Deputies: Hunter mistaken for wild hog shot, killed

[CainA]

Not being much of a hunter, I need some explanation on how events like the following happen:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/21573540 ... hot-killed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jmra]

Stupidity is the only explanation I can come up with.

[The Annoyed Man]

Not being much of a hunter, I need some explanation on how events like the following happen:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/21573540 ... hot-killed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He obviously broke rule #4 and fired on something he could not clearly see and identify: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_safety ... _beyond_it

No responsible hunter will take a shot at any game that he has not clearly identified. If all he saw was motion and maybe a patch of hide and hair looking through some brush, he'd have no way of knowing if it was a hog, or maybe some other kind of animal that isn't in season.....like maybe a deer......or a human.

The article notes that the shooter had no hunting license. I don't know if that is a legal issue or not, but it might be an indicator of his level of hunting training and involvement in the sport. In other words, was he a hunter, or just some bubba with a rifle?

And by the way, this is also a clear demonstration of the efficacy of a rifle over a pistol; and also why, in a gunfight, a pistol is something you use to fight your way back to the rifle you should have never put down. The victim was terminated with one shot to the torso. Something like 80% of people shot with pistols survive their wound(s). Rifles are far more lethal than handguns.

[RJGold]

Not being much of a hunter, I need some explanation on how events like the following happen:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/21573540 ... hot-killed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He obviously broke rule #4 and fired on something he could not clearly see and identify: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_safety ... _beyond_it

No responsible hunter will take a shot at any game that he has not clearly identified. If all he saw was motion and maybe a patch of hide and hair looking through some brush, he'd have no way of knowing if it was a hog, or maybe some other kind of animal that isn't in season.....like maybe a deer......or a human.

The article notes that the shooter had no hunting license. I don't know if that is a legal issue or not, but it might be an indicator of his level of hunting training and involvement in the sport. In other words, was he a hunter, or just some bubba with a rifle?

And by the way, this is also a clear demonstration of the efficacy of a rifle over a pistol; and also why, in a gunfight, a pistol is something you use to fight your way back to the rifle you should have never put down. The victim was terminated with one shot to the torso. Something like 80% of people shot with pistols survive their wound(s). Rifles are far more lethal than handguns.

Yup, he said it all. Especially the Rule #4 part!!!

[johncanfield]

We have some friends with a ranch in the hill country who's 'pet' bison was shot by a friend of a guest thinking it was a hog. The guest started to say "don't shoot" when his buddy pulled the trigger. Another violation of the positive ID rule .

[BigGuy]

Dad was stationed at Fort Sill OK back in the 60's. He had a game warden friend who told of people proudly pulling into the check station with every thing from a large jack rabbit, horses, cows (One with the word COW painted on in big white letters by the owner) and a burro to register the "deer" they'd just killed.
I've only made the mistake of trying to deer hunt on government land once. I remember praying, "Lord, just get me out of these woods alive just this one time and I'll never go back." Until that time, I'd hunted on a private deer club where you'd get kicked out for doing something stupid or dangerous. That was my first experience with just how ignorant an adult with a gun could be.

[baldeagle]

TAM beat me to it. Again.

[texanjoker]

Gotta know your target.

[jmra]

Gotta know your target.

Maybe he did.

[johncanfield]

We have a friend with a ranch near us that has three or four hunters every deer season. If he doesn't know them, he gives them mandatory hunter safety training before he lets them hunt.