[Rick Phelps]

When a person picks a gun up for any reason and any place they have a tremendous amount of responsibility to assure everyone’s safety as well as their own. A duck, deer and any other game is not worth the price to pay if someone is hurt in the act of harvesting game. Sageman I fully agree with you.

 

[ncitrez]

I'm a hunter. No doubt there is a huge responsibility that comes with carrying a gun, and it's nothing to take lightly. That said, I've been on "both" sides of the fence.

As was mentioned by others above, it all boils down to courtesy and COMMON SENSE. If the hunters are set up on legally open waters first, they must receive a wide berth - not only for safety, but out of respect for their right to be there. If a fisher decides to "share" the water at that point, it is their responsibility to maintain a safe distance and not foul the hunt for the hunters. Me personally, I wouldn't even enter the water if hunters were already there. The birds will be lit no matter how far away the fisher is from the dekes.

Now, if the lake is occupied by fishers first, any hunter that would come in and set up is out of line (and pretty stupid since the hunting won't be worth a sh*t) unless the lake is REALLY BIG. Even on a big lake, if shot is "raining" the fishers their guns should be taken away. And yes, if that happened to me when I was fishing first, I would DEFINITELY say something to those d*ckheads.

Let's face it - hunters and fishers at the same body of water doesn't really work. Common sense and safety must come first. My $.02.

 

[Dipsnort]

If the hunters are set up on legally open waters first, they must receive a wide berth - not only for safety, but out of respect for their right to be there. If a fisher decides to "share" the water at that point, it is their responsibility to maintain a safe distance and not foul the hunt for the hunters. Me personally, I wouldn't even enter the water if hunters were already there.

Right on the money!iagree

 

[Sageman]

I agree within reason. Hunter's oftentimes set up earlier than fishermen, so I think they also need to consider where they are setting up and use proper judgement. If they are back in the dunes on the Potholes, by all means, fishermen stay away. However, I think they need to stay away from areas where they KNOW they are going to be encountering large numbers of fishermen. Places like Lenice. If a duck hunter decides to set up at Reiter Ponds (not that they likely would), or on the Yakima River, should they expect to have the fishermen stay away? They need to use common sense on WHERE they set up.

Same analogy as the kiddie pool. Just because you get there with your fly rod early in the morning before the kids start showing up, you shouldn't expect them to stay away. You KNOW they are going to come. It is poor judgement to be there in the first place.

The other problem is that hunters are oftentimes invisible to fishermen when they are in their blinds. A fisherman may paddle right into their field of fire without ever knowing they are there. Especially if the decoys aren't readily apparent.

 

[East Fork]

The other problem is that hunters are oftentimes invisible to fishermen when they are in their blinds. A fisherman may paddle right into their field of fire without ever knowing they are there. Especially if the decoys aren't readily apparent.

What? You can't tell decs from real ducks?

 

[Sageman]

Maybe if I'm looking for them, but I may be right on them before realizing what they are if I am not paying attention.:clown:

 

[Rick Phelps]

Lets just say all concerned thought they were doing all the right things, your fishing the hunter is hunting, then two ducks come flying by the hunter gets all excited like we do when that monster fish hits, he is oblivious to his surroundings because of his excitement, like we would be when the big one hits. Lets say at that moment and you are facing away so you do not see what is going on, he shoots you turn to see, you thought you were safe your not a hunter so you thought you were out of range and wham a couple of pellets hits you in the eye . Until then everything was fine, we were getting along respecting one another. What you think a judge and jury would say. My best guess is the hunter would be in a heap of trouble, he has the greater burden of making sure he does not put anyone in harms way. Safe and courteous hunting would be to find water that is closed to fishing or find some place that is safe. Besides if you go to the rifle range they do not let people practice casting or any other activity while there is a loaded gun around. I have always thought this to be true: if it can happen it will sooner or later.

Thats my five cents worth now!

 

[ncitrez]

Sageman, I can see where you are coming from - especially if you are a fly fisher that frequents Lenice. You wait all summer for the water to cool and then it's hunting season. I'm empathetic, believe me.

However, the Kiddy Pool analogy doesn't fully apply here. Lenice is not designated as strictly "fishing only" (at least I don't think so). The Kiddy Pool is just that, a Kiddy Pool. No one is expected to be casting a fly rod there. But Lenice is a public lake for public use, with no real restictions as to the kind of use. All hunters aren't fly fishers, so not all hunters "know" that Lenice is a popular fly fishing lake. Most do, I'm sure, but probably not all. Since it's not illegal to hunt there, you'll see hunters. That entire area of the Crab Creek drainage sees a LOT of hunting pressure. Hunters come with the territory during the fall. It isn't realistic to expect the hunters to stay away from great hunting areas when it's perfectly legal to hunt there.

whynothunt - good point. The hunter would definitely be in trouble. There's a BIG difference between excitement while hunting and while fishing. With guns involved, there is no excuse, and you CAN'T let excitement overrule safety and common sense. That hunter in your example should not have pulled the trigger, and thus will be subject to prosecution. That's why I said above that hunting and fishing on the same body of water don't mix.

All I'm saying is that if you fish Lenice in the fall during hunting season, expect company from hunters and use common sense and courtesy. And PLEASE BE SAFE.

My two bits now.

 

[Rick Phelps]

ncitrez,

You are right, the kiddies’ pool was a bad example, a better one might be, any public beach or lake where there is people. The point was the safety factor and the right thing to do is leave if the possibility exists that someone could get hurt by that person’s action.

I agree with you “use common sense and courtesy and be safe"

Good debate!:thumb:
Rick

 

[bkorbol]

Since I am the one who posted this thread, I agree with all of you and your excamples about using common sence. (I am a duck hunter also but I hunt 100% on this side of the mountains). I think I should have asked a different question. During hunting season are there many hunters who hunt Lake Lenice on weekends or during the week?? If the answer is yes then I will pick another lake to fish.

 

[goose biot]

Are we even sure Lenice is open for hunting? I can't find anything meaningful on the WDFW web site. Even if it is open, as a duck hunter, I can't imagine anyone who knows that it's a popular fishing lake wanting to hunt there . . . nobody wants to set up on a lake that's going to have float tubes and pontoons bobbing around, unless they're shooting coots, that is.

 

[Kent Lufkin]

FWIW, I believe one of the reasons that Lenice, Merry and Nunnally used to close on October 31 was because of their historic role as a layover spot for migrating waterfowl later in the fall. But apparently migration patterns have changed, which prompted WDFW to keep them open until the end of November a couple years back.

K