89-Year-Old Man Fired At Horse While Sitting In Chair

POSTED: 12:16 p.m. EST November 13, 2002

BROWNS VALLEY, Minn. -- Twelve-year-old Lindsey Duffield was riding one of
her favorite horses Saturday, the opening of deer season, when she heard a
shot.

Duffield was riding her horse, Princess, on the edge of this town on the
state's western border. The horse twitched, but Lindsey didn't know
anything was wrong for few minutes. Then she felt blood on her leg.

She hadn't been hit. But her horse, Princess, had taken a 12-gauge slug in
her front shoulder. Traverse County Sheriff Don Montonye said it was fired
by an 89-year-old neighbor sitting in a chair 200 yards away.

Lindsey turned the mare loose in a nearby pasture, where the horse
immediately laid down. Then she ran home, crying and telling her father,
"They shot my horse!"
Dave Duffield, 47, called 911 and phoned his veterinarian. Then he
returned with Lindsey to check on Princess.


When the two arrived, the hunter, who first chased whitetails in 1926, was
still in his chair. But Lindsey wasn't sure who had shot Princess.


After Dave Duffield had checked on the horse, he walked to where the
neighbor sat. "I said, 'Someone shot Lindsey's horse while she was on
it,"' Duffield said. "He said, 'I fired that shot. I thought it was a deer."'


No charges have been filed. The slug remains in the horse. "Princess might
survive," Dave Duffield said. "We don't know."

I would say it is time to give up hunting and get glasses!

I wonder what the man would have said if his slug had hit the girl?

He should be prosecuted.

Mega Dittos to what Ann said. Prosecute him.

It's time to stop calling these bullshit hunting "accidents" accidents and start calling them what they really are: reckless endangerment, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and manslaughter.

This is NOT how to engender ourselves to the non-hunting public!

At a minimum, this man should be prosecuted for reckeless endangerment and if convicted should:

a) lose hunting privileges forever
b) pay a hefty fine
c) pay restitution for the medical treatment or loss of the horse

Who sold him the license? Hell fire you have to pass and eye test and show some little bit of mental competence to get a drivers license. This poor old guy was probably in LaLa Land.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He didn't have good enough eye sight to tell a horse with rider from a deer but could hit it right in the front shoulder at 200 yards with a 12 guage slug???

Heavy Varmint,
No doubt! Well, since he probably won't be using that gun anymore, I wonder if he wants to sell it. That's got to be the best shooting slug gun on the planet!

What also bothers me about this is not only do I hunt but I grew up with horses and you cannot tell me one mistakes a horse for a wild animal. Especially with a rider on it's back.

Also, because it was "just a horse" that was shot, the incident will be swept under the rug. Meanwhile, this girl will lose a best friend over it (her horse) as it will probably die or be maimed forever.

The excuse of bad eyesight and age is also poor. Next time the man will probably kill a person.

Angering, frightening, and very, very sad!

The fella should be prosecuted, be required to make restitution ... and required to tend the horse under supervision.

There will never be anyway to compensate the young lady for the loss of or damage to her companion, and for the loss of her basic beliefs in the goodness of people. Very, very sad!

The old man screwed, for sure, but his poor eyesight was surely the root cause. I'll wager he's popped 50 bucks from his back porch over the years. Prosecute an old man who's forthright enough to speak right up and own up to being the shooter? That's a tough call. If "Wisdom" be the issue, as the thread title implies, I'd say the father didn't display too much of it in allowing his daughter to be riding around the outskirts of a rural town on Opening Day.

How do you punish an 89 year old? Life in prison?

A few weeks ago while elk hunting some shots were taken in a canyon I was in. After a couple hours passed while leaving the area, I passed an old man on the logging road at the head of that canyon. He had to be at least 90 years old and was sitting in a lawn chair, in the rain, on the side of the road, with a red checkerd blanket over his lap and his rifle at his side. Next to him was a thermos and a small cooler.

Is that us as we get older?

I agree with ksduckhunter. These are not accidents they are idiots in the woods who don't belong there. It seems that every year the press waits for the first, of sometimes many, "accidents" to happen so they can get the story out on the TV. Don't they tech anyone anymore about basic hunting ethics? Even though this guy is old, he should of had the opportunity to gain knolwedge about hunting. If he was that hungry to kill a deer he is in the wrong sport. Nobody takes a shot with a shotgun at 200 yards. What was he shooting at in the first place, and he obviously did not take into any account what laid beyond the shot. Go to the store and get some hamburger for Christ sake. All this kind of thing does is to add fuel to an allready growing fire to stop hunting everywhere.

Anytime you point the muzzle of a gun at something you had better be sure what it is. Firearms are intended for one thing, to kill.

There is no excuse for the outcome. We must accept the responsibility for what we point it at. There are no laws to say a person cannot hike, walk their dog, ride a horse, ATV, drive a car or anything else on an opening day of a hunt.

Many a hunter has died because someone else "heard" a deer in the bushes. Not acceptable.

The guy will get off because he's old. Still doesn't make it right.

KSDuckHunter,
Get Real? Would your 12 year old be alone, riding the woods on Opening Day? I think not. Take the post in its' entirety and you'll realize that, in this particular instance there was enough poor judgement to go around and I suspect that's part of the reason the old man wasn't prosecuted.

Ann Said:
"The guy will get off because he's old. Still doesn't make it right."

Of course it doesn't make it right, Ann. I clearly stated "the old man screwed up for sure". This thread was a one sided lynch-mob until my post and that's exactly why I did post. Point is, there are always at least two sides to any story and there was information in Ricks post that was completely ignored, due to anger and I merely sought to bring that out. No hard feeling, I hope.

Nickudu,

I think you're having a serious case of "let's blame the victim" in this case. Do you even realize how close he came to shooting the girl instead of the horse? Come on, man!

I seriousl doubt that his age had anything to do with this. I would bet dollars to donuts he has been and ignorant, stupid son of a bitch from the day he was born!!!

I don't recall saying the old man was blameless, although that's the spin some here are giving it.
I can only reiterate that there is no way any of my children would be on horseback in or near the deer woods at anytime during hunting season. Simple parental prudence.

That said, I shudder to think of any of you one-stroke housepainters being selected for jury duty.

FYI

Dennis Anderson: OK, hunters, let's buy the young girl a horse

The douchebag is still unpunished!!!!

Well, Nickudu, get ready because if I was on a jury trying this geezer, he'd be royally fucked.

I will say this again. I DO NOT TOLERATE this kind of behavior from other hunters. Period. Too damn much is at stake to say "oh, it was an accident", "boys will be boys", or Nick's favorite: "stay out of the woods during deer season".

We either police ourselves, or somebody we don't like will do it for us.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ksduckhunter:
[QB]
"Well, Nickudu, get ready because if I was on a jury trying this geezer, he'd be royally fucked.

Thank you for emphasizing my point by admitting that you couldn't possibly enter the legal process with an open mind. Not even to the extent where you would be able to process any mitigating or extenuating circumstances that might come to light in the courtroom.

"I will say this again. I DO NOT TOLERATE this kind of behavior from other hunters. Period. Too damn much is at stake to say "oh, it was an accident", "boys will be boys", or Nick's favorite: "stay out of the woods during deer season"."

Why do you persist in taking only one aspect of my post (SIC) and running with it? At no time did I allude to any but this particular incident. Upon reading of an unsupervised child on horseback in the woods on Opening Day, a flag went up and I catagorized it as a possible failing on the part of her family. Period. A possible contributing factor in what transpired. Period. If that, to you, means I just told the world to "stay out of the woods during hunting season", I must question your reading comprehension.

"We either police ourselves, or somebody we don't like will do it for us."

100% ksduckhunter. And that goes for everyday life too. Especially those with parental responsibilties.

[ 11-16-2002, 04:17: Message edited by: Nickudu ]

Nick,
I've enjoyed a lot of your posts, but can't agree with you on this one. It's like telling a rape victim she shouldn't have been wearing a skirt. In no way, with the information that we've been provided, is the girl or her family to have an ounce of blame placed on them. 100% goes to the person who did not identify his target and acted in a reckless and dangerous manner. There is no excuse.

Age certainly does not equal wisdom. When I was very young I listened to and learned from the elderly. Three years ago I was hunting deer in the Lincoln National Forest in SE New Mexico when a group of 4 hunters opened fire on 2 does that were on the same side of the canyon I and my bright orange vest were on--this was a bucks only season. They fired a total of 18 shots in less than 20 seconds and never even knew I was there. I got a ridge between us as quickly as possible. That evening I discovered the folks who had filled the air with lead were camped next to me. The reason I know is because as I walked up to introduce myself to my "neighbors" I heard quite a heated argument regarding the size of the "bucks" they had fired at and whether someone had hit one or not. I introduced myself and in the course of the conversation determined they were the rapid fire gang. I finally told them that I had been on the same side of the canyon the deer were on and that both were does. At first they didn't believe me but after I described the event in detail they decided I had been there after all...not a word of apology, not a word about their dangerous and reckless behavior. The oldest in the party appeared to be in his latter 70's and the next oldest around 60. I left that day.
They were back this year--I heard them talking about killing some of the rancher's cattle as revenge for his locking the gate and blocking vehicular access to that part of the forest. I know this has little to do with the original post--guess I just needed to vent a little. At any rate, this is just another testament that age does not equal wisdom. I'm going to hunt on private land from now on.

Jon Amos posted something that you (U.S.A.)guys apparently missed whilst cybering one another. There is something good to be done here about this.

Read the link Jon A. posted. It's a newspaper article that appeared Nov. 15 in Minnesota about this very thing. We have a pro-hunting newspaper reporter trying to do something good about this situation. Let's individually put five or ten bucks in an envelope and mail it in to help get this girl a new horse and pay for the bill on the other one. Put a note with the money (or money order/check if you want), that says "from the www.accuratereloading posters"

When the money comes in from the hunters from Minnesota that read this article, from us, and others like us, this Dennis Anderson will probably write a positive follow up article. The little girl will get a new horse, the vet bill will be paid, and she will at least know that not all hunters are morons.

Put our money where our mouths are. Five bucks and a stamp will be worth a lot more than all the cyber jaw-jacking in the world. As hunters let's show them that we are stand up guys (and gals).

MDHA Horse Account
Minnesota Deer Hunters Association
460 Peterson Rd
Grand Rapids, MN
55744

'nuff said

Nick,

At the age of twelve I was riding my horse, by myself, alone, in the Michigan woods and farm fields. I had been for a long time, years. Of course, that was a long time ago, but I think as kids then, we had more freedom and a lot more independence than kids do today.

At that age I was also delivering newspapers and working all kinds of odd jobs in my once rural neighborhood. Fairly independant and not needing much supervision from my parents. Nobody ever shot anyone during hunting season other than deer.

Consider this, that girl had probably ridden that trail dozens of times in the past. I wonder what she must think of hunters now?

These are the kind of things that stick in the anti-gun and anti-hunter's mind. Once done, we all get catatgorized as a careless and dangerous group.

Where I find fault here is we have a guy taking a 200 yard shot at a target he intends to kill, with a shotgun, of all things, who narrowly misses another human being. That man should never be allowed to "hunt" again and he should pay all the vet bills and replace the horse should it die.

An old timer like that guy won't be hunting does either. He'll be hunting deer with antlers, never seen a horse with antlers.

When I look outside and see my horse in his pasture acting with out a care (he has no fear of firearms) as people shoot away at deer, I wonder as I am out hunting if I will come home to a dead horse because someone couldn't tell the difference between him and a deer. I've actually had people tell me(yeah, the yahoo neighbors) I should cover him in blaze orange so he won't be mistaken for a deer even in his own pasture!

The old man should be prosecuted.

Nikudu,

Perhaps routing around "in the woods" would not have been the place for the girl to be opening morning, but remember the old guy was shooting from his chair. She may have been two houses down the road for all we know. And even so it is still a hunters responsibility to correctly identify the target. If he thought a girl on a horse was a deer then he could have shot a Moose or Elk or even a cow.

That being said I dont see enough information on the matter to get all worked up about, the story is pretty vague. I can only assume that the parents are level headed and compasionate and see something about the incident that the wonderfull media has conviently failed to mention, otherwise they would have pressed charges. Whichever the case is though it is a sad and unfortunate incident.

I'm with KS duck hunter.

There are accidents, then there are crimes committed with firearms while hunting. I would like to see the latter prosecuted as a crime. May extract the head of some who get away with the "accident" story!
LouisB

Nick, you did indeed get the brunt of it on this one. The deal isn't a week old and people want the old guy punished yesterday.

Now, nothing we can do about that one way or the other. But we can chip in to help buy the girl another horse and show her (and others)that not all hunters are bad. Jon Amos provided the link and the address is listed above too.

On the openning day of deer season on our ranch,everyone is horseback,but heck that doesn't leave anyone in the rocking chair, so were safe and it's private land..but thats West Texas and this was back east...

I hear those guys shoot horses, mules, cows, and each other from time to time. I have never hunted East of San Antonio, or Sargent Nb. so no comment on this "old" fellow other than like I said I'd bet he was also a "young" and dumb son of a bitch at one time. I think they should split his sack and run his leg through it before they hang his old ass....but then I have always been of a gentle mature nature.

I think a vital piece of information was not noticed in the news report:

The girl was NOT riding her horse in the woods during hunting season. She was on the driveway, riding toward the road!!

quote:

---

Saturday morning, according to the Traverse County Sheriff's Department, the 89-year-old neighbor of Lindsey's grandfather was sitting on a chair on his property, overlooking the 203 yards of pasture that separated him from the driveway on which Lindsey was riding Princess.

Trailing behind Lindsey and Princess, connected by a lead rope Lindsey held in her hand, was a dark bay gelding.

When Lindsey and the two horses reached about the halfway point between her grandfather's house and the road, a shot rang out.

---

Additional point...
The man had obviously lived there for a while, so he knew where the driveway was. Even if the horse "looked like" a deer, he was knowingly trying to shoot it on his neighbor's driveway!!

The same scenario could have happened if the girl had been walking without a horse.

Rick.

More follow-up on this story.

Hunter who shot Browns Valley, Minn., horse is charged

Seems like it gotten well in the final. The good news is that the hunters didn't ended up as all bad group.

Last time I were in north Texas, cowboys from raches said that opening of season for hunting is like a war. Horses get shoot, cowboys and ranches are beeing shoot at. I wonder what has happend to the responsible, ethic serious marksman who knows what he's shooting at.
PATHETIC.
/ JOHAN

Jon A, thank you very much for keeping us up-to-date on this. Another thread was started encouraging people to send money into this account. If you don't mind, I'm going to post the link to this article on that thread too.

Please watch for any future articles this reporter writes on this. I predict that there is more money on it's way into this account.