I'm sure I don't..... and none of my friends do....look like an elk ? These guys must be pretty desperate to shoot something. Don't they have hunter safety in WI? Hey look there's Barney and he looks just like an elk........

Read this:
POSTED: 6:28 a.m. MDT September 25, 2003

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- A Wisconsin hunter who died this week was shot by a friend who mistook him for an elk, the county coroner said.

Gerald Holverson, 44, of South Wayne, Wis., died early Saturday about a mile west of Waller Reservoir in southern Routt County. He was shot below the right shoulder with a .54-caliber muzzle loader, authorities said.

He was wearing some orange apparel, and alcohol was not suspected to be involved, County Coroner Dwight Murphy said Wednesday.

The Sheriff's Office would not release the name of the person believed to have shot Holverson. The investigation was continuing.

Holverson had been hunting with a group of six people from Wisconsin and Illinois for about a week.

He was probably shooting at a sound through brush. It happens every year in Ohio. Someone shoots a hunter thinking he/she is a deer.

That is fricken nuts.. They should give that guy the chair. There is NO excuse for that. This just gives hunters a bad name.

I believe you folks are making this too simple... I believe that many of these accidents are caused by an error we often can't control and knowing about this error and it's causes will make for better and safer hunters. A phenomenon called "premature closure" or "capture error" sould easily be the cause and it could happen to you.

Here are a few articles

First one entitled:

2. Turkey hunting accidents can happen to anyone

http://www.conservation.mo.gov/news/out/1998/041798.html

Are You A Safe Hunter?
http://www.securityworld.com/library/travelrec/safehunter.html

Safety First in the Turkey Woods

http://www.winkelman.com/Columns/Tabliods/April/All.html

A man (wearing some orange no less) should never
be mistaken for anything but human.

No excuse.

Jeff

JeffP

The is no need for an excuse in some cases, being human has problems sometimes.

Every have a dream? I'd guess yes... Every dream of someone you've never seen? Did they have a face? Did they look human? Were they real? Where did they come from?

During your waking hours have you ever see something that wasn't there? How do you know?

Every heard of sleep deprivation hallucination? Truck drivers, military..special ops, pilots, etc. They're awake and "see" things that aren't there.

Ever hear or see two folks argue over a single sporting decision each "believing" it happened a different way and both being "eye witnesses"?

We "see" and react to things our reasoning/brain/experience/condition, etc present to us... What we "see" and "hear" are creations of our brain and sometimes the brain gets it wrong...

If you don't know or acknowledge that your brain can make errors you are more at risk to this type error than others.

One of these articles speaks of being "defensive" or perhaps pro-active for safety reasons...

In my way of reasoning it was a double series of "errors" that caused the hunting accident.

Yep, he screwed the pooch that's for sure. He won't be the last one to do it either. Humans are a tough animal to figure. I was following my Grandma home one afternoon & she pulled right out in front of a fast moving car from a country road, if the driver of the other car hadn't been paying attention it would have been all over for her. Later she told me she saw the car, knew it was close but went anyway.
When human beings are involved, there will be incidents.

I am still trying to figure out why anybody would even try to justify this. There may be a four page dissertation about why this happened...but in Colorado we just call it lack of common fxxking sense and basic hunter safety.

If someone did this to me (and I survived) or to a relative, there would be hell to pay in civil court, particularly if criminal charges were not brought to bear.

[ 09-25-2003, 23:35: Message edited by: Orion 1 ]

It is a terrible tragedy for all involved. There is no reason for such a thing to occur.

Having said, that I know from personal experience what it is like to be in woods on openning day of deer season in many midwestern states. The terrain is heavy with brush, so you can not see very far. Most hunters arrive the night before and started drinking with their buddies. They roll out at 5 am and scramble into the woods. They have no plan, they seem to think that they will just bump a deer.

The local newspapers and radio devote time each evening listing any hunting accidents and doing specials about safety.

I was on my property, 40 acres of mixed woods, in the UP. I was sitting on a stump. I heard some one thrashing around and soon a hunter appeared on my land. This did not bother me, as once you crossed my back property line, it put you into about 5 sq miles of paper company land. Which is were I thought he was heading. I was in hunter orange. From about 50 yards away this fool put his rifle on me so he could, "see better with the scope". We had a long talk, he never wandered onto or across my land again.

Except for the occasional beaver meadow or small farm field, this is country with very heavy cover. In some places, if you see more than 20 yards you are lucky.

Pete

[ 09-26-2003, 00:16: Message edited by: Quail Wing ]

I agree with Jeff. It was regrettable and AVOIDABLE and INEXCUSABLE.

David King, thanks for the links. I never have never heard it discribed that way. It does explain why "some" accidents happen.

As a side note I have missed a few oppertunities by being carefull, but I wouldn't want an accidental shooting on my concious.

I've heard of deer hunters shooting farmers off their tractors.

"BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND BEYOND"

In NY state they are starting to prosecute these cases as they should . There is no excuse for shooting at sound or movement in the bushes.

I will never forget a very cold morning above Wenatchee, WA, about 40 years ago. I had just crested a ridge, when all hell broke loose about 140 yards away. All I could see was flashes of brown and what I knew was antler thru the brush, but I just tracked on target and held for a confirmed look. Finally, they ran into an opening, where I almost dropped the prettiest mare I'd seen in a while. I had to force the barrel towards the ground, even tho I knew there was NO GAME to be had. Circumstances can arise that require one to pass on a shot, for lots of reasons, but the heat of the moment can affect anyone. I don't think you can afford to let the heat of the moment rule, but I would be less than honest to say that I have had compleat control in every situation of my life. I just never go on target till I'm sure what I'm shooting at, and decide it's a safe shot. Pass on shots, yeah. I can live with that..

The only thing I might consider accidental would be an accidental discharge .

Killing something that is in the sights while looking through the sights is no accident.

This is a story I have never told before but think this may be the right time and place.

When I was twelve years old I cut grass all summer long to earn enough money to buy a Harrington & Richardson single shot 12 guage shotgun to squirrel hunt with on the upcoming season. In Sept. I had been 13 two months and had saved enough money to buy the shotgun I had my sights set on.

Needless to say my father acted very proud of me for working and saving toward something usefull that I wanted badly. He took me out and helped me get familuar with my new pride and joy and then declared me ready to get after them squirrel!

The night before opening morning of squirrel season I can't say that I slept a wink thinking about the exciting day to come.

Opening morning found me setting on the remains of a big oak that had fallen, waiting for daylight in a place that my dad and I had scouted a few days before and found to be a good spot.

Just a few minutes after light, low and behold a gray squirrel leaped into view onto the branch of a big oak not 35 yards from me. I took carefull aim, squeezed the trigger and plumb missed the squirrel

After the alarm of the shotgun blast things got quiet and I being 13 and going without sleep for a night, drifted off. When I woke up there was nothing stirring except for a ground squirrel that was cutting some accorns on the ridge top about 20 yards behind me. I was a new hunter and perhaps a little blood thirsty but I decided to take a shot at the "chipmunk" since my first shot at the squirrel had failed and I hadn't seen anything since. I pulled the hammer back on my new H&R shotgun, drew as steady a bead as I could draw, began squeeeezing on the trigger like my old man had tought me and just as I expected the hammer to fall on the High Brass Remington 6 shot shell that I had in the chamber SOMETHING in my head said "don't shoot". At that INSTANT a mans face popped up over the ridge top just behing the ground squirrel right in my line of sight! That man was my Dad coming to check on me and see how I was doing.

I have no doubt that if I had pulled the trigger I would have shot him but I just dropped the gun and played it off like nothing was wrong when he spotted me and asked "How's it going".

Now that is a story I have never been able to bring myself to telling my dad to this day (I'm 33) but it taught me a valuable lesson and hopefully could be a lesson to all the nay' sayers that you should never say never and no matter how you feel about the possibilities it could happen!

On a side note I have a good friend who was target practicing on his property. He took carefull aim, taking about 10 to 15 seconds to steady his rifle on the Bullseye off of a varmint rest. Just as he pulled the trigger a 4 point whitetail buck filled his scope with brown hair. He said that he couldn't find any blood indicating that he had hit the deer but there was no hole in the target neither.

These things do make me think about my own practice. The 'lifetime buck' I posted photos of required me to shoot over a gap in a hedge. I had this monster buck looking at me but I still carefuly looked either side to check some walker wasn't about to fill the scope at the moment I shot.

I like to think I would allways have done so but these incidents really do reinforce the need to take that extra bit of care.

I can appreciate wanting to make excuses for people, but regardless of any sort of human phenomenon, this would never happen to me.

We lost a boy this year and the same thing happened last year. Two children dead because of the lack of respect for firearms.

It's human nature to learn things the hard way, but with high-powered rifles, we don't always get that second chance.

I've never seen this sort of thing happen to people (young or old) who understand and appreciate what a firearm can do to human flesh.

There should be more intensive training required to obtain a hunting liscense and if a person can't pass a comprehensive exam, then they should not have the right to handle a gun.

Don't be afraid to be the a--hole that's always preaching about gun safety. You might just save a life and it could be your own.

There is no excuse for mistaking a human for a game animal.The courts have to start prosecuting these people to the fullest extent of the law to make an example of them.It won't prevent all shootings but it may just make a few people think for a second more and save a few lives.

Buck fevor and stupidity.....a dangerous combination.

Didn't you all know. NO one is is ever at fault anymore. It wasn't my 15 year old niece's fault she got pregnant, or my son's fault he didn't get his homework done on time, or the JACKA#@'S fault that had a few three too many drinks that killed the two 8 year old girls that were walking home from school, or f#@*ing bit@# crack head that gave birth to a baby that we are ALL paying for now. BULL SHIT step up to the plate. If I was to ever have a "dream" about pulling the trigger on a trophy buck in the brush only to wake up to my buddy laying in a pool of blood in front of me, I would do you all fellow hunters a FAVOR and stick the business end of my 309jdj contender in my mouth and would be my own Judge and Jury. Sorry I couldn't live with myself.
Thats my two cents
Tony

To clarify my reply, it was not meant to make excuses for anyone who actualy aims a rifle at another person and pulls the trigger but mearly to show that accidents can happen in ways that many have never thought of.

To be totaly honest, since that incedent I have always been extremely catious of any shot I take and not to offend anyone but even though I will never take another shot at an animal on a ridge top up hill from me how many would ever fathem to pass on this shot for fear of the instant you pull the trigger someone would "appear" in your line of sight on the opposite side of the animal??

My thoughts are that when you pull the trigger YOU are responsible for that bullets path to the point where it comes to rest PERIOD, no excuses. If you believe that it could never happen to you then good on ya but I for one will continue to hunt with the feeling that it could happen to me just as I will continue to drive with the thought that I could still cause an accident no matter how good a driver I think I may be. Just what works for me

One more thing forgot to add that even though I believe that strange things can happen and bullets can change course dramaticly I've never been able to comprehend how someone could mistake a person for ANY type of game animal. Many times family members or in-laws are involved. Makes me wonder.

Give hunters a bad name? Ill tell you what it gives this hunter, the f@%$ing willies...

People just dont use their heads thesedays. Last week the entire Salt Lake valley was engulfed in smoke from what was supposed to be a controlled burn but it raged way out of control. The authorities say "there is going to be an investegation"! I can tell you what they will find, some lacadasical screw up just didnt think things through and underestimated the potential danger.

I cant tell you how many times Ive seen folks on the side of the road collecting their belongings because they cant be bothered with securing their loads before they leave, THAT IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS!! People think that things like hunters saftey and smokey the bear are just a bunch of silly shit until something like this happens, then its DUUH! I guess I screwed up didnt I!!

Err on the side of caution people, pack a spare tire, assume that the flat tire from the bottle you just broke on the side of the road is going to be yours and for gods sake dont kill your fellow hunters.