Spot lighting has been illegal for as long as I can remember in ND. I live in a very rural area with few occupied farmsteads. If someone is spotlighting they are up to no good. Makes it easy for the warden to do his job. It makes it easy for the cops to do their job for the guys driving around coming home from the bars. Hopefully GregH wasn't too plastered the night he was shining. I guess I wouldn't want the drunks around here having a reason for driving around after a night at the bar. I could care less about Minnesota or any other state where shining is legal. I never said I wanted it banned in any other state. I said I was happy it is illegal here. It is what I am used to. Hard to miss something you've never had for a scouting tool or for keeping the kids up late for a drive. Shining will never be legal here. You want to shine and it's legal... knock yourself out. Great you and the kids are having fun. We have a lot of fun scouting during day light hours. Tim
What if GregH only went to the bar for a pack of smokes? This is not true in states where spotlighting is legal (in most cases).
it's illegal here and cosidered immoral. but if it was legal i would find myself doing it, the area i hunt is all clearcut logging roads. it would take the whole challenge out of the hunt because if there's deer they are in the cuttings at night. there would be no need for any pre season scouting simply light up the cuttings find the big guys and head there in the morning......hmm i just realized why it's illegal.
Because I see the way it is abused in PA... It is an absolute circus. Give PA or OH sportsman an inch and they take a mile.
Illegal here in Oklahoma. I still know a few people that use it to poach deer though, just because its illegal isn't gonna stop them.
This is the truth. I will spotlight every now and then, but not often and rarely where I hunt. What I often notice when spotting is the deer, particularly the older bucks bolt at soon as that light hits them in many cases. I wonder why that would be???
I actually love doing it. It can definitely provide some useful info. You roll in to hunt the weekend and wonder if the deer are still in the cut corn or the unpicked beans...hmmm I wonder....drop of the gear and roll around taking inventory. 30 deer in the corn 7 in the beans, I know witch blocks of woods I'll focus on the next day. During the summer and early fall it can give you a little more insight as to certain areas deer are entering and exitng fields from and some deer prefer certain fields or parts of fields more than others. Not too concerned with the image of spotlighting, it's legal. In VA if you are on your own property or with written landowner permission(not from the road must be on the property & no weapons) then you are good to go.
Joe, I think he is saying in ND if someone is spotlighting they are up to no good because it is illegal there. So if they are doing it, they are already knowingly breaking the law and likely not just looking at deer.
I was just talking about ND where it is illegal. Again... if it is legal in your state... knock yourself out. Joe... have you ever been spot lighted. I have. 2 days after our rifle season was over one year. I was about 150 yards off the road before daylight one morning climbing up a side hill when a pickup came down the road shining. Since there was a lot of snow on the ground... I was wearing a white camo jacket with my realtree bibs and a tan beany as I planned on setting up in cattails and would lose the white jacket once I got there. As soon as the spot light hit me the pickup stopped. The dufus keep the spot light on me for a while as in minutes... not a minute but minutes. Since spotlighting is illegal here... you wonder why. Apparently at that distance he couldn't figure out what I was so I suspect he was scoping me with his rifle to get a better look. I hope like hell he didn't think I was a deer. The thought crossed my mind... more then once though while I waited him out. The thought of being scope pissed me off. After a couple minutes of me flipping him off... I starting walking back towards the pickup hoping the idiot would stay there. I got half ways back when he hauled ass out of there. Now if it is like you guys preach and most spot lighters are good guys... I should have had nothing to worry about... right ??? Was he in the 90% of Good guys or the rotten 10% ?? If spotting would have been legal when the above happened... I wouldn't have wanted it banned nor would I have pushed for it to be banned. If it were put up for vote NOW to make it legal... don't hold your breathe that I would vote yes. Tim
I support it for scouting purposes ,but you have your idiots who screw it all up for everyone else,like these 2 guys here in Ohio:http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/News/NewsReleaseArchives/tabid/19075/EntryId/1760/Poachers-Pay-the-Price-for-Spotlighting-Deer.aspx Glad they got more cheaters out of the way ( For now !)
No worries then, I thought you were talkin spot lighters period, my bad brother! Poaching must totally out of control by the way you paint the picture of ND, must be a bummer! I'l find out for myself come November!
I'ts highly illegal here in ky. They even go as far to say you cant shine your vehicle lights into a field where wildlife is expected to be. It doesn't really make sense because wildlife could be expected in any field.
I agree 100% Where I live in Central Ky there is alot of those " Rotten" guys around. Most of the time they just shoot em' and leave em' laying. I wish they would all get caught and thrown in jail.
