Posted on 10/07/2010 5:17:22 AM PDT by marktwain
Washington State has had in recent memory three fairly high-profile hunting-related fatalities in which the victims were all non-hunters, and were killed by people who thought they were shooting at game.
In two of those cases, the hunters thought they were shooting at black bears and in the third case, the hunter believed he fired at an elk. This column discussed the most recent of those incidents here, and mentioned the use of fluorescent hunter orange by non-hunters during the hunting season.
We also contacted Wayne East, executive director of the Colorado-based International Hunter Education Association (IHEA). Currently, about 40 states mandate the use of hunter orange, and it is taught rigorously in hunter education courses how important it is to visually confirm your target. One cannot simply shoot at a movement. That’s neither responsible nor safe. In three known cases here in the Evergreen State, it’s been fatal.
Over the weekend, I spoke with a pal about these incidents, and one might wonder if hunter orange, or the lack of it, might have played a part in these tragedies. Before anybody blows a gasket, just consider the possibility, however unlikely (and even foolish), that the shooters in these incidents including a 14-year-old kid, might have subconsciously presumed that the image they saw – the target – could not have been a person because he/she wasn’t wearing orange. Sounds stupid, right?
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Never shoot unless you know what you’re shooting at... anything else is plain stupidity as a result of poor training and or just shooting anything that moves.
Stupid people using firearms.
Carry a good pair of binoculars and NEVER raise your weapon until you are 100% sure you are going to fire at game and not another human. If you let one get away then so be it.
just wear orange.....it is a life saver....
back when ABS first came out, I worked with a guy who thought people who bought cars with ABS should have to pay HIGHER insurance rates to pay for accidents where people who tailgated them and then rear ended them (because the ABS driver were able to stop so well). so in his mind, the ABS owning/rear ended drivers, were the cause of the accident.
along the same lines, this blaming blaze orange for people being shot who were not wearing it, is just too stupid to believe.
“Someone wearing a brown jacket and crawling on hands and knees during deer season?”
I am having a hard time believing that, but people are unaware of things too. Back in the day when I was unaware of deer season, we would be going on a caving trip. This normally means tromping through the woods making all kinds of noise and disrupting hunter’s plans, unintentionally. On this same day, we seen a shotgun hunter with a pint of whiskey in one hand and a handgun in the other shooting into the creek. I have seen some incredibly stupid shotgun hunters in Indiana.
Carry a good pair of binoculars and NEVER raise your weapon until you are 100% sure you are going to fire at game and not another human. If you let one get away then so be it.
but what do YOU do to protect yourselves who are too stupid to follow the basic rules?
I will answer that for you....WEAR BLAZE ORANGE! simple
Way back in the mid-1980’s a man I worked with then told about someone shot that past deer season.
A man had shot a buck and instead of dragging it back to camp, humped it over his shoulders and walked towards his camp. He never made it — he was shot dead when someone mistook him for a deer!
It all comes down on Hunter education. When I was a kid, how to hunt without killing yourself and others was passed down from the last generation. My Dad also took me to a Hunters Safety Class. Nowadays you have people out there shooting that never were told about identifying your target ,and knowing what was behind the target. They just buy themselves a rifle, get a hunting permit, and go for it.
He might have a point.
I’ve noticed that motorcycle riders wearing full leathers and full face helmets ride a little more dangerously then those without the protective gear. I even found myself doing it – after all, I was fully protected. I’ve found that over the years as full roll cages, impact absorbing frames and “air” bags have been mandated for cars people don’t drive as carefully as before. They feel fully protected.
The casual once a year hunter might feel the same way, don’t see blaze orange? Go ahead and shoot! It’s safe! The excitement of getting in a shot overrides safety.
Here in rural Ak, people still turn their horses out to fend for themselves over the winter, so it's common to see horses in thick woods within a few miles of people. Once I had a horse walk out of alders on me. Kinda surprised me as I figured it was a cow moose in the alders. Turned out the owner had a horse shot a few years earlier by a hunter.
We had it drummed into our little pea-brains from early on that if you aren't sure what you are shooting at, you shouldn't be shooting it.
Now that I live somewhere where the shots are considerably longer on occasion, I can honestly say I prefer the Orange--it helps people know you are there if you end up on the other side of the animal they are hunting.
Of course, that doesn't stop idiots, it just warns them you might return the favor...
deer are close to color blind. In my hunting camp we all wear full blaze orange vests, minimum.
a friend had hunted hard all day and was tired and headed back to camp....he went down into a ravine and bent down to look at the rocks as this shale is loaded with fossils from the Devonian period. in effect he looked like he was a quadruped bent over as he was...an 8 point buck following a trail near him saw him bent over and assumed he was another animal....the big buck stomped the ground hard with his hoof to get the other ‘animals’ attention, at that point my friend stood up straight and put a round through this confused bucks boiler room. at the shot I ran to the crest of a hill in time to see Bambi's dad fall where he stood.
now the deer obviously did not know my buddy was wearing a blaze orange vest.... but another hunter would have known that.
I yield the forest to the hunters during deer season.
When I was a kid a neighbor was killed by a hunter when he was out behind his barn chopping wood. He had white gloves on and the guy that shot him thought he was a whitetail.
As someone who doesn’t hunt, at least not on land, it’s always made me laugh at the things hunter go through and wear so as not to scare away their prey.
Camouflage garb from head to toe (which isn’t cheap), including the weapon, blinds, stands, and topped off with sprinkling deer urine on ones self to avoid being smelled. Then throw it all away by wearing an ultra bright fluorescent orange vest.
LOL
Fresh snow
Gravel
Softish ice
In these instances the rolling of the wheels prevents a wedge of snow, gravel, ice chips from building up under the four tires thus increasing stopping distances.
ABS does allow control.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.