Does anyone remember the details of an incident that happened about 15 years ago? As I recall the story (please correct me if the details are incorrect), a Vermont woman was killed by a hunter in her back yard as she hung clothes on a line. The man's rather lame defense was that her white mittens looked like a deer's tail. He was the principal of one of the local schools, a "solid citizen", and he got off with essentially a wrist slap - no jail time. The "antis" have been using this story as a rallying point ever since.

We may have a similar situation developing here. I live in a small PA town that has seen rapid (like totally out of control) development. Acres of woodlands and fields are being bulldozed every year and transformed into subdivisions. This leads to inevitable conflicts between hunters and property owners as areas where they used to hunt are now developed and/or posted. My specific involvement is around a wooded area that surrounds my son's school. His Scout troop is developing nature trails for the school kids to use. Despite the area being posted, hunters persist in trespassing even while the kids are activley working on the trails. We have (wisely, I think) declared a moratorium until the season is over. We have not gotten the school security or local authorities to do much more than politely ask the hunters to leave when they are discovered. I suspect this is "good ole' boyism" at work. I am really afraid that there will be a tragic incident, especially if the hunters are of the same type as the gentleman mentioned above. Something like this could get hunting banned forever in the area. Any ideas?

YES! Get involved with your local government and make the areas where conflict is emerging shotgun only. No one's right to hunt is infringed and the risk of an accident is dramatically reduced. Have the schools educate students about the risk and the need to wear orange vests and hats.

I don't think shotguns only will be much real improvement at all. Most shotguns don't have scopes which help with safety. Here in Morris, CT some bozo shot a jogger with a slug from his shotgun mistaking him for a deer!

Instead post the approaches to the area's with safety zone signs. This is something that you can do right away.

You said it was posted - anyone choosing to ignore the posted signs (especially around a school area) have chosen their destiny.

Call the Game Warden and have them arrested for trespass. Assuming it's legally and visibly posted, there is no excuse for trespassing - period!

Good points. Just to help clear up the facts, the case I believe your referring to actually happened outside of Bangor, Maine in the early 1990's. The alleged shooter (a local supermarket employee/manager) got off "scot-free" after a trial found him not-guilty of manslaughter (he may have lost his hunting license or voluntarily given it up for a few years). The case created a lot of bad publicity both in-state and out-of-state. Some of our hunting brothers did not help matters much either, blaiming the woman for wearing white mittens.

A few years later, a goose hunter was shot and killed while hunting out of a canoe in a pond of about 170 acres. A 16 year old was charged with manslaughter in this case, and once again, he got off, claiming he had fired at a deer (the 16 year old was some 300 yards away and uphill on a ridge overlooking the pond). This case seemed to be an even bigger travesty.

The Maine Legislature subsequently changed some of our laws, and it it would be a lot harder to get away with this type of negligence today.