30 October 2008
Hunters Force Closure of Scout Camp
Posted by admin under: camps; safety .
Hunting is a traditional sport all around the country and helps to maintain the ecologic balance in some areas. Poaching, or hunting when or where it’s not allowed, is something all decent hunters are against. There is an instance, according to Justin Story at the Bowling Green Daily News, where hunters have endangered Boy Scouts on their camp property forcing the temporary closure of that camp.
Hunters trespassing on the 1,400-acre Russellville property owned by the Shawnee Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America have forced the council to shut down the camp during modern gun season from Nov. 8-23.
As a result, Grayson and leaders from two other area Scouting groups have found their plans for camping trips at the Russellville site scuttled.
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Deer hunting seasons in Kentucky are scheduled so that hunters can use particular weaponry – archery season is under way and muzzle-loading season was the weekend of Oct. 18-19 and returns Dec. 13-21.
With modern gun season, however, hunters who set up stands on camp property pose a threat to campers, forcing the closure of the camp during that time, said Jay Holland, district Scout executive for the Lost River District of the Boy Scouts.
“We’ve had instances of fences being cut, we’ve seen tire tracks and stumbled on mobile deer stands,” Holland said. “I know it’s frustrating for our Scouts, but we just cannot take a chance on an accident.”
I have to agree with the closure and I deplore those who call themselves hunters taking a chance with the lives of our children for their sport. We have a shooting program in my Boy Scout troop, but I am sometimes reluctant to admit it because of the terrible way some shooters leave the condition of public ranges. Broken bottles, piles of brass, junked car parts left out in a field full of holes are all examples of things I don’t want to be associated with. The Boy Scouts will be safe, but I wonder if others in that area on their own property will be. I hope so.
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One Comment so far...
Dan - Scouting News Says:
30 October 2008 at 1:22 pm.
Our Council has closed our camps for hunting for as long as I can remember. It gets interesting since we’ve had some special early hunts to control CWD. I say better safe than sorry, even with the inconvenience.
In fact I was at one of our camps two weekends ago repairing the property fence because hunters had in some places cut and in others intertwined the wire to get onto our property and cattle were getting through. That particular property we’ve taken down deer stands for the last two years, and even have some folks who go up there on the weekends just to run hunters off the land.
