Quote:
Originally Posted by RWebb
(Post 10916595)
reread the OP - no way he can claim hunting - unless he drags his sail boat somewhere
I'm glad this thread got started tho - I now have a colleague and some youngun's working on this - looks like US FWS is up to its usual illegal tricks again...
|
If it is legal to discharge a firearm, it is legal to hunt. Many of us have already cautioned him on checking his state law regarding the hunting of crows, and on checking his local law regarding the discharge of a firearm.
Assuming his particular state has a season for crows, and assuming he can lawfully discharge a firearm wherever it is he keeps his boat, then, yes, he can "hunt" those crows right there, without having to "drag his sail boat somewhere".
Those circumstances would absolutely allow "sport hunting" of the offending crows. Beyond that, if allowed in his state, he can also shoot them under "depredation" rules. If that is legal in his state, he may be able to both discharge a firearm where it would otherwise be prohibited, and shoot these crows with no license of any kind.
Here in Washington, for example, we can legally shoot "nuisance wildlife" in any city, in any suburban neighborhood, or anywhere else the discharge of firearms is normally prohibited. I've done so myself many times - we have a very healthy coyote and raccoon population in the surrounding rural areas, and they all too often cause trouble in our neighborhood. My good buddy's one year old Golden Retriever, for example, got killed by raccoons one night that were trying to get at his chickens. His five kids were absolutely devastated, understandably so.
He's not a "gun guy" or hunter of any kind, but he knows I am. So we sat up every night for damn near three weeks on his second floor back deck, him with a spotlight and me with a rifle. A really loud rifle - .30-'06 (yeah, a bit much, but it is all I own that has a scope on it, so it works at night). I killed eight raccoons over the course of the first two weeks, and only kept up the vigil to make sure there were no more. Right here in suburbia.
Yes, the cops came every single time. By the time they got there, we always had a raccoon to show them. All we did was explain "why", and each and every one of them left without a fuss. As a matter of fact, they were all beyond sympathetic. And, of course, the neighbors knew what we were doing and why, it was always someone outside of our 'hood who must have called. .30-'06's do make some noise...
No one went to prison. No one had to hire a lawyer to stay out of prison. It was never any trouble whatsoever. Not then, nor on many other occasions when I've shot coyotes and raccoons. Hell, Animal Control sometimes disposes of them for us. Nice guys...