Shooting in Torrington S F

[Jimnyjerry]

A recent event copied from another forum.

"To the three idiots firing shots whilst myself and my partner and his friend were fossicking in Torro yesterday.. your really something special guys!!!! Don't get me wrong I'm not a complete anti gun person but when I come across such idiots as yourselves it makes me very concerned that anyone would give you a gun licence...thats if yous even have one??? Firing shots at 30 metres is not acceptable!!!! What if my children were in the bush fossicking??? Not to mention I spent nearly an hour and  half trying to finds my children's dog who took off in fright even though I asked you to stop firing so I could put her away but you kept going...

[Jimnyjerry]

Wonder if the shooters even got permission to shoot in the State Forest.

https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/hunting/where-can-i-hunt/permission-conditions-hunting-in-nsw-state-forests

 

[Aussie Sapphire]

I would be amazed if they did have permission given the way they were behaving.


Idiots who would claim they are law-abiding gun owners if challenged but just make it difficult for those who do follow the rules.


Very annoying.


Leah

[Plutonium]

I don't have a recreational hunting permit (I shoot on private land) so I don't know a lot about the recreational permits as such.
 They are easy enough to get, but on the other side of the fence there is a lot of stupid environmental pandering done to achieve that.
  I always thought it was just ridiculous to put high visibility vests on hunters when somebody walking through the bush could be wearing camo and not be seen. And yet as a hunter I'm not going to shoot anything unless I know 100% what it is, where it is and what the situation is. The vests can't be seen by deer and foxes, so they don't effect hunters.

In any case, the best way to deal with the situation is to try and identify the illegal or unsafe hunters. A licence plate on a car is all you need and then report the behaviour to the local police on the day.
 The police will investigate and contact the people involved. Now it is unlikely that much will come of it. But what will happen is that the people involved will be on notice and if somebody complains about them in the future, they are very likely to have their permits revoked. When that happens they will have to then justify why they should keep their gun license.

Of course on the good side. If you know there are (good) hunters out there, go an talk to them when they arrive, let them know where you are and what you know about activity in the area. They should be very friendly and thankful for you information.

As a hunter, I don't want to be near people. They scare away the animals your hunting and present a risk. So if somebody came up to me and said, "We're camped over there, just thought we'd let you know." I'd be very happy that they had told me and I would pick up and head in the other direction

[Jimnyjerry]

Seems it was muddy up at Torrington and the number plates were unreadable.

I agree that responsible hunters do the right thing.

[pc bowe]

Some outdoor activities attract stupid, unfortunately shooting is one of them.

[Plutonium]

Permitted Hunting shouldn't be one of them. If they are legit, they would be obvious and polite.
A lot of effort has gone into recreational hunting in state forests.

The illegal hunters when approached would be shady or intimidating or be very keen to leave the area quickly before they are caught.
Just confronting them should be enough to scare them off, or remind irresponsible legit hunters to pull to get their act together.
They have way too much to lose by doing the wrong thing.

[starsapphire78]

I'm glad to hear you , are all ok , it could have been  a lot worse . Some people are , just  plain , stupid

[MrSydney]

Confronting them is all great but when you are that far from civilisation bravery could be somewhat foolhardy! (especially in a remote area with LOTS of mine shafts around!).

While unlikely you would be seriously hurt / killed it certainly would be a higher probability not worth gambling with.  Better to take some footage while they are not paying attention and at least report it to police rather than direct confrontation.