Alphecca: Fish Shooting...

May 14, 2004

Fish Shooting...

Reader Jay F. sent me a link to this NY Times story about fish shooting in Vermont:

ST. ALBANS BAY, Vt. - The hunter's prey darted into the
shadows, just out of reach of Henry Demar's gun.

"Come on, stand up and be counted," Mr. Demar whispered
excitedly. "There was a ripple that came out of the weeds.
There's something out there."

Dressed in camouflage, gripping his .357 Magnum, Mr. Demar
was primed to shoot. But this time, no such luck. With a
flick of its tail, his quarry - a slick silvery fish - was
gone.

Fish shooting is a sport in Vermont, and every spring,
hunters break out their artillery - high-caliber pistols,
shotguns, even AK-47's - and head to the marshes to
exercise their right to bear arms against fish.

It is a controversial pastime, and Vermont's fish and
wildlife regulators have repeatedly tried to ban it. They
call it unsportsmanlike and dangerous, warning that a
bullet striking water can ricochet across the water like a
skipping stone.

But fish shooting has survived, a cherished tradition for
some Vermont families and a novelty to some teenagers and
twenty-somethings. Fixated fish hunters climb into trees
overhanging the water (some even build "fish blinds" to sit
in), sail in small skiffs or perch on the banks of marshes
that lace Lake Champlain, on Vermont's northwest border.

Heh! I'll definitely give this story a mention in my Weekly Report since it's such a strange story to appear in the NY Times. There is quite a bit of condescension from the writer, but I like the impression it gives of Vermont -- that yes, we're all a little crazy here... The picture is priceless and I'll "glom" that, too...

Posted by Jeff Soyer at May 14, 2004 05:49 AM

Comments

Just for reference, letting people think you're a little bit crazy is good for work too. Fewer interruptions.

Posted by: Ken Summers at May 14, 2004 10:24 AM

I posted about this earlier in the week.

This is what I said:

Has the New York Times just discredited everything else it ever published on firearms???

. . . .

Yes folks, thats right . . . the New York Times just admitted that people hunt with AK-47s . . .

I can't believe that!!!!!!!!!!!!

And you know, if they are out there engaged in a legitimate, John Kerry approved, activity like hunting with their fully automatic AK-47s then why are people all worked up about the far less powerful and dangerous semi automatical so-called "assault weapon" replica's of an AK-47?

Posted by: Countertop at May 14, 2004 11:08 AM

"the New York Times just admitted that people hunt with AK-47s ..."

Too funny, I picked that up too on tuesday too.

I say we submit this "evidence" to John Kerry, maybe he'll change his mind :)

Posted by: dave at May 14, 2004 11:11 AM

Sign me up! I hate fish!

The regulators do have a point-- a shot hitting the water at too shallow an angle will skip like a stone. But I'd figure it would have to be an angle much less steep than most of these hunters are shooting at. (After all-- if you try to hit a fish that's too far away, the parallax refraction will make sure you miss the fish even if the bullet did break the surface)

Posted by: Greg at May 14, 2004 02:44 PM

What a pitiful Vermonter I am... no one ever told me about this! Gonna shoot me some fish, too. And amen to that crazy at work stuff. I wear plastic bags and styrofoam on my head, and people just leave me be.

Posted by: Wodinn at May 15, 2004 06:57 PM

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May 14, 2004

Fish Shooting...

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

My group sci-fi blog novel:

Colony: Alchibah