If I had known that there was going to be this much law enforcement involvement, I might not have gone after this hunt! Well...all things considered, it was a fun experience that will be the makings of some good fireside stories. Here are the details:
Strike One
A subcontractor of ours put me on to a neighbor of his who had a crow problem in his pecan orchard. His neighbor owns a high-end antique store in downtown Charleston. The is in one of the hardest places to find parking, so I squeezed into a loading zone, making one space into two. This area is not only short on parking, it is long on meter maids. (See first photo of my $45 ticket.)
At least the owner was very receptive to the idea of protecting the orchard at his home in Hollywood, SC. He did, however, warn me of a nasty neighbor who lives to make trouble for him. Both their properties are at the end of a road that stops at a big creek. There are several homes, two of which are owned by the orchard owner. (See second picture.)
Strike Two
After setting up the blind last night (blue dot on satellite photo), a friend and I set out the decoys and started calling at sunup this morning. The crows started to respond well and we grooved-in on the shooting to the point that we were getting several doubles and triples. After a couple of hours, we had downed 32 birds, and then it happened...a cop car pulls into the driveway right up to our blind. We got out and the county sheriff deputy started in on the "What is wrong with this scenario..." speech saying they have had a complaint. Before he got out of the car he must have seen our guns and called for backup, as by the time he finished his talk, there were another 3 cop cars surrounding us! All the while, the crows were going crazy above us!! Talk about being flustered!
It was determined that county law provides a 300-yard separation between shooting activities and neighbors' houses, so I retrieved my laser range finder from the truck. While walking to the truck, my buddy was able to make a connection with the lead deputy and said he knew his parents, brother and other family members...that helped! Scoping the orchard with my range finder, I explained that if we moved to the opposite side of the opening where our blind was (green dot), we would be 300 yds. away from Mrs. Anti-Hunting (Circle #1). We all shook hands and I gave him one of my "Free Crow Removal" business cards and we resumed our hunt with relocated decoys but without the blind. The birds returned and the shooting resumed.
Strike Three
After about an hour, I received a phone call from an unknown number. Answering it, I found that it was our favorite deputy again, this time advising me that the neighbor on the other side of the orchard (Circle #2) had also lodged a complaint! After thanking him for his cooperation, I told him that things were slowing down and it was threatening rain, so we would end the hunt and leave. After all we had experienced, it was obvious that we were pushing our luck. It wasn't a total loss, as we ended up with a TBC of 55 crows!
Random Notes
While taking down the blind, the owner drove by and checked in with us. I explained all that had happened and thanked him for allowing us to hunt. I also joked to him that "We are good at what we do, so we can help you with your crow problem... What we cannot do is heal the chronically miserable!" He agreed.
While picking up, we noticed an amazing number of small snails covering all of our dead crows and decoys. This was in a wet area and we had on & off showers, which may had been a factor. Never seen this condition before... there were thousands of these critters!
That is my report. I'm back at home trying to dry out my gun, clothes & gear. Still shaking my head about an weird, eventful but satisfying hunt.
Demi
-- Edited by Island Shooter on Monday 9th of October 2017 08:12:07 PM
I bet you setup at your second location first the next time you visit this orchard. This way the law enforcement will tell the neighbor next time he files a complaint that there is nothing they can do as you are the legal distance from any houses. This is aggravation you don't need but you have a legal right to be there so just tell the neighbor to piss off if he should confront you. What a saga you have been through Demi!
Hey, you are a clay bird shooter I have a question for you on the Beretta A - 400 Xcel Black ? Do you know any shooters who shoot one? If so how much do they feel the recoil is cut down with trap loads? That recoil reducer they have interests me. The Black model is a regular blue job not like the light blue they put on the regular A- 400 Xcel
Your friend George Digweed had a home invasion where they beat the crap out of him and tied up both him and his wife! They stole some of his trophy's and guns which is sickening! He had stitches in his forehead.
Definitely a good "fireside story". Congrats on the hunt ! Snails were weird, never saw or heard of this before.
Butch
NHCrowshooter and 10ga. went through a pretty awful scenario too at some point! Some jerk ripped his speaker out of a tree!!Right in front of those two! Not quite as bad as the 3 strikes but still pretty awful!
__________________
Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
When did this happen to Pete? That is a good way to get a shotgun butt across your face in a hurry!
Within two years ago he posted it and I read in complete shock...not sure if I can find it. I'll go looking. It was a horror show I guarantee you that!
__________________
Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
We had a good shoot today and a little after 11AM we had the most bizarre thing happen. A guy walking his dog comes out of the woods to our right. He can plainly see our decoys and two e-callers are blasting away. We had a great blind in the hemlocks and apparently he didn't see us. He walks up to the e-caller on the right, yanks the speaker out of the tree it's in, throws it to the ground and starts kicking it. We yell at him, he yells back asking why are we shooting the crows and very argumentative. He leaves and my partner follows him down the trail back to his car. The police are called. They show but don't want to do anything because the speaker was not damaged (soft snow saved it). We met with two Fish & Game officers and gave them verbal and written reports. They seemed more interested in following up and hopefully they can cite the guy for disorderly conduct. Really bizarre and very brazen. some disordered thinking on the part of the guy walking his dog. The last thing I would ever think of doing is start trying to damage the property of somebody in front of them much less if they happen to be holding shotguns. People are effing unbelievable!
This is his story,BobA.........
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Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
I am glad I do not make it a practice to shoot in that part of this state regarding hunter harassment-some people are really screwy. But in general you want a look at really screwy people sit in on any court proceedings and you won't believe what people do...!!
This scenario with the Parker Bros. defies rational. thinking. But many people are out to lunch on hunting. I believe that area has a high influx of out of staters who want street lights on every corner and a cop outside every liquor store...and buy a brand new volvo or mercedes every two years....!
__________________
Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
I bet you setup at your second location first the next time you visit this orchard. This way the law enforcement will tell the neighbor next time he files a complaint that there is nothing they can do as you are the legal distance from any houses. This is aggravation you don't need but you have a legal right to be there so just tell the neighbor to piss off if he should confront you. What a saga you have been through Demi!
Hey, you are a clay bird shooter I have a question for you on the Beretta A - 400 Xcel Black ? Do you know any shooters who shoot one? If so how much do they feel the recoil is cut down with trap loads? That recoil reducer they have interests me. The Black model is a regular blue job not like the light blue they put on the regular A- 400 Xcel
Your friend George Digweed had a home invasion where they beat the crap out of him and tied up both him and his wife! They stole some of his trophy's and guns which is sickening! He had stitches in his forehead.
Bob
Bob,
In the sporting clays community, there are a few shooters who use the A400. Of those who do, most are the blue or red, and I haven't noticed many of the blacks. In sporting clays, auto loaders are headed the way of the dinosaur for many reasons (simplicity, reliability, longevity, shucked shells, etc.). The vast number of shooters (and virtually all of the serious ones) use O/U's.
Yes, I've heard about Digweed's home invasion. They did catch one of the culprits who is now sentenced and in jail. George is still a little off his game for now.
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
An update on our hunt! After telling the owner about the problems with the neighbors and law, he called the mayor of the town and discussed the shooting situation. Apparently, the deputy was wrong to stop us because we were using shotguns & not rifles. The town laws states that for rifles you need to be 300 yds. away from houses, but if you are shooting shotguns, as long as you are on the property and not shooting onto other properties, you can shoot from anywhere.
The owner apologized for the problems and told me we could come back any time we wanted to! I'm glad we got through this one and now we all know the ground rules to go by. I now have a permanent hunt site to add to the list! For now, all is good with this crow magnet of an orchard.
I'll report details the next time I shoot there.
Demi
__________________
The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
The closest place that even has one to look at is 50 miles away at Michael Murphy's Sporting Clay Range and pro shop in Augusta Kansas.
I told the guy at the gun shop where I have done business for the past 40 years to call me if a Beretta Urika model 391 comes in. If it is in good shape I will switch receivers by putting my barrel on the new receiver and trade my 391 in on the other 391 in better shape. Then I am good to go again. I currently have a pair of model 391's that I have been using for 10 years now. My number two gun is almost like new as I only started using it two years ago and use the number one gun as a backup gun now until I can find another model 391 in better shape.
Keep us posted if you have any more drama from the out of control neighbor.
Terrible for you to have problems like that! Being a retired police officer, it really frustrates me to hear whenever an officer doesn't know the law but will act as if he does.
Also Hunter harassment pisses me off. There is a specific law against that in Michigan.
Good hunt and report! I have had similar situations while goose hunting locally. I can get along with anyone but some folks just don't like hunting or shooting no matter what the law says. I always try to keep the landowner out of any situation but that is not always possible. I have lost a few spots because the landowner wanted to "keep the peace" with the neighbors.
Thankfully, your landowner has a good head on his shoulders and realizes his rights and has the balls to tell his neighbors to "pound sand."
An update on our hunt! After telling the owner about the problems with the neighbors and law, he called the mayor of the town and discussed the shooting situation. Apparently, the deputy was wrong to stop us because we were using shotguns & not rifles. The town laws states that for rifles you need to be 300 yds. away from houses, but if you are shooting shotguns, as long as you are on the property and not shooting onto other properties, you can shoot from anywhere.
The owner apologized for the problems and told me we could come back any time we wanted to! I'm glad we got through this one and now we all know the ground rules to go by. I now have a permanent hunt site to add to the list! For now, all is good with this crow magnet of an orchard.
