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In Franklin County, Virginia (middle of nowhere) today, a 32-year-old man pled guilty to shooting two people while he was hunting for deer. He will serve one year in confinement and three on probation.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0710/758549.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He was not found guilty of felony bad hair.


I have been asked why I often append "middle of nowhere" to these posts. It seems that remote, sparsely populated rural areas generate far more than their fair share of incidents of this sort.

- Jim

A deer with a red hat perhaps...

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=hYQVdGHsC3I[/youtube]

seamusTX wrote:In Franklin County, Virginia (middle of nowhere) today, a 32-year-old man pled guilty to shooting two people while he was hunting for deer. He will serve one year in confinement and three on probation.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0710/758549.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He was not found guilty of felony bad hair.


I have been asked why I often append "middle of nowhere" to these posts. It seems that remote, sparsely populated rural areas generate far more than their fair share of incidents of this sort.

- Jim

Is a little Eugenics in order?

Uh...I am puzzled by how people look like deer. Were the victims wearing antlers or something?

Oldgringo wrote:Is a little Eugenics in order?

It might have something to do with the shallow gene pool and family trees that look like a ball of yarn, but that would be a stereotype.

Texas Size 11 wrote:Uh...I am puzzled by how people look like deer. Were the victims wearing antlers or something?

People don't look like deer, even if they're wearing antlers. This kind of incident cannot possibly occur if the shooter makes a positive ID on his target.
- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

Oldgringo wrote:Is a little Eugenics in order?

It might have something to do with the shallow gene pool and family trees that look like a ball of yarn, but that would be a stereotype.

Texas Size 11 wrote:Uh...I am puzzled by how people look like deer. Were the victims wearing antlers or something?

People don't look like deer, even if they're wearing antlers. This kind of incident cannot possibly occur if the shooter makes a positive ID on his target.
- Jim

Then I ain't crazy. I would not have mistaken a person for a deer on the drunkest day of my youth.

Anyone who does not properly identify ANY target before shooting is an idiot, plain and simple. There is no room for anyone who disregards firearm safety like this.

However, this reminds me of a deer hunting story of my own.

When I lived in Missouri, there was a large parcel of national forest that we hunted on. It was land-locked by private property all around. To enter the ~2000 acre government section you had to get permission from one of the land owners to cross or you were trespassing. We owned about 20 acres on one side of it and hunted that and the government forest along with friends and family that we all knew of the other land owners around it.

One year a group of four guys pulled their travel trailer in down the road from our cabin and stopped by to talk. They indicated they were hunting on the hill that was land locked. I asked who they had permission from, and they said they didn't need permission as it was national forest. I advised that it was all private surrounding and if they didn't have permission they couldn't cross into it and that they would be wise to not trespass. Needless to say, the next day I saw a couple of the guys come through the woods after they had crossed another land owners property.

That afternoon I went into the small town near the area and to talk to the owner of the little grocery store/quickie mart who was a friend of mine. The four guys were in the store when I went in and were sitting in a little area in the back that had a table. When the owner asked me if I had gotten a deer, I said fairly loudly 'No, but I did get a couple of sound shots off. Something was moving in the bushes, and I couldn't tell for sure what it was but knew it had to have been a deer!!' My friend knowing me and my hunting and firearm safety background gave me a really puzzled look. Before he could say anything, I winked at him and he jumped on and played along. I stated "I plan to go back out this afternoon and I don't care what it is that moves, if I think it's a deer I'm shooting it!'

The four guys got up from the table in the back of the store and walked out. I turned to my buddy and told him what had happened with the guys trespassing and why I said what I did. He said 'I bet they won't try hunting back on that section again!' and we both laughed.

I left the store about 15 minutes later and as I drove by those guys camp, they were packing up and leaving. Mission accomplished.

Many amateur hunters shoot at movement with absolutely no interest/thought to target ID. I grew up in Colorado and wore bright Orange while hunting.
I am still alive despite the best efforts of many of those hunters.

Keith B wrote:Anyone who does not properly identify ANY target before shooting is an idiot, plain and simple. There is no room for anyone who disregards firearm safety like this.

Yep, that's exactly what happens. People get excited and shoot at anything that moves or makes noise, without identifying their target.

Although this guy pled to involuntary manslaughter, I wonder if malice is involved in some cases. There was that guy a few years ago who apparently went nuts and killed several hunters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_Vang" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

Back in '88, a woman wearing white mittens was shot by a hunter while she was in her own yard. He claimed that he mistook the white mitten for white-tail.

I mistook a deer for a person once. It was at night, I was preoccupied, and it sneezed. Scared me just a bit, but then again, I wasn't alone, or hunting.