Why deer trolling ought to be illegal

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For my non-hunting friends from the Bay Area, what they saw both shocked and horrified them. This episode took place in the foothills of Sierra Nevada last week, where we were driving to a trailhead on a narrow, dirt Forest Service road. On a blind...

http://feeds.sfgate.com/~r/sfgate/rss/feed...535/article.cgi

 

[fishpro]

My Cousin just got hit head on, during the last week of deer season cause the darn idiots werent looking where they were going. I have "Deer Trolled" but only when its pretty empty and I have a spotter. But you cannot fire from a vehicle in California or even posses a loaded rifle in the car either. Those r the guys who give ethical hunters a bad name!

 

[Backcountry]

While in general I agree with the sentiments expressed by Tom Sienstra, he's not doing gun owners or hunters any favors with that article. I think he could have made his point without opening such a wide door to the libs to continue to infringe on gun owners rights.

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In less than an hour on a single Forest Service road, we ran across more than a dozen vehicles loaded with 30 to 40 guys out "deer trolling," as I call it. I've seen the same thing across much of the central Sierra and Northern California.

Why is this behavior tolerated? And, worse, why is it legal?[/b]

...the fallout from statements like that will be legislation... not legislation that will regulate how a person "hunts", but legislation that RESTRICTS gun owner's rights. In liberal Kalifornia, any bill put forth to address this issue will undoubtedly be used as a pile-on-the-bandwagon vehicle for added gun control restrictions. California already has one of the strictest set of requirements for transporting handguns in vehicles, severely infringing on the People's right to self defense. Do we want that restriction to extend now to all firearms? Maybe you don’t care, but FYI, once all guns are banned from being in a vehicle at all, how are you going to get your rifle from your house to your hunting grounds?

Folks, I've said this time and again... the libs only need to chip away at gun owner's rights a small bit at a time... we need to win every battle to keep our right to own firearms from disappearing altogether.

Tom, you had a great chance to use your soapbox effectively to address a legitimate problem, but this time you blew it. You should have pointed out that the law already prohibits having loaded weapons in a vehicle on public roads California. I’m going to bet that regardless of how many times you and your friends noticed a bunch of idiots, if the sheriff or game wardens had seen that, a bunch of tickets would have been written.

 

[Rumpled]

Stienstra's got it totally wrong and should know better.
"Deer trolling" as he describes it is totally illegal in CA.
In CA you cannot have a loaded gun in a vehicle and cannot fire from, on or across a road.

This kind of article sure isn't helping things.

 

[Lurediver]

All you have to do is see where the article was written and that sums it up!

He needs to get the facts straight, it's illegal to drive around with guns hanging out the window(loaded), this crap makes the rest of us look like a bunch of poachers.

 

[Rumpled]

I decided to email Tom about his article.
We'll see how/if he responds.

 

[Rumpled]

Tom did respond to my email, but I mistakenly deleted it. He had a good response but didn't feel he dissed hunters. I feel that the brush he used will paint all hunters as slobs to the lib's and anti's.
In his email, he did mention no round in the chamber = not being loaded in DFG's eyes. This is true, but under penal code, those rifles are still loaded.
I guess he and I just see things a little differently.

 

[Hot barrel]

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In his email, he did mention no round in the chamber = not being loaded in DFG's eyes. This is true, but under penal code, those rifles are still loaded.[/b]

Please correct me if I am wrong about this, but I think that even the penal codes states something about an exemption of loaded while not in an incorporated city or where loaded weapons are not otherwise legal.

Just wondering, because I have been known to move from spot to spot in the desert while having shells in the magazine but not chambered. I just dont want to get busted in the future for something I thougt was not ilegal.

By the way, I am not looking to blast from the car or roads while doing this.

Thanks

 

[Speckmisser]

Wow, Hot Barrel...you dredged up an oldie!

Anyway, the law is pretty specifically spelled out. If you are in legitimate hunting area, in the act of hunting or shooting or en route to/from a legal hunting or shooting area, it is legal to have a round in magazine but not in chamber for long guns.

Of course, hunting near urban or large suburban areas may entail being a little more cautious as local cops and even the highway patrol aren't always well versed in these laws. You could find yourself in court, even if you are in the right.

 

[Hot barrel]

Thanks for the clarification. It is pretty much what I thought. Even the grey areas you mentioned.

I know it was an old post. I was searching for some stuff and ran across it.

Thanks again