Local hunting accident. This needs to be shared

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R.W.Dale

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Prayers to all parties involved in this tragedy. Obviously investigation is ongoing but I feel compelled to share this because of two gross failings of judgment are evident.

http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/29/johnson-county-man-mistaken-for-deer-fatally-shot/

Cliff notes: man lounges on porch, hears and sees motion in the bushes. Shoots assuming deer and kills a "hiker"

What we should all take away from this is two things.

That orange should always be worn in the woods during season for hunters and non hunters alike.


That the entire thought process behind "brush busting" is a failure of judgment. Not only from a ballistic standpoint but a safety one as well. IMO and this verges on rant, if the target is obscured enough by flora that getting a bullet through is a concern then the shot is not a good one and therefore should not be taken.



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I have never worn orange while hunting in my entire life.
What this guy did was foolishly fire at an unknown target.
We know the results of that reckless behavior.
 
There is no way a person can mistake a human for a deer. It's more than likley the case of some idiot shooting someone, or shooting at to scare, and it ending up badly.

no one just shoots at moving trees and expects to kill a deer... not buying it. :banghead:
 
The point of the OP is well taken, but it must be said that the shooter was neither hunting nor can the outcome be reasonably construed as an accident.
 
I have never worn orange while hunting in my entire life.
What this guy did was foolishly fire at an unknown target.
We know the results of that reckless behavior.

I'm shure the victim would have opted for orange if he had any clue that someone like the shooter was out there.

Even though in the end the wearer benefits from orange its actually there for insurance against stupid people. You might be the safest hunter in the world, that orange you wear is insurance against folks barely smart enough to load their gun. Its the same reason hwy workers wear the stuff.

To knowingly dismiss a prooven safety measure is only marginally less reckless than the shooter




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I hunt on private land in Texas and consider myself very safe.
True weird things can happen though.
But I will leave the blaze orange to public lands hunters and such.
 
The shooter was in a swing in his backyard. The victim was on a hiking trail. The hiking trail has been there for quite some time. The trail was used by other folks for reasons other than hunting. Seems this trail is in a residential setting. As rbernie stated, this was no hunting accident. A case of Gross Negligence. Hope the shooter gets the book thrown at him.
 
This isn't an accident, it was reckless negligence and he should be tried for negligent homicide. On the other hand, I have to wonder, without checking the article, why the hiker was so near this man's house?
 
This isn't an accident, it was reckless negligence and he should be tried for negligent homicide. On the other hand, I have to wonder, without checking the article, why the hiker was so near this man's house?

I fundamentally agree. However tragedies like this are seldom the result of one factor and there's a strong possibly that had the victim been wearing orange as a last line of defense against bad firearm handling he might be alive today.




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Proof you don`t just shoot at movement in the brush, you be damn sure of your target & HEELER, if you don`t wear Hunter Orange in Missouri you get fined, we have`nt had a hunting accident in I don`t know how long.............
 
there's a strong possibly that had the victim been wearing orange as a last line of defense against bad firearm handling he might be alive today.
While I agree with that statement for that particular incident,the more folks that wear orange just contributes to more careless shooters shooting at "non orange"..sheeesh!
It should be positive identification, not the color that makes it a target.
 
I'll tell you what guys. If some IGNORANT S.O.B. ever does that to me he'd better kill me on the first shot because I'm returning fire. There is no excuse for this EVER and I consider it attempted murder for anybody stupid enough to even think about it.
 
...apparent hunting accident...a resident of a nearby home was sitting in a swing in his backyard when he saw something move across the creek from his residence.
The man grabbed a 30-30 rifle and fired one shot at what he thought was a deer, according to deputies.

The shooter was not hunting when this happened; ergo, it's not a hunting accident. The article does not say, but who would be surprised if we find out there was alcohol involved? It was a stupid shot, a slam dunk for a decent prosecutor.
 
The shooter was not hunting when this happened; ergo, it's not a hunting accident. The article does not say, but who would be surprised if we find out there was alcohol involved? It was a stupid shot, a slam dunk for a decent prosecutor.

I feel compelled to point out that just because the guy is sitting on a swing does not rule out him hunting. With the details given we must assume the gentleman was hunting as the story claims. He may very well have had orange on and the whole shebang hunting from his yard




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This isn't an accident, it was reckless negligence and he should be tried for negligent homicide.

Bingo!!!!

The answer to why the man was shot could maybe be found here:

Investigators later learned the shooter and victim were acquainted, but the sheriff’s office would not specify the nature of the relationship.
 
R.W.Dale said:
I feel compelled to point out that just because the guy is sitting on a swing does not rule out him hunting. With the details given we must assume the gentleman was hunting as the story claims. He may very well have had orange on and the whole shebang hunting from his yard

If I were truly hunting from a porch swing, wouldn't I at least be holding my rifle so that when monster buck happens to amble by I can shoot him without the need to "grab" my 30-30?
 
I agree that this doesn't sound like a hunting accident, more like total negligence - cannot believe no arrest was made.

I wear orange even when walking in my own woods during hunting season because I can't control who slips in there.

When I hunted in some of the public hunting areas near me, it was insane on the opening day of deer season. People were moving and firing semi-autos to drive deer toward people on the other side of a hollow.

Once when spring turkey hunting (gobbler season) in another pubilc area, I made the mistake of gobbling instead of doing hen calls. I was all camoed up in some brush, no orange, and a lunatic came in my direction at a dead run, shotgun pointed at my position. I started yelling, and he went away.

Just saying it pays to be cautious.
 
303 Tom...Missouri is Missouri and Texas is Texas.
9.9 out of 10 people hunt on privately owned land in this state thus we are not stumbling across one another while hunting because we actually know who we are hunting with and tresspassing is looked on pretty dimly and poaching is a felony.
Fwiw I was born in Missouri,actually the farm town called Senath.
 
This isn't an accident, it was reckless negligence and he should be tried for negligent homicide.

That is my take as well. There are lots of reasons to be out tramping around in the woods and hiker may simply be a generic term in this case. Sadly, someone mentioned brush busting calibers as the 30-30 is often considered as such.... seems like it worked.

I suspect there is more to this story, but I hope not and it is simply stupidity. Some people use hunting season as an excuse to disguise their true purpose in shooting. Again, there is a loss of a life and there is no excuse for stupidity.
 
After just reading this article, I was surprised to see that Alsaqr was the first one to mention the two were acquainted in post 16. That is the real story. The vast majority of murder victims knew their attacker. I doubt if this was an accident at all.
 
After just reading this article, I was surprised to see that Alsaqr was the first one to mention the two were acquainted in post 16. That is the real story. The vast majority of murder victims knew their attacker. I doubt if this was an accident at all.

I've not been keeping up with the story to be honest. But if you'd ever been to coal hill Arkansas you'd find it more suspicious if the two men DIDN'T know each other to some extent.




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The reason they probably knew each other is, odds are they were neighbors. If folks had read the article they would know the victim was on a PUBLIC HIKING TRAIL that follows the creek. The victim probably used the trail to walk his dog or do his daily walk/run that many suburbanites do. To blame the victim for not wearing blaze orange during this is grasping at straws to justify the shooting.
 
I have seen too many people going on nature hikes in public areas, to include public WMA's during hunting seasons not only failing to wear orange, but wearing brown jackets and walking brown dogs because thats what they do all year round. I would like to legislation passed that if your on public land during hunting season the same hunters orange requirement should be applicable to non-hunters.
 
First: Hiker that close to someones house in the bushes...:confused:
Second: Shooting at an unknown> unidentified target in the bushes...:what:
Stupid on two ends, however very tragic to say the least.
 
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