Quote:
Originally Posted by orthodoc
I should explain that our property is small, only 13 acres, and our house is situated so that it's less than 150 yards from anywhere on the property. Hunters firing rifles at the property line are too close to our house to be 'safe', per PA laws - never mind the fact that almost any rifle used by most hunters will carry farther than 150 yards. Most rifles used will fire a bullet 1-2 miles, as in the fatality we had in our county last year that was ruled an accident.
Three years ago, on Thanksgiving weekend, my daughter and I were decorating the Christmas tree in our home - against a large window in our great room - when we heard a dozen rifle shots close to the house. We looked out the window and saw a man walk up out of the ravine from our creek, into our backyard, literally a few feet from our back deck. He was holding his rifle, dressed in camo. I was livid. I bolted for the back door.
I ran out after the man, who had started up our back slope toward our woods. I yelled at him. "What the HELL do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are? There's a house here! You just shot your gun beside a HOUSE!!" He kept going. My husband caught up to me and grabbed my arm. He pulled me back, saying, this guy has a gun. Come back into the house. I was screaming at the guy. He kept going. I could see his hunting license on the back of his jacket but couldn't read it.
The guy walked away from us. If I'd been able to get a picture of his license, I could've had it pulled. That's the ONLY thing these guys care about. Nothing else matters. They wouldn't mind winging somebody and saying later that it was an accident. They'd get away with it in rural Pennsylvania.
Our 'posted' signs have all been torn down by the local yahoos. The local Walmart is out of them, per usual, and does not plan to order any more. It's another typical hunting season in northwest PA.
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goddamnit, I replied to this and must have previewed and closed without posting... again.
sigh
OK, what this hunter did was illegal and dickish. He should be punished, and have his license yanked. You have every right to be thoroughly pissed off, I would be too. However, when relating the incident to people, if you rant about hunters in generalizations, there's a good chance someone they love, Dad, Granddad, brother, lover, is a hunter(Not being sexist, there are very few women hunters). That may reduce your story to an anti-hunting rant in their mind, rather than factual incident they're likely to repeat. And you want it repeated often.
The same applies to the guns shoot 1 to 2 miles thing. No matter how much you shit your pants, the fact remains if he shot in your direction you'd have holes in your house. Again, if it doesn't reduce sympathy from the listener, chances are they are already anti-hunting/guns or a bunny hugger. These are not the people you want to win over. You want the pro-hunting/guns person who is a rational human being(I think you'd be surprised what a large percentage they are), to hear your complaint.
By all means, tell what happened, how scared you were, and how pissed off you were and are, but leave out the hyperbole that may alienate the listener before they hear you out.
Or next time just shoot the fucker and report an accident.
