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  1. #1

    Default Hiker Shot after being Mistaken for a Turkey

    Seriously? I thought we looked more like deer! That is why I am averse to anything I have that's white to show in the woods so I keep my S29 All White Ursak covered up.Never thought I might look like a bird although I have been called a turkey before.

    You can make this stuff up! https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...b40c1eee3.html

  2. #2

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    Why do conservation areas allow hikers during hunting season. It is an accident waiting to happen. No surprise from me.

  3. #3

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    It’s the show me state, as in “show me you aren’t a turkey or I’ll shoot!”

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Five Tango View Post
    Seriously? I thought we looked more like deer! That is why I am averse to anything I have that's white to show in the woods so I keep my S29 All White Ursak covered up.Never thought I might look like a bird although I have been called a turkey before.

    You can make this stuff up! https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...b40c1eee3.html
    How do you know the hunter mistook a hiker for a turkey? That is not what is reported in the article.

    A turkey shell has perhaps 100 pellets. It only takes 4 to kill a turkey. When the pellets come out of the shotgun barrel, they spread apart. The vast majority of pellets do NOT hit the bird. It is more likely the hiker was hit with a stray pellet.

    I frequently hunt on game or conservation land. Regulations do not allow unleashed dogs and it is requested that hikers stay on trail and wear blaze orange. Do they? No. Dogs loose. No blaze orange. Off trail in the bush.

    They should ban hiking on conservation land during hunting season. Would solve this problem.

  5. #5
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Google tells me that Missouri is one of the state where you can hunt a turkey with a rifle. Could be the hiker was on the other side of the bird, and the hunter did not think about the lack of a backstop.

    Here is a nice one I shot last week (Parker River NWR with a camera).

    8CDFD3EF-B832-4B91-A940-D4B6656E1BE6.jpeg

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Why do conservation areas allow hikers during hunting season. It is an accident waiting to happen. No surprise from me.
    It's probably more dangerous for hunters during hunting season than hikers, especially if the hikers stay on trails. So, maybe hunters should be banned during hunting season also? I sure don't want to be banded from all huntable conservation areas during hunting season. I do like having signs to warn me about the risk of hunting, which were likely posted in this case?

    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    . . . I frequently hunt on game or conservation land. Regulations do not allow unleashed dogs and it is requested that hikers stay on trail and wear blaze orange. Do they? No. Dogs loose. No blaze orange. Off trail in the bush.

    They should ban hiking on conservation land during hunting season. Would solve this problem.
    Banning all hunters would also solve this problem. But, I don't think that is a fair solution either.

    Would you suggest banning 100 hikers per day from an area so one or two hunters per week can go hunting there? At what point do you draw the line, 20 hikers and 5 hunters?

    From the beginning to the very end, it is 100% the hunter's responsibility to know where their projectile is going and what it might hit. If they are not ready for that responsibility, they should not be out hunting. Clearly this was a horrible and tragic mistake that should never have happened.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  7. #7

    Default

    Banning hunters or hikers from public lands doesn't make a lot of sense. Holding those who shoot either responsible for their actions does.

  8. #8

    Default

    OK,here's an article on the same incident where the cop's say the hunter mistook the guy for a turkey.........
    https://www.kansascity.com/news/nati...251275594.html

    For the record,I have called up turkeys before and taken a few with my shotgun.It requires a Close proximity to make a clean killing shot.Anybody that thinks a hiker is a turkey and shoots by mistake has some explaining to do......BTW,there's a reason most states make turkey hunting with rifles illegal.I am not clear if a rifle was used but it sounds like the injury to the hiker was serious.

    Personally,I always wear some orange on my person and pack while in the woods regardless of hunting season because I have known a few people that somehow don't think hunting regulations applied to them.

  9. #9

    Default

    In my state, hunting land was bought and paid for from the sale of hunting permits.

    I consider hikers to be unwelcome guests.

    Just offering the other side of the opinion.

  10. #10

    Default

    Hunting turkeys with a rifle is weird. I am a good shot, regular in the 185-190 range 3P with a 22 rifle. I can't imagine using a rifle on a moving turkey at 40-50 yards.

    It is 4, 5, or 6 shot here. You must be stationary and you must call them in. We generally cannot use rifles hunting. Slug or shotgun. Farmers can use small cal rifles to kill predators but that is about it. Sounds like some bad laws

    This story is hard to comprehend.

  11. #11
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    Must be a rifle. You would have to shoot someone at very close range with a shotgun to incur a "serious, life threatening" injury. Shotgun pellets only go, what, 50 yds?

    If you mistake a human for a turkey than you don't know what you're shooting at. And that's not really an accident.
    Be Prepared

  12. #12

    Default

    Also, we have plenty of hiking areas where hunting is not allowed vs very, very few areas where hunting is allowed.

    Hikers should stay out of conservation areas during hunting season or at least wear blaze orange.

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
    Hikers should stay out of conservation areas during hunting season.
    Hunters need to be aware of their targets and their surroundings. There is no need whatsoever to ban hikers from hunting areas.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by CalebJ View Post
    Hunters need to be aware of their targets and their surroundings. There is no need whatsoever to ban hikers from hunting areas.
    Like I said in an earlier post. Hikers off trail, not in blaze orange, letting dogs run loose. I have been harassed several times by hikers when hunting, this is against the law in my state. I never reported them but if I took a picture of them and license plates, the CO would have written a citation. There is a lot of hiking land. Little hunting land, which was mostly paid for by hunting permits. Hunting season is short. Safest way is to keep hikers out. In my experience, they don't follow rules and are generally against hunting. To me the solution is simple, no hiking on hunting land during hunting season.

    Accidents happen even if awareness of surroundings and targets. So, we can just disagree.

  15. #15

    Default

    But all of that boils down to hikers making individual choices that don't create risk to others (they can elect where to go and what to wear). The legal responsibility should be on the hunters, not forbidding hikers to take personal risk.

  16. #16

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    Legal responsibility is on the hunter to know the target and background but also some responsibility falls on the hiker as well. If hikers are on land designated as a hunting area common sense must prevail on both sides,wear orange and stay alert. Yes you can hike or take a walk in the woods legally but seriously during hunting season and on posted land sometimes w/o orange,but of course you would be in the right but maybe dead right.

  17. #17

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    I went to school with a kid "mistaken for a deer" who was shot dead while hunting his own private property at about age 15.As long as hunters shoot at sound and motion these accidents will continue to happen.A Real hunter does not make sound and motion shots,is certain of the target,and knows exactly where the bullet is intended to strike.

    If the cops think the hiker was mistaken for a turkey it means the shooter(sorry,can't call him a hunter) told them he "thought" the hiker was a turkey which really means he saw/heard some motion not clearly defined and took the shot because he was hoping it was a turkey.The shooter is not about to tell law enforcement "I saw/heard something moving so I shot it".

    I hike sometimes with friends on WMA lands which also host a horse trail.Normally we stay off the WMA during deer and turkey season.And when we go there is always going to be some orange involved but there is always some risk that some tin horn idiot is out there that will take a sound/motion shot and worry about the consequences later.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Five Tango View Post
    I went to school with a kid "mistaken for a deer" who was shot dead while hunting his own private property at about age 15.As long as hunters shoot at sound and motion these accidents will continue to happen.A Real hunter does not make sound and motion shots,is certain of the target,and knows exactly where the bullet is intended to strike.

    If the cops think the hiker was mistaken for a turkey it means the shooter(sorry,can't call him a hunter) told them he "thought" the hiker was a turkey which really means he saw/heard some motion not clearly defined and took the shot because he was hoping it was a turkey.The shooter is not about to tell law enforcement "I saw/heard something moving so I shot it".

    I hike sometimes with friends on WMA lands which also host a horse trail.Normally we stay off the WMA during deer and turkey season.And when we go there is always going to be some orange involved but there is always some risk that some tin horn idiot is out there that will take a sound/motion shot and worry about the consequences later.
    Agree completely with this. "Never point your weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy".

    That gun safety concept is based on identifying your target with complete surety. Discernment is paramount regardless of who or what is in the vicinity.

    I hate trusting others to be that discerning but I have to in wilderness areas.

  19. #19
    Registered User LittleRock's Avatar
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    Default

    That's interesting. I always thought hunting season was roughly Oct/Nov-Feb/Mar. I'd never have thought to wear orange at this time of year.
    It's all good in the woods.

  20. #20
    Registered User hobbs's Avatar
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    How many On this thread are Hunters? Heres a question ill poise to you.We pay for licenses and higher rates for our gear than backpackers. We do more for conservation than any hiker I have met very few hikers volunteer with clubs. Only thing backpackers do is take..They also complain that they may have to use a bear canister, Yet hunters have alot of rules they have to follow. I agree keep hikers out during hunting season. I brought this up on another forum do to the idiots flooding the trails. OH if you wonderd all my life I ve backpacked and hunted. IT surprises me when I look and backpackers lost the main thing Stewardship. BUt yet we pay more to do conservation. its also interesting that the mountain bike clubs want access to the PCT and their willing to do maintenace.
    My love for life is quit simple .i get uo in the moring and then i go to bed at night. What I do inbween is to occupy my time. Cary Grant

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