Teen Killed in Hunting Accident

[Cougfan2]

The bottom line is the shooter DID NOT know what he was shooting at. Orange, while not a bad idea, wont fix that problem. First thing I learned BEFORE I got to handle a firearm...KNOW YOUR TARGET! I feel sorry for the uncle...but it was his mistake, most definitely a tragic one, but still, HIS mistake. If you asked the man if blaze orange would have changed anything...do you think he could say it would? He DID NOT SEE THE TARGET!!! For all we know the nephew (RIP) could have been wearing a bright color.

For the record, it was mentioned in one of the articles on this that the nephew was NOT wearing hunter orange. He was wearing camo.

I have access to stats going over 10 years back that prove the number of vision related firearms accidents decreased after hunter orange was required. I'd be tempted to post them here if I thought anyone would read them, but most folks minds seem to be made up.

 

[no time]

I didn't catch the part where the kid was wearing camo...That does make him harder to see, for sure.

But camo doesn't make a teenager look like a cow elk.

I DO think that orange is a good idea, not only for minors, but for adults also. But I'm not convinced it will help if someone is shooting at noises.

 

[Cougfan2]

I didn't catch the part where the kid was wearing camo...That does make him harder to see, for sure.

But camo doesn't make a teenager look like a cow elk.

I DO think that orange is a good idea, not only for minors, but for adults also. But I'm not convinced it will help if someone is shooting at noises.

Actually, I will dig up the stats and post them. In a nutshell, the biggest decrease in accidents was seen in upland game hunters as they are typically shooting at rapidly moving targets and people tended to be hunting in groups of two or more shooters. That being said, the injuries tended to be anything from taking a pellet or two to losing an eye to more serious accidents and sometimes death.

While the percentage of reduction of accidents during big game hunting was overall smaller, the accidents tended to be much more serious and resulted in death more often.

When you think about it, that makes sense.

 

[no time]

When you think about it, that makes sense.

You're right, that makes sense. I've never been much of a bird hunter, but I could see where trying to get on a fast moving bird, then seeing orange, would work.
Seems like it would be easy to get the firearm pointed where it ought not to be...

 

[Riot]

An accident is unavoidable. The only reason crap like this happens is carelessness.

Everyone should go thru hunter safety, including adults. Never shoot at a target you can't positively identify and no "accidents" will happen.

Best answer yet...

 

[61henry]

I lived and hunted in Illinois for several years where blaze orange IS required and every year there were still stories about some moron "accidentally" shooting some body while hunting. It is not the color that is worn that is the problem it's some of the "hunters" out there that do not make sure of their target before shooting, you can wear all the blaze orange you want and some butt wipe still might shoot at you, you could wear flashing lights and sirens on your head and still get shot at. The problem is with the shooter. This story said the boy was wearing camo and was mistaken for an elk, I have been hunting for many, many years and have yet to see an elk walk around on it's hind legs wearing camo. Don't think for a minute that making a law forcing anybody to wear orange will stop this kind of crap from happening.

 

[Cougfan2]

Nobody has ever said that Blaze Orange would completely eliminate hunting accidents, but there's substantial evidence that it reduces them.

 

[61henry]

There is also substantial evidence that education and common sense reduces them as well.

 

[Cougfan2]

There is also substantial evidence that education and common sense reduces them as well.

Did I ever say it didn't? Why can't we have both? I'm all for hunter education. I even went thru the class with my son even though I didn't have to.

 

[sasquatch83]

a friend of mines son was the sheriff deputy that responded to the shooting and it wasn't pretty !! The uncle had a cow tag and shot without identifying his target ! The results will never be over for that family because of a terrible mistake of not identifying your target before pulling the trigger !!

wow!!!

 

[CVMustang]

I lived and hunted in Illinois for several years where blaze orange IS required and every year there were still stories about some moron "accidentally" shooting some body while hunting. It is not the color that is worn that is the problem it's some of the "hunters" out there that do not make sure of their target before shooting, you can wear all the blaze orange you want and some butt wipe still might shoot at you, you could wear flashing lights and sirens on your head and still get shot at. The problem is with the shooter. This story said the boy was wearing camo and was mistaken for an elk, I have been hunting for many, many years and have yet to see an elk walk around on it's hind legs wearing camo. Don't think for a minute that making a law forcing anybody to wear orange will stop this kind of crap from happening.

Very well said, good post.

 

[coyote223]

Alright you guys. The ones like me that are against this. Yes, the ones that are for too. It sounds like ODFW is running with this. They already raised our License/Tag fees, don't let them force us to buy new Hunting Clothes too! Write some letters, make your voices heard before its too late.

Copied from another site:

Contacts Regarding Mandatory Hunter Orange Clothing:


Oregon Governor's Office

Governor Kulongoski
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047

Governor’s Citizens’ Representative Message Line - 503.378.4582

Fax -503.378.6827

Email Comments Here

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission

Commission Web Page With Individual Contact Information

Email Comments - [email protected]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Written Comments:

ODFW
3406 Cherry Ave.
Salem, Oregon 97303-4924
Re: Mandatory Hunter Orange Clothing

Email Comments:

ODFW Director Roy Elicker - [email protected]

ODFW Wildlife Division Administrator Ron Anglin - [email protected]

ODFW Information and Education Deputy Administrator Rick Hargrave - [email protected]

Another good point, if they want to force this down the Hunters throats. It needs to be for anyone and Everyone that uses the woods during any hunting season. Mtn Bikers, Hikers, Brush/Mushroom Pickers, etc. Not just the Hunters. Come on men, write them now!

 

[rusobr2]

yup-seems like this is going to happen -i think thats why they call them accidents-GOD BLESS THE FAMILY its going to be tough.i was elking up on columbia basin area a month ago,and everyone around me had on camo-i stepped out of the truck , and put on my bright yellow ski jacket-the elk don't care what i'm wearing i said.and besides your'll driving noisy diesel trucks,and running 40 mph across the wheat stubble on your atv's--i don't think my coat has anything to do with anything-even back in the late 50's my dad made all us kids wear something that you could be seen in-to me its just always been a practice.
steven

 

[Riot]

There is a fine line between what is an accident and what is just being careless...this last hunting season I was out with some friends, going through valley to valley hopping to flush something out for one another to shoot.

Low and behold, my friend got himself a Black bear...so, I decided to kinda work my way towards their end to see if the shots and the cleaning might spook something my way.

Well, another hunter (lets say about 18-19 years oldish) made his way towards the other guys as well. I'm not wearing a lot of orange, so I expected a few firearms pointed my way since I'm in a makeshift guille suit. Mr 18-19 guy points hit gun at me and "glasses me" with his scope...I stop and wave. Then he decides so glass the guys that are gutting the bear just to see what they're doing.

To this day I wonder if he even sees what he did wrong here. You never, ever, ever point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy. Glassing someone with your rifle shouldn't be done to check to see what is down range, that's what binoculars are for.

Needless to say, if I wasn't trying to be quiet I would have probably beat him with his own rifle for glassing my friends just to see what they killed. They were obviously wearing a LOT of orange and were only about 150 yards away from him...he knew they were "friendlies" and didn't need to make sure he was going to miss his chance at some big buck.

This kind of crap happens all the time. Are they accidents? No. An accident is dropping your gun, it going off and you shooting a hole in your car. An accident is you running over a nail in the road and getting a flat tire. You get my drift? If he would have shot either myself or my friends, that is no accident...that is carelessness. "Buck fever" is no excuse for shooting at anything that looks like a deer.

And curiousity is not an excuse for pointing a loaded firearm at someone either.

 

[slingshot1943]

When you are supposed to know if your target is an elk or deer and if it has horns and how big, I don't see how on earth you can be mistaken. Maybe tags should be specific for male or female to require certain ID.

 

[Riot]

When you are supposed to know if your target is an elk or deer and if it has horns and how big, I don't see how on earth you can be mistaken. Maybe tags should be specific for male or female to require certain ID.

What are you taking shots at 500 yards and up? If you can't tell the difference between a deer and an elk then maybe you should take some sort of hunter identification course.

 

[elkcraz]

What are you taking shots at 500 yards and up? If you can't tell the difference between a deer and an elk then maybe you should take some sort of hunter identification course.

Read his post... (When you are supposed to know, not when are you supposed to know) I am pretty sure that everyone who is any kind of a hunter knows the difference between and elk and a deer. We are talking about a boy that was shot in a hunting accident, if you want to call it that. And slingshot is talking about hair tags and when people have hair tags, they can get careless and shoot any brush movement. Not an excuse, ALWAYS know your target!

 

[Riot]

Read his post... (When you are supposed to know, not when are you supposed to know) I am pretty sure that everyone who is any kind of a hunter knows the difference between and elk and a deer. We are talking about a boy that was shot in a hunting accident, if you want to call it that. And slingshot is talking about hair tags and when people have hair tags, they can get careless and shoot any brush movement. Not an excuse, ALWAYS know your target!

Ah, well if that is the case then I misread and I appologize, slingshot.