Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire OR Hiker Killed In Hunting Accident

You have the right to travel Scott st. just north of the Univ. of Houston, but it's not a good idea-day or night- if you aren't black and then it's just dangerous. That said, I guess the shooter determined his target had no cubs. Jeeps and school busses have been shot crossing open areas by deer hunters. Stress and anticipation can influence how the brain interprets (vision) what the eye sees (sight), which is why observers of crime can report so many different and conflicting stories. What is scary is that the shooter probably saw fur, claws and teeth. Many men have seen angels- and married them

Some hunter want to fill their tags so bad that they actually see something that isn't there and that is how hunting accidents happen. The hunter eye and brain seen a bear until he fired the shot and then reality sets in and he see he made a tragic mistake that can't be taken back. Rule number always identify your target . He not only destroyed another human life but his and his grandsons along with it.

Tell us how the grandson's life is destroyed.

Negligent.
That guy's done hunting, and once the courts get done with him, done having a life.

Pray that the bitter cup passes us by.

The general population � which is mostly nonhunters � tends to not know when it's hunting season. I'm no longer able to hunt, so I don't make it a point to know when the season opens, and no public notice comes to my attention unless I go looking for it.

So we can't assume that the victim knew that the woods were full of hunters that day.

And most people assume that hunters know what they're doing. "I'm obviously not a bear, so nobody's going to shoot at me."

Generally, only responsible hunters are aware of the fact that some "hunters" are irresponsible slobs,

(Though many nonhunters believe that all hunters are slobs.)

Kind of a sad mentality that if you walk in the woods during hunting season without looking like a traffic cone you are endangering your life recklessly.

Couldn't disagree more with the bolded statement. We, the hunters pose the threat to others with ill thought out actions such as the hunter in the story. We know when the seasons are because that's what we do. Expecting others to know the ins and outs of what we do and expect them to take precautions to protect themselves from totally 100% preventable "accidents" is expecting too much of the other people that have every right to be out there at the same time doing something else.

I'm of two minds on the hunter orange requirements. On one hand it's good to be able to see other hunters easily for many reasons, one of which is to be able to avoid them. On the other hand if the hunter expects everyone else to be wearing orange it can lead to a lax attitude about other things that aren't orange and that can lead to "accidents" which really are really terrible firearms handling practices. You don't shoot at what you think is an animal. If you don't know that it is your legal quarry and that it's safe to shoot (backstop, proximity to other things you might not feel good about putting a bullet in) then it's pretty simple, don't shoot.

I spent two whole days targeting one very large buck this week. His rack was well outside the ears wide and over double his ear height high but I can't shoot unless there are three points on one side at least. I let him walk 6 times because I wasn't 100% sure that he had the needed points, not even an eyeguard on one side. As far as I could tell, even with my nearly magic Swarovski 10x40s, he was a very large forkhorn buck running a dozen does. That's the way it works. Being safe and being legal trump bagging something you think might be a bear, deer, or wildebeast.

I have friends who moved to Oregon and told me there is a mentality of making "brush" shots. I pray this man was not one of those who thinks that idea was OK.

That said, I hunt in Oregon all the time, I do not wear Orange and I feel safe.

The real culprit here is government and "The North American Model" of game management. When your overriding concern is to sell as many licenses and tags as you can you end up with low success rates. And, human nature being what it is, some people shoot fast to try and beat the odds. We need to rethink the idea of lots of tags and low success rates.

I believe, really believe, that only the number of tags should be sold that results in a 100% success rate not damaging the game population: then let the tag holder take their animal any way and at any time they like. Make your own mind up as to what you want out of the experience, instead of having a ethic imposed upon you. If you had 364 days to get an animal you would be unlikely to shoot at moving brush.

Last, my prayers go out to those who were affected by this, it is tragic.

Pa is a state of many hunters, you would have to live in a cave isolated from all human contact to not know when it is hunting season , especially the first day of Deer season when the schools are closed for the first two days.

The main problem is the swarm of out of state hunters that decend upon us, I have counted in excess of 120 vehicles in a 4 mile streach of forrest road where I once hunted. you can literly see blaze orange about every 100 yds, so would anyone in their right mind want to go hiking there? I won't even hunt there.

Prayers said for deceased's man's family.

Yep, it's the government's fault. Give me a [bleep] break.

The shooter needs his MF azz kicked and jail time. It is not an accident, it is clear and utter negligence.

The silly [bleep] notion that anything less should be considered is retarded. To not punish this azzwipe encourages others to be as stupid as this jackass. "Oops" just doesn't cover this kind of bullchit.

I don't even drive in MO during deer season.

The shooting was beyond mere criminally stupid, and rises to felony stupid.

I will weigh in with all the others.

NOT an accident.

For crying out loud. 100%, not 50%, not 90%, not 99.99%, but 100% of the fault lies with the shooter! Not only is he supposed to identify it as a bear, but a BLACK bear, and not one less than one year old and not a sow with cubs. This idiot shot at movement!
Those attempting to place any blame on the victim are really beyond the pale and I pray to God they never go in the woods armed again. They might see something moving.
A hunting 'accident' is when a hunter slips on ice or a meteor hits a guy in a tree stand. Someone out hunting that murders someone is not a hunting 'accident'. It's criminal stupidity beyond defense.

THANK YOU!


For being largely a "hunters" forum I am continually surprised by the amount of basic tenants of sportsmanship, safety, and common sense that evades many posters... imo, there is an abundance of ignorance of ethics and game/predators, are too often laid bare here.

Thought and prayers to the victim's family and loved ones.

There it is.

There is no "mentality" of brush shots in Oregon. The very idea is absurd, and unfounded.

There is unfortunately (just like all 50 States & Canada) careless people who make stupid decisions.

Oregon passed a mandatory hunter orange mandate for hunters under the age of 18 this season. There was pressure to make it mandatory for all hunters, but the fact that Oregon has had a decent safety record made many feel it was unnecessary.

Regardless the blame is solely on the shooter, no doubt about it.