Your naivety is showing.
Unless you are hunting a treeless prairie, it is impossible to see many ground objects when aiming at a flying object. Hills, gullys, trees all come into a general view.
Unrelated hunting parties may not be aware of other hunters presence, due to their location and terrain.
Whittington announced he was leaving the "line". Upon his return, from the rear, he made no such announcement.
No need to make this accident into a rifle & pistol range type incident.
But hey, don't let this stop you. Vent away.
