Yet ANOTHER hunting accident in MA

[M1911]

Another hunter was shot on Saturday on Martha's Vineyard.

The Martha's Vineyard Times
Edgartown man shot in Chappy hunting accident

By Nelson Sigelman
Published: December 10, 2009

In the second Island hunting accident in the first week of the Massachusetts shotgun deer season, Peter Jackson Sr. shot Ronald Drake, a member of the party he was hunting with, in the stomach with a deer slug. The two men were hunting with Robert Fountain.

Mr. Jackson, 65, Mr. Drake, 67, and Mr. Fountain, 64, were hunting Saturday morning in thick brush on a section of private property in a remote section of Chappaquiddick adjacent to The Trustees of Reservations Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge when the accident occurred, Edgartown police said this week.

Mr. Drake, a seasonal Edgartown resident from Pleasant Valley, New York, was transferred from Martha's Vineyard Hospital to a Boston-area medical facility. His injuries were not life threatening, according to reports, but there is no information on his current condition.

Mr. Jackson did not possess a valid firearms identification card permitting him to possess a shotgun at the time of the accident, Edgartown Police officer Chris Dolby said. His previous card expired in 2004. Officer Dolby said the investigation was turned over to Sgt. Matt Bass, the state's Environmental Police officer.

Yesterday, Sergeant Bass applied in Edgartown District Court for a charge of possession of a shotgun without a firearm identification card to be issued against Mr. Jackson.

Conviction is punishable by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 2 years, or by a fine of not more than $500.

Full text here: http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/news/2009/12/10/edgartown-man-shot-hunting.php?page=all

That makes 4 so far this year.

 

[M1911]

And two other incidents on Martha's Vineyard:

Shotgun slug hits Chilmark house

Monday afternoon Chilmark Police responded to a call from Arba Clark, caretaker for a house located on Chockers Lane about a hole in an outside wall caused by a shotgun slug.

Following a search and the discovery of a casing, police determined that a Winchester 12 gauge slug was fired from Chockers Lane through thick brush, a distance of 25 yards, hit the lawn and ricocheted into the wall of the unoccupied residence and penetrated into the rear bedroom.

Anyone with information is asked to call Chilmark Police at 508-645-3310.

Shotgun slug shatters VTA bus window

A report of a gun shot that shattered a Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) bus window sent Edgartown Police to the VTA lot in the Martha's Vineyard Airport business park late Wednesday morning.

VTA administrator Angie Grant told police that she heard a loud gunshot and learned a short time later that a window on the passenger side of a transit van parked in the VTA lot had been shattered. Police also found a puncture hole in the seat next to the shattered window.

Ms. Grant told the responding police officers she thought the damage was caused by hunters in the area. Later, cleaners found shotgun slug in the van and gave it to police.

Ms. Grant also gave police a security tape that showed several flashes that appeared to be coming from beyond an adjacent boat storage yard and resembled gunfire at night, the police report said.

The window damage occurred during the first week of the two-week deer shotgun season and two days after a hunter was wounded by buckshot not far from the VTA lot in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.

A one-ounce, 12 gauge slug of a type commonly used on the Vineyard can be lethal up to 350 yards and can break a window past 750 yards. However, a slug fired from a weapon held level loses velocity and drops quickly - almost two feet at a distance of 150 yards.

The VTA lot abuts a triangular section of airport owned woodland bordered by the airport, the business park and West Tisbury Road.

Airport manager Sean Flynn told The Times that Wednesday morning an airport employee heard gunshots and found a vehicle parked in the Nectar's nightclub lot adjacent to the woods. The hunters had shot a deer. They were told they could not hunt on airport property and left.

Mr. Flynn said it was only later he learned about the VTA bus window.

Ms. Grant told The Times the incident was unnerving because the slug had to have traveled across the entire parking lot. Hunters in the state forest need to be aware of their surroundings she said and not overzealous.

 

[Admin]

Isn't everyone wearing blaze orange during shotgun season?

 

[glockshooter]

Isn't everyone wearing blaze orange during shotgun season?

I think that people are not wearing orange or that is what I heard from the accident on Nantucket last year. Even if people dont have orange on why are guys shooting at something they are not sure is a deer?

People need to stop being so careless because the wonderful sport of hunting will be ruined by a few people. Not to mention these few accidents make all the people who are being careful look bad also!

Just my 2cents.

 

[M1911]

Orange is very important, but in some places on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, you can be very close but your hunting partners won't be able to see you even if you are wearing orange. The scrub is just so thick down there. Here's some pictures near where the latest accident occurred. These pictures show the open areas.

Many of the successful hunters on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard use drives to move the deer, and as the second article explains, driving deer brings significant safety issues with it.

 

[glockshooter]

I agree that it is thick. I grew up summering on Chappy so I know. I have no tolerance for people who shoot without being completely sure that you have a safe place to shoot! If I took every shoot at the deer I have seen this year I would be launching ammo into the air everywhere..... Instead I still have no deer this year. As for driving deer I have hunted with 8-10 guys throughout my deer hunting life and as long as people are clear on where everyone is and where they can and cant shoot it is no problem at all.

In cover that thick driving deer is dangerous without a doubt.

As for the orange I am fairly sure that MA law requires you to wear 500 square inches.... In my mind if someone gets shot with no orange the fault should be split between the idiot who didnt wear orange and the guy who shoots thinking its a deer. If you arent sure its a deer dont shoot!

Is getting a deer worth having a serious accident over???

 

[M1911]

As for driving deer I have hunted with 8-10 guys throughout my deer hunting life and as long as people are clear on where everyone is and where they can and cant shoot it is no problem at all.

It needs both clear instructions, and also the self-discipline of the participants to follow that direction.

As for the orange I am fairly sure that MA law requires you to wear 500 square inches.... In my mind if someone gets shot with no orange the fault should be split between the idiot who didnt wear orange and the guy who shoots thinking its a deer. If you arent sure its a deer dont shoot!

I think it is incorrect to assume that all 4 of the victims of these accidents were not wearing orange. I suspect that all were wearing orange. But in that scrub, your slug or buckshot may travel much farther than you can see.

Just because you are wearing orange doesn't mean everyone can see you.

 

[Admin]

The shooters might simply have not been sure of their background behind the targets. I doubt guys were shooting at movement when they were hunting together as a party.

Could be wrong. I've never been shot at while hunting but have had a slug wiz past my head from another hunting that was shooting at a deer. The slug had struck/skipped of a tree and was screaming towards me. I could hear it.

 

[M1911]

The shooters might simply have not been sure of their background behind the targets. I doubt guys were shooting at movement when they were hunting together as a party.

The article says the following:

The men were participating in a small drive. Mr. Jackson saw a deer running in the brush and took a shot. "He said he never saw Drake in the background," according to the police report.

If that is true (always questionable with press reports), either they didn't properly plan their drive or Mr. Jackson didn't follow his instructions about safe firing lane. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't really plan the drive beyond "You stay here, we'll go around to the right and work our way back towards you."

 

[Admin]

If that is true (always questionable with press reports), either they didn't properly plan their drive or Mr. Jackson didn't follow his instructions about safe firing lane. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't really plan the drive beyond "You stay here, we'll go around to the right and work our way back towards you."

Sounds like it. When my party drove we usually drove to shooters in stands. If we ever drove towards ground shooters we had a rule to not shoot until the deer were at 90 degrees to you. If that makes any sense. It ensured we never shot towards the drivers and it worked pretty well.

 

[M1911]

Sounds like it. When my party drove we usually drove to shooters in stands. If we ever drove towards ground shooters we had a rule to not shoot until the deer were at 90 degrees to you. If that makes any sense. It ensured we never shot towards the drivers and it worked pretty well.

Yea, that makes sense.

I haven't done many drives. If I'd have done more, perhaps I would feel more comfortable with them. As it is, they give me the willies.

It doesn't surprise me that several (all?) of these seasons' accidents seem to have occurred during drives.

 

[Admin]

Yea, that makes sense.

I haven't done many drives. If I'd have done more, perhaps I would feel more comfortable with them. As it is, they give me the willies.

It doesn't surprise me that several (all?) of these seasons' accidents seem to have occurred during drives.

They can be dangerous if the shooter/s are clueless. However they are pretty effective late in the day after hunting in the stand didn't produce. I've had literally herds run towards me when my father and uncles were driving. Trying to decide which one to shoot when they are running while your heart is pounding is a ton of fun.

 

[M1911]

I'm sure they are effective, especially on places like Nantucket and the Vineyard. Several years back a few buddies and I went over to Nantucket for a special hunt during February. We didn't get anything. We chatted with an EPO at the weigh station. He said that many of the most successful hunters on Nantucket do large drives. He described one group from the cape that comes over. Their drivers wear orange-painted hockey helmets, and their motto is "If you're not bleeding, you're not hunting" -- the scrub on Nantucket is just brutal.

 

[terraformer]

I'm sure they are effective, especially on places like Nantucket and the Vineyard. Several years back a few buddies and I went over to Nantucket for a special hunt during February. We didn't get anything. We chatted with an EPO at the weigh station. He said that many of the most successful hunters on Nantucket do large drives. He described one group from the cape that comes over. Their drivers wear orange-painted hockey helmets, and their motto is "If you're not bleeding, you're not hunting" -- the scrub on Nantucket is just brutal.

Interesting question that arises from this. Is it considered hunting for those driving? ie; What happens if one or two hunters in a stand are armed with shotguns and 4 others on the ground driving in blaze orange. Are the 4 on the ground considered hunters and therefor required to have the license, the FID, etc and so on. Can you hunt without actually having a weapon?

 

[arlow]

Sounds like it. When my party drove we usually drove to shooters in stands. If we ever drove towards ground shooters we had a rule to not shoot until the deer were at 90 degrees to you. If that makes any sense. It ensured we never shot towards the drivers and it worked pretty well.

Actually that is not enough. Only the standers on either end of the line should be cleared to shoot 90 degrees and only in the 90 degrees away from the other standers. The rest of the standers if they shoot 90 degrees they are shooting towards other standers. Those guys need to let the deer get past or behind them before shooting.

 

[Admin]

The rest of the standers if they shoot 90 degrees they are shooting towards other standers. Those guys need to let the deer get past or behind them before shooting.

Yes, we only used two end guys(shooters). Only a moron would shoot towards the other shooter at 90 degrees.