WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 123
  1. #1

    Default Off duty Mass. policeman shoots woman while hunting...........

    I started a thread about blaze orange and the importance of wearing it a while back and, as usual, there were several folks who said it was the hunter's responsibility to identify his target before pulling the trigger. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen. It was an open season. The woman didn't know it and was not wearing any blaze. Here in RI, popular hunting grounds are posted by the DEM with signs stating that any user of the public area in question is required by law to wear at least 200 sq. in. of blaze orange from the second week in November right through the second week in May, if I remember correctly. All open hunting seasons are covered that way, and there is less of a chance that accidental shootings will happen between the different seasons.

    Link to blaze orange rule in RI on one of my favorite sections of trail : http://www.mdc.net/~dbrier/yawgoog/trails/long-ell.html

    The story on the accidental shooting: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/02...stions-hunter/

    There's no such thing as too careful if you want to stay alive while using the woods when hunters may be present.

    Happy, safe New Year.
    Last edited by Tinker; 01-04-2012 at 06:55.
    As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-31-2009
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Age
    45
    Posts
    4,276
    Images
    17

    Default

    They should press charges against the hunter. If only to impress upon other hunters the importance of knowing what they're shooting instead of pulling the trigger for anything that moves.

  3. #3

    Default

    There's an open grass park in our residential development, with swings and slides, etc., bordered by a quarter mile strip of woods in turn bordering a reservoir. We took a walk onto a path into those woods last week and suddenly a man holding a gun was _screaming_ at us for "scaring away the game." We see a solitary deer once or twice a year. Birds, and a load of squirrels. A skunk every couple of years. Das it. Frankly I think he was somewhat in shock at having almost shot us.

    Our bad. Orange from now on. All the time, everywhere, once you're off the sidewalk. There are shooting people out there!

  4. #4

    Default

    This was not an accident, this was reckless behavior and dumb. This hunter/ LEO should have his guns confiscated and be band from hunting. I'm a hunter and only shoot at what I'm going to eat.

  5. #5

    Default

    Some people actually depend upon game meat to bolster their food stores, some are just ardent sportsmen. All of them are out there to shoot game. Sometimes they (and we) make mistakes.

    This is just an example.

    And it was good to point out that hunters feel that they have a right to stalk game without noisy non-hunters scaring it away. They spend a lot on equipment and licenses, spend a lot of time dreaming and preparing for the hunt, and don't like noisy intruders any more than most hikers appreciate "locals" using shelters for parties.
    Trying to see through the eyes of others goes a long way towards mutual understanding.
    As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11

  6. #6

    Default

    You would think a (trained observer)state police officer,would know and identify his target(and beyond)as one of the 10 rules (commandments) of all hunters are required to do.The women on the other hand was not required to wear the 200 Sq. inches of hunter orange that all hunters of deer are required to wear by law.They call it an accident..and a bad one at that.But I have no doubt in my mind that the officer did not go into the woods that day and have the slightest notion this could happen to him,A trained observer.

  7. #7

    Default

    Precisely the point. Many of us are in denial that things that happen to other folks "won't happen to me".

    What, pray tell, makes me any better than anyone else that I can dismiss common sense? The average person (in this country) lives in denial of their own mortality until "IT" happens to them, and if they survive, they'll probably live another day to deny many other common sense issues.

    Survival - it requires hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.
    As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-04-2009
    Location
    West Stockbridge MA
    Age
    71
    Posts
    493
    Images
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ALLEGHENY View Post
    This was not an accident, this was reckless behavior and dumb. This hunter/ LEO should have his guns confiscated and be band from hunting. I'm a hunter and only shoot at what I'm going to eat.
    +1 here especially as he is a State Trooper. We have stiffer laws for shooting a police officer, a life is a life, pain and suffering is pain and suffering regardless of who you are.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    08-07-2003
    Location
    Nashville, Tennessee
    Age
    72
    Posts
    6,119
    Images
    620

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tinker View Post
    ... as usual, there were several folks who said it was the hunter's responsibility to identify his target before pulling the trigger. ...
    From your "tone of voice," I take it that you do not think it's the hunter's responsibility to identify his target before pulling the trigger???

    I wear lots of blaze orange if I know it's hunting season and I always check with the local rangers to ask while planning a hike. But that sure as heck doesn't mean I don't think it's the HUNTER's responsibility always, always, always, 100% when he pulls the trigger. This was a 66-year-old lady walking her two dogs, for pete's sake! This hunter should go to prison in my opinion. Is it ever legal to hunt deer after dark anyway?

    Rain Man

    .
    [I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35

    [url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]

    .

  10. #10
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-02-2007
    Location
    DFW, TX / Northern NH
    Age
    67
    Posts
    8,143
    Images
    27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tinker View Post
    Some people actually depend upon game meat to bolster their food stores, some are just ardent sportsmen. All of them are out there to shoot game. Sometimes they (and we) make mistakes.

    This is just an example.

    And it was good to point out that hunters feel that they have a right to stalk game without noisy non-hunters scaring it away. They spend a lot on equipment and licenses, spend a lot of time dreaming and preparing for the hunt, and don't like noisy intruders any more than most hikers appreciate "locals" using shelters for parties.
    Trying to see through the eyes of others goes a long way towards mutual understanding.
    Actually, I don't believe there is "a right to stalk game without noisy non-hunters scaring it away." There are non-interference laws regarding fishing and hunting, but noisy non-hunters would have to be intentionally trying to interfere with the hunt in order to be in violation. Someone out walking their dog and making noise in the woods during hunting season may be annoying, and they may well be a fool, but they aren't necessarily breaking any laws. Every noisy person in the woods isn't necessarily trying to scare game - I have a relative who is loud and noisy everywhere. But whenever you have a lethal weapon, the burden is always on you to positively identify your target and what lies both in between you and that target and downrange. Mistakes with weapons are judged under a different set of rules, as they should be.

  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-22-2009
    Location
    Ashburnham, MA
    Age
    80
    Posts
    1,951
    Images
    2

    Default

    This is a classic accident. The woman was shot in the dark within minutes of the end of hunting season (probably several minutes after hunting ended).

    She was shot on her own property, according to her son. Other reports place her in a wildlife preserve across the street from her home.

    Mass. law says you 500' from any building. Google maps shows that street as fairly built up and it would be hard to find a spot in that area further than 500' from any building.

    Hunting is legal till 30 minutes after sunset. It is pretty dark in the woods here at 30 minutes after sunset. You'd have to be almost on top of them to distinguish a person from a deer in the woods then. The shooting happened about 5pm, which would be illegal and after the end of hunting season.

    Most hunters do not have permits for antlerless deer. You have to determine that the deer has at least 3" antlers before you shoot.

    Within 12 hours the state police were stating that it was an 'accident' and there would be no charges; the shooter was a state police officer. I think that the officer should serve jail time. It is clearly negligent use of a firearm (up to 6 months in jail).

    I did not go outside at all the last day of hunting season. I was afraid to go out on the last hours of deer season because some hunters become desperate to get a deer. I usually wear blaze orange going to my mail box during deer season and always wear it walking in the woods in hunting season.

  12. #12

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Snowleopard View Post
    This is a classic accident. The woman was shot in the dark within minutes of the end of hunting season (probably several minutes after hunting ended).
    I was under the impression there's no hunting after dark. If it was one minute after hunting season, it was no accident, but reckless and negligent. .

  13. #13

    Default

    he was aiming for her dogs, after my dog-enduced sleepless night last night I'd've shot em too

  14. #14

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Snowleopard View Post

    Hunting is legal till 30 minutes after sunset. It is pretty dark in the woods here at 30 minutes after sunset. You'd have to be almost on top of them to distinguish a person from a deer in the woods then. The shooting happened about 5pm, which would be illegal and after the end of hunting season.
    Too close for comfort...

    12/31 (Norton, MA)

    Sunrise: 7:13am
    Sunset: 4:23pm



  15. #15
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-02-2007
    Location
    DFW, TX / Northern NH
    Age
    67
    Posts
    8,143
    Images
    27

    Default

    Is it an accident? Yes, but only in the same sense that driving 60 mph in a 25 mph school zone and hitting a child is. Reckless operation of a vehicle resulting in a death is typically a manslaughter charge. Reckless operation of a firearm should be no different.

  16. #16

    Default

    It may be called an accident in that it wasn't intentional but, come on, even if he thought the dogs were deer, he shot a person. Hunting after sunset is an absurd law.

  17. #17

    Default

    I tend to agree that this was probably neglect, vs. a simple accident, but then again I'm a stickler for safety around firearms, being a former instructor. But what I'm sick of, is how much attention this subject garners. I tend to believe many shooting accidents are neglect, but I also believe many car accidents are also neglect, but the majority are simply ruled an accident, even when life-changing injuries are involved, not to mention death.

    But that does not seem to garner the same attention, except in the cycling community, because many times cyclists are the victims, so they're a little sensitive to the subject. However, they wrongly come to the same basic conclusion that many do on this subject. Many think these incidents are ruled as pure accidents because of some conspriacy with gun lobbies -- and that's why it becomes so controversial. However, it's not true. The reason is the same reason many car accidents are ruled as a simple accident -- lack of proof.

    BTW, in the cycling community many cyclists are convincened that America hates cyclists and that's why so many motorists are not criminally charged when a cyclist is killed. But the "sad" fact is, you need evidence in our system of justice. But just drive your car and look around at the crazy way people drive, that right there tells me the bulk of accidents are very, very preventable. But it's very hard to prove in court unless you got overwhelming evidence.



    P.S. I was very surprised to hear in the news story that hunters are NOT required by law to fully identify their target. Something strange there

  18. #18
    CDT - 2013, PCT - 2009, AT - 1300 miles done burger's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-03-2005
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    1,437

    Default

    If the shooter was not a cop, some charges would already have been filed (at least a misdemeanor of some sort). But since the guy was a cop, they'll protect their own.

  19. #19
    Registered User LoneRidgeRunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-05-2010
    Location
    Earth, Earth
    Posts
    612
    Images
    36

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by leaftye View Post
    They should press charges against the hunter. If only to impress upon other hunters the importance of knowing what they're shooting instead of pulling the trigger for anything that moves.
    ABSOLUTELY! Yes, it is the hunter's responsibility yo KNOW what he's shooting at even BEFORE he takes aim. Unfortunately, there's a lot of morons who just shoot at anything that moves. I Deer hunted most of my life and have seen lots of Deer and lots of hunters in the woods and they do NOT resemble each other in ANY way whatsoever. Any hunter who shoots someone while hunting should be charged with and convicted of premeditated murder. It's premeditated because when he took aim and pulled that trigger he intended to kill his target. But it's not a bad idea to wear some orange. Even if the hunter is charged and convicted ( he won't be though as they always call it an unavoidable "accident", the victim is still dead.

  20. #20

    Default nice deflection...

    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    i'm really tired of seeing jackasses driving and texting or yappin' on a cell. i don't own one so i ain't guilty but i bet 90% of posters here are. they cause tons of wrecks and deaths
    LOL... here's a story of a girl that went to jail for texting in class.

    http://www.instantnews.net/girl-goes-to-jail-for-texting-in-class.aspx

    .
    ..but hunter/cop shoots someone, no problem.

Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 ... LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •