Statewide it is illegal to shoot game from inside your car or truck on the roadway but some areas an individual can exit the vehicle and shoot from the roadway and be legal. Local laws need to restrict this unethical practice and many already do but mountain counties have been slower to adapt this law.
Some hunters are just lucky. Like the guy driving down the road in Jackson County who spotted a deer in a yard and not long afterward drove off with the critter in his truck.
Call it mountain multitasking.
“It’s an easy way to take an animal,” said Sgt. Tim Lominac, of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
In most of the state, it’s also illegal. Jackson last month became the 13th Western North Carolina county to take on “road hunting.”
I don’t know many hunters that would call such individuals “hunters” never mind “lucky”. This is a dangerous practice because the shooter often does not know what or who lies beyond their target and is at risk of getting shot. I’m reminded of the tragic story out of Canada last fall where a guide was killed by a “road hunter”. There is no room in our sport for such slobs. It may not be illegal to shoot from the road surface but your ethics should prevent you from engaging in this practice.
Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose
