Shot at while hunting

wife&3kids · 10-20-2008, 09:19 PM

Both days this weekend i had close calls hunting.
Saturday, i went to chase birds out of the next field and hadn't made it out of the field yet when a group of birds decided to try to land in the decoys. A bird had dropped just outside the decoys but was just winged and was lined up exactly with me and my buddy who were in the field. Next thing you know a gun goes off and something hits me in the hat right above the bill pretty hard. it felt like someone threw a rock at my head. I made a mistake and didn't educate the guy right then, but i called my buddy who invited him tonight and let him know....

Sunday

Thank God I set up the way i did and not the way i normally would have or the guy would have been shooting thru our decoys into the blinds...

Anyway, guy pulls up in a truck, apparantly visiting his son at a neighboring house and gets a 22 rifle and unloads it . After about 5 rounds i jump up and start screaming thinking for sure i am gonna take one of these bullets.. he shoots 5 more times. two of us go over to him and he takes off on a four wheeler. We find out who he is and where he lives and after the hunt, my friend goes to his house to talk to him. the guy tells him to get off his property, no apology.. My fiend calls the cops, explains the story, tells him we have 4 witnesses and they do nothing!!!!!!!!!!!
apparantly it is heresay and wont even go talk to him...

Dave Smith · 10-20-2008, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wife&3kids

.. My fiend calls the cops, explains the story, tells him we have 4 witnesses and they do nothing!!!!!!!!!!!
apparantly it is heresay and wont even go talk to him...

It's "heresay"????? I'm glad at least one police officer witnessed the 911 attacks, otherwise that would have just been "heresay", too.
Did you let the cop know that "protect and serve" actually refers to protecting and serving CITIZENS? It doesn't mean "protect and serve criminals". This is getting beyond ridiculous when you get shot at, see and identify the idiot who did it, and the cops won't even bother to come out??? Is it out of the question to ask the shooter a question or two? We pay alot of $$ for police services and we rarely ever need them. The ONE time I got robbed the cops wouldn't even come out and take a look. I'll bet you can guess what they told me: "you are welcome to come to the station and file a report".

Glad you're OK, Scott

SouthSantiamSlayer · 10-20-2008, 10:43 PM

Man thats rediculous!!
I would have called 911...
I'd definatly find new hunting grounds...
Theres so many places to duck hunt... not worth getting shot over.

mkwerx · 10-20-2008, 10:50 PM

One question - when he resumed firing in your direction AFTER you stood up and told him to cease fire - did you contemplate returning fire? a .22 is a deadly weapon despite it's seemingly miniscule pill.

jordanb38 · 10-20-2008, 10:54 PM

anytime your being shot at call 911, If your wounded it will severely hurt his case. Also, a shotgun wont kill anybody form a certain distance, i mean we all have dignity but i dont think i could take man shots before returning fire

just my two

Smoked Salmon · 10-20-2008, 10:57 PM

Scary, times two. Glad you are okay.

sprigkiller09 · 10-21-2008, 12:07 AM

Very glad no one was hurt. That is downright scary!!! That agitates me to no end to hear what the police had to say though. Wouldnt have been heresay if you took a bullet to the thigh or some where else. What a load of crap!! Be safe out there everyone this is reminder to all....

Rank Amateur · 10-21-2008, 03:45 AM

Did you call an OSP game officer? That might be the ticket. Not too late.

tdspence · 10-21-2008, 03:50 AM

I am glad to see your ok. It's crazy the police wouldn't follow up. I remember one time my house I was moving out of got robbed. We call the police and filed a complaint. The neigbors daughter said one of the other adult neighbors had her go into the house with her(they didn't see her take anything, but at a minimum she was tresspassing). I told the police this and that the neighbor was willing to testify that the other neighbor was in the house. They wouldn't even go talk to either neighbor.

gotZem · 10-21-2008, 05:49 AM

WOW!! Seeems to me I remember a few stories about people in laydown blinds getting shot at just last year. Shooting at waterfowl with anything but a shotgun is against the law. And on that same note, shooting at PEOPLE is also against the law! Right? Why did the lawman ignore this "law"? "Hearsay" is what they are supposed to investigate. That's what they do for a living. Right? A 22 kills more people than any other gun (ask John F. Kennedy- oh- you cant!). Comes down to the old ethics of "hunting or killing" again. And no help from the law? Again I say, "WOW"!

gotZem!!!

MsOutdrs · 10-21-2008, 06:20 AM

I'd call a supervising officer at the department where that particular officer works...see if its dept/state policy or state requirement or just a specific officer's policy. OR...check with your local district attorney. But I wouldn't tell the DA that a police officer refused to investigate.

Snubber · 10-21-2008, 06:39 AM

If you are now satisfied with the response from the person who shot at you and the officer you contacted then move on.......... IF not then I would continue to pursue right up the ladder, with the city cops, county cops, OSP Fish & Game, etc., etc., and make that person's life a little miserable for awhile.

If it was his land and he thought he was just scaring the geese off, then I know that type of stuff happens. If not, then he has violated more than a few game laws as well.
Is this what you were looking for? some additional prodding on what you should do now?
Hopefully, you take the "proactive" approach and possibly eliminate this same type occurance on someone else.

BanannaMan · 10-21-2008, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanb38

Also, a shotgun wont kill anybody form a certain distance,

Kill, no but what would have happened if that shot had hit a few inches lower in his face. Glad your not dead, sorry you lost your sight. I am so lucky to have ground to hunt with no cityiots around, I don't know how you guys do it. Glad your ok, wonder how much kevlor cammo costs?

Don Fischer · 10-21-2008, 07:09 AM

If you know who did it and have a witness, go to the county and swear out a complaint on your own. Then you get to write the ticket and the county sheriff has to serve it.

ORsouthpaw · 10-21-2008, 07:39 AM

The sad thing is that if you would have returned fire and hit him you'd be in jail and the idiot that was shooting toward (or at) you would be spending your kids college funds!

Best way to get a quick response: True story!
My wife called the police one time on a car burglary, it was my car and it was parked on the street. We could see 4 guys standing around it and 5th one breaking in. We were basically told blah, blah, blah, they'll get there when they can. My wife told the 911 operator that my .44 magnum was now loaded and that I was not going to allow someone to steal my property in front of me and then hung up on her. 3 police cruisers pulled up on the thieves within just a couple of minutes of the call. They arrested all 5 guys and the owner of the car that they had been driving was ordered to pay me restitution for the damage that they had done. It was sweet revenge on the criminal element!

Dave Smith · 10-21-2008, 07:52 AM

MEANWHILE: I saw on the news this morning that an 88 year old women in Ohio was arrested and taken to jail for refusing to return a football that landed in her yard.

HuntNFishAddict · 10-21-2008, 07:55 AM

Somebody shoots my direction even after telling them to cease fire... it's lock and load one 10 round magazine and watch your lane!!!

rimrock · 10-21-2008, 07:57 AM

You really have two options from what I can tell. Go through the process to file a legal complaint, which is fine and appropriate. Or, just put it behind you and get on with live. I would recommend doing one or the other, don’t stay in the middle or it will spoil the remainder of your season.

StickFish · 10-21-2008, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORsouthpaw

The sad thing is that if you would have returned fire and hit him you'd be in jail and the idiot that was shooting toward (or at) you would be spending your kids college funds!

Best way to get a quick response: True story!
My wife called the police one time on a car burglary, it was my car and it was parked on the street. We could see 4 guys standing around it and 5th one breaking in. We were basically told blah, blah, blah, they'll get there when they can. My wife told the 911 operator that my .44 magnum was now loaded and that I was not going to allow someone to steal my property in front of me and then hung up on her. 3 police cruisers pulled up on the thieves within just a couple of minutes of the call. They arrested all 5 guys and the owner of the car that they had been driving was ordered to pay me restitution for the damage that they had done. It was sweet revenge on the criminal element!

Happened to me with a dog trying to get a neighbors kid. They said there is nothing they could do. I said, "OK change the report from a dog problem to shots fired," and hung up. Within seconds you could hear the sirens coming.

Too much paperwork most likely. Sometime I wonder why.

Quasimodo the fish killer · 10-21-2008, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StickFish

Happened to me with a dog trying to get a neighbors kid. They said there is nothing they could do. I said, "OK change the report from a dog problem to shots fired," and hung up. Within seconds you could hear the sirens coming.

Too much paperwork most likely. Sometime I wonder why.

I came home to discover 2 burglars in my house once. I corralled them as the neighbor called the cops. the neighbor was armed with a hand gun.

the cops said they were busy but would come out to fila a report as soon as they could free somone up and by the way I was unlawfully detaining the suspects, that I could not forcably hold them captive untill the cops got there.

the suspects overheard the conversation and one decided to bolt. I knocked the other one to the ground and started yelling shoot that sob in the back he is gettin away. I was 10 feet away from the phone but I could hear the dispatcher yelling at the top of her lungs no dont do it dont shoot. I had 4 squad cars there in less then a minute.

I live in a rural area, and now days I just tell them I am armed and I will protect myself and belongings with deadly force.

Quasi

.

ORsouthpaw · 10-21-2008, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quasimodo the fish killer

...and now days I just tell them I am armed and I will protect myself and belongings with deadly force.

Quasi

.

Drop the donuts and do your job, just don't have the same effect on the dispatcher as the above statement does. It's the old saying: the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

BTW
I'm not slamming LE! I have to many close friends in the business. I give them a ration quite a bit but a lot of the problem is that for every serious call that they respond to, there are at least a dozen more in which people simply could have used some common sense to avoid or resolve the situation themselves. LE officers end up babysitting and not serving and protecting. Still whenever there is a firearm involved even if it's a here-say situation it should be promptly investigated.

DogZilla15 · 10-21-2008, 09:32 AM

Thanks for all the great tips on how to get the correct response......

Tvfowlhunter · 10-21-2008, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORsouthpaw

Drop the donuts and do your job, just don't have the same effect on the dispatcher as the above statement does. It's the old saying: the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

BTW
I'm not slamming LE! I have to many close friends in the business. I give them a ration quite a bit but a lot of the problem is that for every serious call that they respond to, there are at least a dozen more in which people simply could have used some common sense to avoid or resolve the situation themselves. LE officers end up babysitting and not serving and protecting. Still whenever there is a firearm involved even if it's a here-say situation it should be promptly investigated.

Very good response. Thanks for writing what I was planning on saying buddy.

jokester · 10-21-2008, 10:17 AM

This is absolutely insane, and becoming more and more frequent!!

What's even more sad is to think that it's going to take someone getting injured or, God forbid, KILLED before something is done about it

-jokester

Wreckless · 10-21-2008, 10:18 AM

WOW someone fires 10 shots in your direction, you KNOW who it is and the Police can't do anything.......Am I reading that correctly????

Not Bashing just amazed........

Didn't a young man get killed this way last year?

BTW-If someone shoots at me I shoot back.

iampapajack · 10-21-2008, 10:25 AM

You need to persue this with VIGOR!!!! The DA's office is where I would go NOW while things are fresh in your mind. Write everything down that you can remember. This guy needs to have some manners taught to him and the PD will listen to the DA....Jack

OutdoorBum · 10-21-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iampapajack

You need to persue this with VIGOR!!!! The DA's office is where I would go NOW while things are fresh in your mind. Write everything down that you can remember. This guy needs to have some manners taught to him and the PD will listen to the DA....Jack

Agreed. Lack of action here will only enable the guy to do it again, perhaps resulting in bodily harm in the future. I'm sure there's SOMEBODY sympathetic to your cause in LE.

sschwab · 10-21-2008, 12:04 PM

Shot at twice in one weekend and not seriously injured? Sounds like your Guardian Angel worked a little overtime.

Regardless of how poorly LE handled things, I suspect your wife and three kids need you more than you need to hunt this area again.

wife&3kids · 10-21-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschwab

Shot at twice in one weekend and not seriously injured? Sounds like your Guardian Angel worked a little overtime.

Regardless of how poorly LE handled things, I suspect your wife and three kids need you more than you need to hunt this area again.

These locations were very far apart. I don't normally hunt in the area that i was in sunday. i was on an invite.

i just spoke to the other guys involved and we are going to escalate it.

225nontypical · 10-21-2008, 12:41 PM

I am sick of hearing about things like this. it is just plan getting ridiculous the state of things. mark my words there is going to eventually be a uprising of honest hard working citizens that have just had enough.

I am glad to hear you and your friends are OK i would push things with LE for sure do not just let this stand.

JD77 · 10-21-2008, 12:50 PM

My experience with law enforcement people, generally, is that they like cases like you describe. There is a good chance of catching someone and not just wasted time doing paperwork. Most of the other examples here (theft and prop. crime) are not going to get solved. Not enough manpower to enforce, too much time wasted doing paperwork and legal stuff. I would call the police/sheriff again immediately and ask for an officer/deputry. Tell them you want to pursue this and plan to press charges. You'll eventually get a case number (not that that does much but makes it official) and then you can just keep bugging. This will work. I don't know if it is worth it to you, but shoot, you might be saving someone else if you follow up.

cwh · 10-21-2008, 06:02 PM

Good for you for following up on the guy with the .22. That sort of thing needs to be dealt with.

Hunting with folks who are unsafe is just as dangerous, and it has a tendency to create awkward situations when you try to correct it. It's your life though. You can't let hurt feelings get in the way of safety.

Perfect Drift · 10-21-2008, 07:29 PM

and if You said, i shot back at him.. well now.. that is all together different, right ?
how silly.. hear say..

wife&3kids · 10-21-2008, 08:04 PM

Just a quick update-

Clackamas county sheriffs office has been completely unhelpful. after 3 attempts, they have agreed to send a deputy. The call i just got from a deputy was nothing more than a condenscending " what can i do?".

OSP on other hand seems interested in pursuing this from a wildlife violation standpoint. I will learn more as it goes on.

I am absolutely dedicated to getting this guy educated.

sprigkiller09 · 10-21-2008, 08:06 PM

Keep at it buddy!! Hopefully it will not just educate him but others as well. This type of thing is far to common. It would be great to see justice served.

Rank Amateur · 10-21-2008, 08:17 PM

I would think OSP would be interested in the reckless endangerment charge also, they have made cases similar to this in the past, where people shot across roadways or near houses.

ogrejager · 10-22-2008, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Smith

The ONE time I got robbed the cops wouldn't even come out and take a look.

A "semi-related" clarification:

There is a difference between "robbery" and "burglary." At least 2 people in this thread have referred to being "robbed" when they probably meant they were "burglarized." Robbery requires the taking of property by force or the threat of force. Burglary is entering a dwelling without permission and, well, taking stuff.

When you get "robbed" it makes the nightly news, at least on Fox.

To stay on topic, I'm glad OSP is interested. The lack of help from the Sheriff's office is sad. Also, be careful that next time you hunt the field, the guy doesn't shoot at blinds instead of the dekes!

Lucky Guy · 10-22-2008, 08:21 AM

Me too. We were around Paisley last week hunting coyotes. We came back to the car from a set up (with my first called dog by the way

).

A couple rigs had driven past me on their way in to set up a camp. My nephew was getting the coyote stowed and we hear pop, pop, pop, zing, zing and close!!

We popped off a couple rounds in the air to get their attention and it stopped. Yahoos were shooting pistols back in our direction without a backstop and the rounds were skipping off the rocks right over us. Knew our rig was there, heard the ricochets and just kept popping 'em.

Tar Heel · 10-22-2008, 09:49 AM

In addition to prosecuting these cases, hunters should do everything they can to get the word out that rifle shooting birds is recklessly unsafe--even if "they have done it all their lives.". Modern decoys and blinds are so effective, and geese so numerous, this will continue happening and more deaths will likely occur. Goose hunters often allow large flocks to land in their deecoys, making the distiction between a DSD and a live bird even less relevant (and more difficult).
Last year I wrote ODF&W, state/national 4H Clubs, BSA, and Farm Organizations, asking them to spread the word They will never get through to every dim wit, but they should at least try.

canes_venatici · 10-22-2008, 10:23 AM

I don't know if this is purely semantic or if this would have any bearing on the case but i'll state it.

I believe that you were not shot at. The guy was shooting toward you.

Is that correct?

wife&3kids · 10-22-2008, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canes_venatici

I don't know if this is purely semantic or if this would have any bearing on the case but i'll state it.

I believe that you were not shot at. The guy was shooting toward you.

Is that correct?

What's the difference? Ask the families of the gentleman who died in layouts if they thought that they were shot at or someone was shooting towards them.

canes_venatici · 10-23-2008, 07:49 AM

I'm just wondering if from a legal perspective there is a difference. I don't know the answer to this question.

Bird Dog · 10-23-2008, 08:23 AM

It's reckless and endangered his life. Shot toward and shot at will get you killed either way.

Keep on it!

Bird Dog

rimrock · 10-23-2008, 09:08 AM

All CV is addressng is "intent" which would be of legal importance. He's not saying it was "right". Read more carefully people.

canes_venatici · 10-23-2008, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rimrock

All CV is addressng is "intent" which would be of legal importance. He's not saying it was "right". Read more carefully people.

You are correct rimrock, with one minor change. I am addressing "intent" which MAY be of legal importance. I simply don't know if that makes a difference in the handling of a situation like this from a legal standpoint.

kodiakfisher · 10-23-2008, 02:14 PM

I had a long standing problem with pit bulls in the neighbors yard behind my house. It was a rental and the owners of the rental would leave the dogs their. Eventually they would get board break through the fence boards and come into my yard.

One of them was viscous and the other younger one was pretty harmless unless taking ques from the mean one. The day the mean one came into the yard and then tried to get into the dog door and was being mean and nasty I called the cops and they said all officers are currently busy and I said "no problem cause in 3mins these dogs are dead anyways" and hung up the phone. I'll be damned if I didn't have four cruisers at my house in less than 3mins and that mean one scared the crap out of one of the officers.

To their credit this was probably the 8th or 9th call, they had code enforcement come and tell the people at the house you either give us the dogs or you get a $250 fine each...dogs were gone that day.

Kodiakfisher

jbooth · 10-23-2008, 08:38 PM

Stuff is getting rediculous these days. Last year during archery season I had a kid that was my age finish off a monster bull elk I shot, but he did it with a RIFFLE. He tagged it with an archery tag and I couldn't even get a game warden to come out there. Biggest elk I had ever seen in person and when its laying around sick and waving its horn some kid on a 4 wheeler on a closed road stumbles upon it. Go figure.

Dave Smith · 10-24-2008, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbooth

Stuff is getting rediculous these days. Last year during archery season I had a kid that was my age finish off a monster bull elk I shot, but he did it with a RIFFLE. He tagged it with an archery tag and I couldn't even get a game warden to come out there. Biggest elk I had ever seen in person and when its laying around sick and waving its horn some kid on a 4 wheeler on a closed road stumbles upon it. Go figure.

Crap, that one is really sad- I'm speechless. In my book, jbooth: THAT'S YOUR TROPHY and congrats on a monster bull- you hunted him and got him fair and square and NO ONE one can take that away.