This is what keeps it real. There IS no assurance that the hunter will not be a casualty of the hunt him or herself. I don't think this reality is sad at all, personally. It's just the terms. It is as it should be. Pitting yourself against a 2000 pound beast is taking your chances, it is to be hoped (otherwise, why not just kill a ranch bison in a squeeze?)

It might be more representative of "fair chase" in fact if this happened more often. That it does not, suggests that the deck is stacked too overwhelmingly in favor today of the human side of the equation. It's "fair chase" from our perspective alone. No wonder we are in the condition we are in today. So little to keep us sharp.

Sad for family and friends, of course. That's a given, too.

From a race of hunters, artists, warriors, and tamers of horses, we degraded ourselves to what we are now: clerks, functionaries, laborers, entertainers, processors of information.
� Edward Abbey