I think it’s true the distances during rifle season make it more dangerous. Bow hunters take their shot at 25 yards. I don’t know about black powder, but rifles with scopes on them, they may shoot at things that are as much as 150-200 yards away. Not that they always should, but they’re tempted to.
Of course, in our country, and even yours, there aren’t many places where you can actually have that long of a field of view. Even rifle hunters have to get closer than that to find a deer. It’s not like my dad hunting deer in AZ where they can see for miles unobstructed. Still... there’s a chance that a hunter taking a shot and missing could send a round a loooooong ways into the woods if it manages to miss all the trees. It’s a long shot, so to speak, that you might be in the way of one of those shots, but that’s the risk.
I’ve always thought the biggest problem with this area around my home is that being so close to town, we get a lot of wannabee hunters. Hunters that don’t really know how to hunt...They go out to a place close, for one day, during the afternoon, and just shoot at anything that moves. We’ve had them before.
The guy next door that is obviously a real “hunter” I don’t worry so much about him. During the week days he’s at work except during rifle season. I think he takes that time off, because I hear him leaving early early in the morning everyday on his 4wheeler then.
He’s told me he doesn’t mind my riding thru there...gets the deer use to seeing horses and people there...am I bait:)? Even so tho, I won’t go back there during rifle season. The trees can be good shelter, but also can obscure the view, and then, you’re right, the missed shots have a slight risk.
I don’t know, hunting season rather pisses me off...this is after all a housing area, lots of kids run around out there. I’m not against hunting, I just don’t think for most of the hunters this is really a very safe area, altho there are a lot of deer and they do need to be thinned out...there is definitely two sides to it. I just get really aggravated when during hunting season the weather is great, but I can’t ride because of fear of getting shot:). I’m rather territorial about this area...this is “my” mountain, I spend more time out there then anyone around here...they should have to come and get my permission:)
Becky