hunting

When a Hunter Should Sue

~ randyaa ~ 5 Comments

Most lawsuits I hear about are completely ridiculous and the people are out to get nothing more than a quick paycheck.  That being said…

I think my Father should sue.

One day, about 3 years ago, he started seeing a tiny spot in his right eye if he looked in one specific direction while turning his head in one specific way.  The next day it got a little bigger so he immediately went to the eye doctor who didn’t know what was happening.  The eye doctor sent him to a specialist.  However; the specialist couldn’t see him for about a week.

By the time my father got to see the specialist, the vision in his right eye was almost entirely foggy and blurry.  He could barely see out if his right eye.  The first thing the specialist says?  “The eye doctor should have sent you to the Emergency room immediately.”

Something in the back of his eye started bleeding and the gray foggy spot was the blood spreading over his retina.  If he had been sent to the emergency room instead of waiting for a specialist they could have cauterized the bleeding and he would still have his vision.  It was too late to do anything and unfortunately he is now blind in his right eye.

I didn’t really think much about it until this year.

He’s been hunting for 50+ years with his right hand and eye.  When he first lost his vision he spent a lot of time trying to learn to shoot with his left.  He even bought a new single shot rifle just to practice with.

This year my father shot at a few deer but he didn’t get one.  He took a lot of crap for it too.  My father, the expert marksman, who had officers placed bets on his accuracy while he was in basic training, has gone from getting 5 deer a year to 0.

Before you say it’s because he’s getting old… Bullshit.  He gets around and travels the woods more than most guys in their teens and twenties, myself included.  He shot at more deer than anyone else I know this year too.  He still has issues pulling up on his left is all.  I could go into details but that’s not really the point.

The point is, some screwy eye Doctor doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing and could likely cause someone else to lose their vision too.  A few things just made me realize it’s affected my father more than I originally realized and more than he lets on.

My Father should Sue.

In the meantime, if you see a gray fuzzy spot in your vision, go to the emergency room not the eye doctor!

Founding of the Diamond Sportsmens Club

~ randyaa ~ 3 Comments

I like to see land in the Adirondack State Park stay private instead of going to the state.  That might sound odd because it restricts use, but you see I grew up in that private sector of the Adirondack State Park and I understand how remote it is.  Once the state takes it over there’s no development allowed anymore and it hardly ever gets used by the public.  In my experience most of these remote properties only get used by the original clubs after it becomes state land.

Therefor, I’d rather see the state keep the tax base income (we are short on funds aren’t we?) around and keep the land in the private owners hands to keep the usage up.

Found this article recently written at the time the Diamond Sportsmen Club purchased their land and thought it was interesting.

Written by Carol W LaGrasse, February 2001

While environmentalists salivated over the prospects of acquiring the land for permanent government ownership, Diamond Sportsmen’s Club succeeded in signing a binding contract during 2000 to purchase the 3,283 acres surrounding scenic Barney Pond near South Colton.

The club is looking for more members to make the club thrive. Each person contributing the one-time fee of $5000 will receive a transferable membership certificate, according to the spokesmen for the club, Richard Todd and his fellow officers. They plan to have about 125 to 150 hunting and fishing club memberships and 75 to 100 recreational memberships.

“Your foresight and good judgment are something your family, children and grandchildren will appreciate for years to come,” say officers of the Diamond Sportsmen’s Club in their notice to reach out for recreational members, hunting and fishing club members of their club.

The club, which used to be known as the Barney Pond Club, has signed a contract with Lothair, Inc. for $1,360,000 to purchase the property. This winter, they said that they are taking possession immediately and paying the corporation as memberships are sold.

After first offering memberships to the Barney Pond Club members, they have opened up memberships to the public, and announced that hunting club memberships, camps, building sites, and camper sites will be available on a first come, first served basis.

According to their flyer, the recreational memberships allow the opportunity to have camper parking sites, use of miles of trails and roads for four-wheelers, snowmobiles, hiking, cross-country skiing, two picnic areas (one on Barney Pond), use of a pavilion, horseshoe pits, swings, basketball, archery range, rifle range, berry picking, canoeing, photography, orienteering or just plain relaxing.

The hunting and fishing club membership have the opportunity to own permanent camps, according to the announcement about the club. This form of membership allows the opportunity to hunt for whitetail deer, black bear, turkey, ducks, geese, rabbits, and partridge. Fishing in the 37.8 acre pond affords a chance to catch large mouth bass, which were stocked in 1993 and are thriving. The largest so far was 20 inches and 4-1/2 pounds. Their large dock allows fishing for bullhead and pan fish.

“You should be interested if you want to own a camp you can improve without threat of someone taking it away,” say the officers of the club in their announcement.

The entrance to the club is about 3.6 miles south of South Colton on Route 56, with the club located in the township of Parishville, in St. Lawrence County, within the Adirondack Park.

For more information, contact Richard Todd (315) 386-4013 or Bob Hunt (315) 265-0468.

Originally provied by Property Rights Foundation of America.

It was also really neat to see the way parts of the club looked at the time of purchase.