Hikers, beware.
There were four of us hiking at Saul’s Creek just out of Bayfield recently. We hiked a short trail on the west side going back up toward Bayfield. We saw two ladies on horses coming down the trail and curbed the one dog we had to let the horses pass. We could hear gunshots in the distance but proceeded up to the lookout on the trail. From there, it headed downhill, and as we proceeded, a shot whistled through the brush between us and went overhead. We shouted to let them know hikers were in the area but to no avail.
Having phone service there, I called the sheriff’s department. When I got a deputy on the line, he told me it wasn’t illegal to shoot in La Plata County. “That close to a hiking trail?” I asked. He said it wasn’t safe but not illegal.
I knew it wasn’t hunting season yet as I have an orange vest for those times. It was just some target practice, and it is just OK for people to go shooting wherever they please. Nice, I guess if they kill someone, then it will be just a shame that the hiker was in the wrong place.
And to the guy on the horse that I warned about the gunshots who acted as if we were overreacting know-nothings, you were speaking to a rancher, a farmer and a Vietnam veteran who does know a thing or two about being shot at.
Valerie Uschuk
Durango
