Not to beat a dead horse, but the topic of hunting and safety came up today
in Candus Thompson's column in the Sun. Seems that the owner of the Savage
River Lodge in Garrett County, hardly a stone's throw from MOS property at
Carey Run, managed to get somebody at DNR to give, uncontested by anyone, an
expansion of the no hunting buffer zone around his property. Candus makes it
sound like DNR is eating crow on this one.
    Whether the proper procedures were followed or not, buffer zones need to
be larger. It was an issue here a couple years ago when some hunters showed
up and blasted some of the geese on the pond across the road. Within seconds
several of us called the cops who brought DNR in on it and we were told
that, technically, the hunting was legal because the shots were fired from
outside the legal limit for safety zones. Fortunately the hunters, obviously
feeling harassed, chose not to return and there has been no hunting down
there since. Personally I was appalled to find out how small the legal
safety zone is.
    My feelings come from the fact that I personally know someone who was
shot in their own driveway as a child. She was riding her bicycle in the
drive when she suddenly was knocked over and her leg was bleeding. Parents
rushed her to a hospital to find that there was a bullet in her leg. No
shots were supposedly heard and it was concluded that apparently a stray
shot by some hunters in woods about a quarter mile away had hit her.
    Safety zones ought to be at least equal to the range of your average
rifle shot. The fact that they are not puts us all in danger. Thompson's
article points out that there are many groups using state forests these
days, and it mentions birders. Keeping us all safe means expanded safety
zones. The owner of the Savage River Lodge may have stepped outside his
bounds to get his zones expanded, but in principle he was right to do it.
    Jerry Tarbell
    Carroll County