I fail to see what's trivial about proper firearm control.
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I noticed it too Fox. For an outfit that has such a hangup on tags being visible in all photos, that photo is out of place.
Somewhere in my hunters safety - going on 35+ years ago - were some rules - not using your rifle scope for binoculars and not pointing your rifle at anything but intended targets....although I do frequently break those - it doesn't make it right.
Firearms are not toys and playing with one to take a neat photo through a scope may be completely harmless, but it is not a good example of proper firearms handling.
WOW......where do you get off? You don't know me and you make a direct comment about my ability and/or willingness to use proper firearm control? In fact, I am a muzzle control fanatic and have stopped associating with folks in the field due to their lack of same. I have been trained via our Hunter Safety program as well as two other firearm safety courses provided by my club. You are out of line making such a broad assumption.
When one draws a bead on a flushing grouse or pheasant and does NOT pull the trigger, is that somehow more unsafe than actually pulling the trigger? C'mon. Who made the rule, and where is it written, that it is only ok to point a firearm at an animal or bird only if one intends to kill it? I am sure many a hunter has drawn a bead on an animal without desiring to kill it, at no peril to the safety of the animal or to anyone or anything else.
The caption of the Friday Photo indicates that the person who submitted it identified the object as a moose before lining up on it. He did nothing unsafe or unethical. Because some people are uncomfortable with doing that same thing doesn't make it wrong. Have a nice day, I'm off to work. I'll check back tonight for the flaming I imagine will ensue.
I would imagine the photographer put the gun up before realizing is had a rack (its a pretty small funky rack at that, could be a stick on his head), take the pic for confirmation, gun is already up. It may not be completly right but I also do not think is is completly wrong either.
Could have bee Photoshopped in. Would not be illegal then.
There's no assumption on my part. You made a comment defending an improper and unsafe firearm handling action. Claiming you're a safe hunter, while saying you see no problem with unsafe actions is a direct contradiction.
Now, if i were to go back i would admit that sighting on a flushed bird is not illegal or necessarily unsafe. However, I would also contend that it is NOT EVEN CLOSE to the same thing that the moose hunter/photographer did.
He identified a non-legal (for him) game animal and proceeded to target it for a photo op. Completely unsafe and irresponsible.