universally unacceptable to shoot from or across a road or
from a vehicle. It's unsafe for livestock, children playing in the yard, farmers
working in the field and for the hunters themselves.
SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. Since road hunting and trespassing often go hand in hand,
the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission added a special notice in their 2006
hunting guide. It warns would-be "slob hunters" that, if caught, they could face
fines up to $500, three months in jail and a loss of hunting privileges for up
to three years.
Georgia, another state where it's illegal to shoot/hunt from a public road and
motor vehicle, also takes road hunting very seriously. Fines set by the county
judge—not the department—can range from $300 to $1,200, and usually include a
minimum two-year suspension of hunting privileges.
PROACTIVE APPROACH. To assist authorities in catching and prosecuting violators,
landowners may want to:
Carry a cell phone at all times. Most, if not all, states have toll-free
hotlines for reporting poachers and other game law violators.
Patrol your property regularly, especially on weekends or after a snow
storm. Absentee landowners may want to ask renters, neighbors or hunters to whom
they've given permission to hunt to keep an eye on their property and report
anything suspicious.
Keep a pen and notepad handy to write down license plate numbers and
vehicle descriptions.
Carry a camera. It doesn't have to be an expensive digital; a cheap
disposable kept in the pocket of a hunting vest will do. A camera phone is even
better.
PASSIVE DETERRENTS. Make your property less attractive to hunters:
It never hurts to put up a "No Trespassing" sign. A posted sign is a visual
aid that discourages road hunters.
Barbed-wire fences are another deterrent. Most road hunters will be too
lazy to cross them. Plus, even if it's just a loose three-strand, fences take
time to navigate. Add a locked gate and you'll discourage all but the very
determined.
Bushes and shrubs near roads or in ditches should be sprayed or removed. In
snowy weather, game birds congregate in these areas, making them vulnerable to
passersby. If legal, burn ditches in the fall. Remove roadside cover and
establish suitable loafing habitat away from the road, preferably out of sight.