Dwayne: Thanks for the thoughtful (as always) reply. The day is mostly behaving but I think tonight we're expecting an invasion of goblins.
The case is of interest to me because I'm also a hunter ed instructor, and I've hunted this area the past ten years with both a bow and muzzleloader. It's interesting that the defendant in this case said the area was so remote that they weren't expecting to see any other hunters. I've been there and it's an area that I walk past to get into remote areas where there are fewer hunters, but they're always there.
In our hunter ed class we focus on game identification. We ask the students why it's important and they always say, "so we don't shoot the wrong animal and get into trouble." Then we tell them it's also a safety issue; if they make positive ID they'll never shoot another hunter. We show the students various photos and measurements of elk vs. moose and ask them if they think it would be easy to mistake a moose for an elk. They always shake their heads "no" in unison, and then we tell them that on average, 25 moose are mistakenly shot by hunters with elk tags in Colorado annually. And those are just the ones reported. This particular shooter had a bull tag, and the game management unit has antler point restrictions so a hunter can't shoot just any bull. Maybe that's why his story was that he saw a five-point bull, they're legal.
To your point on putting pressure on ourselves, this was the last day of their hunt and they were going to hunt a half day and then begin the long drive home.
And I agree that mandatory blaze orange is not the answer, it's just an excuse used by too many including the shooter in this case. Bowhunters in Colorado don't want it, and resoundingly so. And not only do birdwatchers, hikers, and mushroom pickers avoid it, I've seen plenty of rifle hunters not wearing it too.
Last, I'll say that I've had some interesting moments with livestock in the national forest. Once it was a brown llama tethered to a tree about four miles from the trailhead, up on the side of a mountain nowhere near a trail. I had a cow elk tag so it did get my attention until I'd sorted it out. Looked like a big old fuzzball when I closed the distance. The other time, I had a bear tag and heard an animal turning over rocks in a creek bed. I saw black through the brush, snuck up on it, and drew down on an angus steer. Would have been good eating!! Oh well, at least I got some practice stalking, those angus are really tough to sneak up on.
