Posted on 12/02/2010 2:43:30 PM PST by smokingfrog
The Bucks County district attorney said a Quakertown hunter gunned down moments after he bagged a buck Monday was shot with a high-powered rifle, which is illegal for deer hunting in the county.
Barry Groh, 52, was found dead of a gunshot wound in a creek along California Road in Richland Township, two hours after he shot the nine-point, 195-pound deer and phoned his wife to tell her about his trophy kill.
An autopsy revealed Groh was shot once in the left upper arm and the bullet entered his chest, according to the district attorney's office. Police have labeled his death as suspicious, but can't say whether it was a hunting accident or something sinister.
District Attorney David Heckler said several people have been interviewed, mostly hunters, and they've been cooperative.
He said determining what type of ammunition killed Groh will go a long way in determining who fired the weapon, but investigators still haven't determined the caliber.
Heckler said rounds from a high-powered rifle are much more accurate, much deadlier and travel farther, which is why they are illegal in the county.
"Over the years, there has been a lot more development in Upper Bucks," Heckler said Thursday. "We've had shots going through people's houses."
Besides Bucks County, hunting deer with rifles is illegal in other special regulation areas such as Allegheny, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.
Hunters in Bucks are only allowed to use muzzle-loaders, bows and arrows, crossbows and shotguns during hunting season, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission regulations.
Groh was using a shotgun, Heckler said.
Police said Groh was hunting alone Monday morning near California Road when he killed the buck about 10:15 a.m. They believe Groh then put his shotgun down and dragged the buck about 300 feet.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
Yellow vest?
Ok, who’s been selling high-powered rifles to the deer? ‘Fess up!
When we were on our farm in Kentucky last week, a huge buck and a doe crossed right in front of our house as we were pouring our morning tea and coffee. I gotta get me one of those Remington 700’s with the bad safety. I’ve been told that there is no such thing as “not hunting season” if it is on your property.
And since nobody can see us anyway, it would be in the house by the time anybody showed up to investigate.
Gawd I love Kentucky! It is MUCH more fun than the Seattle burbs.
Shotgun sabot round?
Odd that they know it’s a high power rifle, but don’t know the caliber.
A jacketed 50 cal round in a shotgun sabot might look like a HP round.
“The 12 gauge Core-Lokt Ultra sabot bullet is a .50 caliber, 385 grain HP semi-spitzer. The catalog MV is 1900 fps and the 100 yard velocity is 1648 fps. The ME is given as 3086 ft. lbs. and the remaining energy at 100 yards is 2325 ft. lbs. The trajectory of that load looks like this: +1.8” at 50 yards, +2.4” at 100 yards, and +/- 0” at 150 yards.”
PETA
Story says he took off his vest as he prepared to gut the deer. From a distance, someone probably thought he WAS the deer.
Painful place to get shot, the creek.
People with Journalism degrees should file a class action lawsuit and get their money back.
Yep. It could happen. Will have to wait for the autopsy I guess.
Route 113 used to be the line between rifle/shotgun.
If it was a sabot, there shouldn’t be any evidence of the rifling on the actual bullet versus a bullet from a rifled barrel.
Always know what's beyond your target.
High power rifle would no doubt have a scope to enhance imagery.
Either that, or another hunter thought he was a buck.
Wearing a day glo vest...
The original article does not mention rifling.
I do know 30-06 makes a tiny hole going in and a fairly small hole on the way out onless it hits a big bone mass, then it makes a huge hole on the way out.
At least they said ‘with’, and not ‘by’.
BTW, how accurate are those sabots out of a shotgun?
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