[meteorite-list] How about a thread to discuss hunting ethics

From: Mike Gilmer <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 14:40:04 -0500
Message-ID: <e51421550904021240x4b13fff1ra4c84bd0950a0f5e_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Mike and List,

I apologize to Mike and Sonny for my harsh words earlier. I live in
the deep south and I should know what the local "good old boy" club is
capable of. I think it's safe to say that I will steer well clear of
Burke County Georgia or any county that borders on it, and maybe any
county that borders on the border counties. ;)

As someone who has lived for 25+ years in the deep south, including
rural areas of Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, I can testify that
one does not go down unmarked dirt roads, park the car, get out, and
start walking around. One just doesn't do it. Private roads are not
always marked and sometimes the public roads aren't marked either
(seriously). One can usually park in a driveaway at a house and go up
to the front door and knock politely without much worry. But, there
are exceptions. We get a lot of characters in the deep south and some
of them aren't neighborly. Some areas are more xenophobic than
others. For example, I live in the parts of southern Louisiana that
the movie Southern Comfort was about - not unlike the Deliverance and
Georgia connection. It presents a negative view of the locals in
these poor backwards areas. But, I can say that some areas are more
friendly than others. Here in Cajun country, you can ignore the
stereotype in the movies - it just doesn't exist any more. Every
"cajun" in sight has a blackberry or bluetooth headset. Around here,
people are more forgiving and friendly to outsiders. I doubt you and
Sonny would have received such a hostile reception here in Cajun
country - you would have been offered gumbo and probably made a
business partner. Of course, we have some less-friendly types also,
but they tend to be in the minority.

As a teenager in rural Florida, we used to hike long distances and go
shooting our pellet guns in the extensive undeveloped wooded areas of
central Florida. I can recall one time that we jumped a barbwire
fence (a no-no and very stupid) and found our way onto a farmer's
field, within minutes a man in the distance on a tractor jumped down
and walked towards us, raising something. We ran, by the time we got
back over the fence, we heard a booming shot and something (rocksalt?)
hit the tall grass around us. We never looked back and I never jumped
another strange fence.

You're a good guy Mike, we talked in private before, and I trust what
you say. And I'll stay out of that area of Georgia.

Best regards and happier hunting,

MikeG

PS - so, for the record, the wild west is friendlier than the deep
south? (I hope so!)



On 4/2/09, Mike Miller <meteoritefinder at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone I am not going to get involved in a long discussion
> here, I just want to state for the record what happened to me. I was
> charged with walking down an UN posted dirt road. I was charged with 2
> counts as I parked my rental vehicle in plain sight on a highway and
> did walk down this UN posted dirt road on 2 different days. In
> Georgia they call it Criminal Trespass and it covers a very wide range
> of offenses. I was not hunting meteorites on the property I was simply
> trying to reach the area I thought might contain meteorites. I did not
> know the road was private and there were no signs that stated it was
> private. I was informed that in Georgia it is not necessary to post a
> road as private. I also realize that if I were raised in Georgia I
> would have likely known the road was private, but since I spend most
> of my time in the wide open west. I felt I was safe to walk down this
> dirt road and try to get to the area I was hoping had meteorite in it,
> that was still miles past the area of this dirt road.
> I was asked by the Judge of Burke county to inform every meteorite
> hunter that you are not welcome in Burke county and I can personally
> guarantee you that they are not kidding. Do not go to Burke county and
> knock on doors as you will be very sorry you came.
>
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 10:01 AM, Michael Murray <mmurray at montrose.net>
> wrote:
>> In a constructive thread, I'd like to hear more about how the hunters out
>> there discuss hunting private property with landowners, how they determine
>> who owns the property, do you pay a fee normally, do you do a formal
>> written
>> agreement on split of find. Could be that if some of the more seasoned
>> List
>> participants/hunters visit this topic in a somewhat detailed manner that
>> other hunters might better arm themselves with the knowledge it takes to
>> do
>> it right.
>>
>> Mike in CO
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Mike Miller 230 Greenway Dr. Kingman Az 86401
> www.meteoritefinder.com
> 928-753-6825
> ______________________________________________
> http://www.meteoritecentral.com
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>

-- 
.........................................................
Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
..........................................................

Received on Thu 02 Apr 2009 03:40:04 PM PDT