Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Forest Ranger mistaken for a Coyote

play with all the conspiracy theories you want...these guys didn't know each other.. and if you knew the shooter like I do and see the state he is in you would not have your "bs" detector go off....it was an accident...tragic, regretable, unthinkable accident.

+1, very tragic.. Your friend will never be the same. This will always haunt him for the rest of his life. It is amazing how many have never made a mistake, therefore can't fathom anyone else doing so

This is a very sad example of why these are called "accidents" and not "on-purposes". Good folks can do things that lead to tragedy by ACCIDENT. I am sure AFTERUM'S friend is a decent guy and now changed forever, as are everyone else concerned.

A tragic accident, to be certain... but shooting at the presumed glow of a coyote's eyes at night? Sorry, but there's no excuse for that. I've done a lot of coyote sniping at night, and the cardinal rule with all the nightime coyote snipers I know is to BE CERTAIN OF YOUR TARGET -- it doesn't get more fundamental than that -- because we've had all sorts of things show up at night, including deer, mountain lions, bobcats, bears, federally protected kit foxes, etc. Things can get pretty tricky at night, and there's often a temptation to shoot quickly before something "gets away." It's easy for your brain to misinterpret what your eyes are telling you. In reality, shooting at night always demands the exercise of extreme caution. You need to be certain not only of your target, but what's behind the target as well.

A sad reminder to all that you can do many things with a bullet... except call it back.

You fail to grasp the "accident" part of this. He thought that he was sure, that's why it is called an "accident"..

Another one that has never made a mistake...

You are right i don't know your friend and i wasn't there and opinion or just that, opinions.

I didn't fail to grasp anything, and I never questioned the fact that it was an accident. It was a gross failure to obey a fundamental hunter safety rule -- be certain of your target. Shooting at the presumed glow of a coyote's eyes hardly qualifies as being certain of your target.

This incident saddens and sickens me. I feel about this the same way I feel about the recent death of young man, a firefighter, who was one of my son's lifelong best friends. He ran out of gas and pulled well off the shoulder of a freeway. A young farmhand jumped a fence and was helping him put gas in the vehicle when a 60-something year old woman drove off the freeway, at midday in perfect weather, and struck and killed them both. An accident? Yes, but she will still be held accountable in both a criminal and civil sense. Manslaughter is still manslaughter, regardless of the intentions. The criminal and civil sanctions won't bring them back, but neither should people be able to just walk away after taking another human life because the act was deemed an accident.

Oh, the I want retrabution point of view., As if the person isn't allready punished enough. More punishment will not fix anything. Again I beleive the man was sure in his mind of the target, only to find out he was wrong.

Kicking a person when they are down serves no useful purpose.

trust me, Clint will not be just walking away....

I get it and understand the what he is going through with such of a tragic mistake. I am amazed at those that do not, as if they are perfect and have always been sure of every thing and have never ever made a mistake

If it was a true accident which it seems to be . He should be able to walk away, because he has to live with this mistake the rest of his life and that is punishment enough. You just can't make a accident better by making it worst on the man who did it. I'm sure this man will suffer enough without going to jail for lack of better judgement.

I never said more punishment would "fix" anything. Quite the contrary. The point was that society does have its rules. I "get it" that the shooter was a friend, and it's a terrible circumstance that he's in. My greater sympathies in this case, however, are with the wife and young children of the victim.

I wasn't trying to kick anyone when they're down. I was commenting on the obvious violation of a fundamental hunter safety rule, the consequences and the lesson everyone needs to take away from this.

That is, after all, part of the function of an open forum.

I saw the same defensive reaction from friends of the 60-year-old woman who snuffed out the lives of the two young men I referred to because she drove carelessly. It's only natural for friends to react that way, but believe me, friends of the victims tend to see things a bit differently.

even if there is no crimminal prosecution (he was not arrested or charged) there could still be a civil suit. Long and drawn out, many more tears to be shed. The whole thing makes me sick at my stomach.

Me, too, especially after recently attending that young firefighter's funeral... Whether there's a criminal prosecution or not, I'd be shocked if there's not a wrongful death civil suit. Rightly or wrongly, those are virtually automatic these days.

yeah I'm sure. There is a widow and a 4 year old daughter to take care of. And lot's of lawyers who will take the case for half (or more) of the money they get.

In the case I spoke of that hits so close to home with me -- I knew the young man for many years and he was like a part of our family -- his mother said publicly that she didn't harbor any anger towards the driver... said she didn't want to see her punished anymore, etc., etc... I just learned last week that she then went ahead and filed the wrongful death lawsuit.

Sometimes you DO identify something....and turn out to be wrong.

I remember one time I ID'd a fox running through some tall grass, kind of jumping along. Got off about 3 shots at it. Luckily I missed, because it was my buddy's dog.

This instance is a terrible tragedy and prayers go out to all affected.

this whole thing is totally senseless and unfortunate, and we all know that.

it's like in turkey season in parts of the world, and one turkey hunter mistakes another hunter for a legal target. another bad day, for sure.

but, one has to look once again, at the whole picture. two armed men/women hunting in the woods, knowing that other armed hunters are present....yes, it's a can of worms.

but, when one armed person shoots another armed person, in the woods, during open season, then is it fair to assume everyone present had a role to play? i'm not making light nor being sarcastic.

two weeks ago in ATL during a ice storm two women bumped into each other. they got out of their respective vehicles, and along came a third vehicle, according to the news, and ran over killed them both. the weather influenced the accident. should accidents occur? no, never, but they do.

again, us Hunters will take it on the chin from the general population because of this mishap, whatever the investigations ultimately yield.

Happened here in NH about 6 years ago......a local taxidermy/SG store owner was shot and killed by someone in his own hunting party who mistook him for a boar.

I just don't get it.......

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ar...t_on_license_of_hunter_who_shot_another/

I think my wife is a fox.