How on Earth do you mistake someone for a squirrel?

[fatnhappy]

A local hunter was killed squirrel hunting with his friends. There aren't many facts available at the moment , except that it was a case of "mistaken for game." How the heck does that happen?

Paint me a bit skeptical.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S3569621.shtml?cat=565

[Cmm_3940]

I've met some pretty squirrelly people, but not squirrelly enough to shoot them...

[Omega]

117289

[BruceB]

It's far from unknown.

If only a PART of the human is visible through cover, or behind some obstruction, it can be very easy to believe that the top of a man's head, for example, is a squirrel or woodchuck or whatever.

"Walk a mile in his shoes" before judging too severely. Also, remember the basic rules of gun safety, including "Be sure of your target, and what lies beyond it."

It's far too easy to make the common mistakes that lead to fatalities or injury in the hunting field.

[trails4u]

Thanks, Omega.....just peed on myself a little bit. :)

[CastingFool]

I have a friend who got shot by a "bowhunter" My buddy lived, the guy that shot him did help him to get to the hospital, but claimed my buddy was making deer sounds. A real hunter identifies his target before shooting.

[StolzerandSons]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41%2BuLrtPicL._SY445_.jpg

[bubba.50]

I know a woman who "mistook" her husband for a quail & a friend of mine was "mistaken" for a turkey while wearin' a blaze orange vest & cap.

[JWFilips]

Can we send "O" a squirrel suit for Halloween ?

[Garyshome]

Oops.... Sorry! I guess I should have found my glasses.

[Taylor]

I was hunting on Ft Campbell about 30 years ago.I reported to MWR check station at the end on my hunt.Some guy's talking about their day,and I over heard one say,that he didn't see anything,but did get off some sound shot's.----???. Your guess,I would imagine,is the same as mine.Now that's scary.

[BrassMagnet]

I was hunting on Ft Campbell about 30 years ago.I reported to MWR check station at the end on my hunt.Some guy's talking about their day,and I over heard one say,that he didn't see anything,but did get off some sound shot's.----???. Your guess,I would imagine,is the same as mine.Now that's scary.

My buddy's Dad went deer hunting in northern California back when I was a teenager. He kept having shots go through the brush near him and he had to crawl a few times when they kept shooting into the brush where he was.
Now Coy liked to shoot pool and drink beer. While doing both, he had some guys claiming "they got a few good brush shots in!" He had them explain themselves. He shouted, "You fools, that was me you were shooting at!" He then proceeded to beat the **** out of them with the cue stick.
Of course the law was called and Coy found himself explaining his actions to a Deputy Sheriff. I was surprised the Deputy Sheriff told the beat individuals to be satisfied that they hadn't been shot instead. Coy did not get arrested.
I'm sure today he would be arrested and spend a lot of time in jail.

Now for some safety rules:
Never hunt alone. Anti-hunters hunt hunters and the law in many jurisdictions won't even investigate. They'll just claim, "Yep, he was shot at long range by a hunter while sitting on that hilltop in the open wearing orange." They won't even try to find where the shot came from. If you are part of a hunting party, this is very unlikely to happen to you.
Have a weapon, besides your bow or rifle, for if they try to rob you in the woods.

[white eagle]

Now for some safety rules:
Never hunt alone. Anti-hunters hunt hunters and the law in many jurisdictions won't even investigate. They'll just claim, "Yep, he was shot at long range by a hunter while sitting on that hilltop in the open wearing orange." They won't even try to find where the shot came from. If you are part of a hunting party, this is very unlikely to happen to you.
Have a weapon, besides your bow or rifle, for if they try to rob you in the woods.

wow
with safety rules like that I am sure as hell glad I own my own land

[FLHTC]

It's far from unknown.

If only a PART of the human is visible through cover, or behind some obstruction, it can be very easy to believe that the top of a man's head, for example, is a squirrel or woodchuck or whatever.

"Walk a mile in his shoes" before judging too severely. Also, remember the basic rules of gun safety, including "Be sure of your target, and what lies beyond it."

It's far too easy to make the common mistakes that lead to fatalities or injury in the hunting field.

About 40 some years ago, my family hunted an area on Maryland's eastern shore. The southern counties had drainage ditches that could be 5 feet deep at parts. My dad had his gun trained on what he thought was a deer's head and he was patiently waiting for it to emerge and a better shot. A fella climbed out of the ditch with one of those Paul Revere hats on. The thing was tan.......and during deer season.
Mistakes do happen. By the names of the bunch in the link, it was probably their first time out hunting.

[shredder]

All very interesting but this does us all a lot of harm in the public eye when some moron mistakes another hunter and kills him/her. While most seem able somehow to understand this I can not. I sure hope we all take our firearms more seriously than that fellow! Be safe out there.

[country gent]

Possibly a squirrel on the ground or side of a tree and an unseen hunter or a miss and richochet. May not have been a direct aimed shot, but a fluke resulting from inattention to where others were. The old concrete barn on the farm had 3 pock marks from deer slugs piut there over the years. People not paying attention to direction they were firing. Not trying to sugar coat or write this off but alot of circumstances not known here. But I am also of the opinion most hunting accidents probably arnt real accidents

[KCSO]

Investigated one of these once fellows shooting rats in a big barn, a richochet nailed a hunter across the barn dead in the temple and killed him DRT. Who knows till the investigation is done???

[dakotashooter2]

It's far from unknown.

If only a PART of the human is visible through cover, or behind some obstruction, it can be very easy to believe that the top of a man's head, for example, is a squirrel or woodchuck or whatever.

This is not an excuse. There are many different animals in the woods. If all you see is a tuft of fur, it could be one of a dozen or more animals that are NOT your target. It is our job to positively identify our target and not shoot if we only THINK it is game. I personally don't hunt anything without a pair of binoculars. In my opinion they should be mandatory equipment for anyone afield.

Take for example the legendary, "sound" shot. There are so many things wrong with that it's hard to know where to even start. Yet there are still a few people who do it.

[oldred]

When I was in high school back in the '60s a fellow student killed someone while squirrel hunting and some of the facts at the time were at first very suspicious, like the fact he was squirrel hunting with a 30-30! After the investigation it turns out that it was indeed and accident, or rather the culmination of a series of acts of stupidity, because first it turns out the guy actually did often use the only gun he had to hunt squirrels and that was the 30-30! Then it was revealed that he didn't know the guy, had never met him before, and ran for several miles after the shooting to get help. This guy was kind of slow and although he was in high school (he was a senior but he shouldn't have even been there) he was at least twenty years old having been held back several grades so he was not a kid, he was however an easy going type and not someone who would go looking for trouble. The explanation was that he saw what he thought was a squirrel on the side of a tree so he took aim and shot, the victim was apparently standing by the tree and a part of his clothing was what the shooter saw. None of that in any way excuses what happened and while it may not be an EXCUSE it was a plausible REASON for why it happened, everything checked out right down to the bullet grazing the tree bark so it was in all likelihood true. So I suppose it is entirely possible for a hunter to be mistaken for a squirrel in some situations by some people!


Several things wrong here, first the shooter should have not been squirrel hunting with a deer rifle but in this case that particular person was not mentally qualified to be handling a rifle unsupervised anyway, not that he was an adult high school senior but that he simply was "slow". The victim was dressed in dark clothing with a brown floppy hat and no high visibility anything, the shooter took a long range shot with open sights at a "guessed at" target without taking into consideration it might be another hunter.

At the time this was a much discussed topic at the school so the details of the incident are very memorable, when all is considered we can see what happened but we also see where it could easily happen again! Unfortunately as long as there are hunters there will likely be hunting accidents, hunter safety training has gone a long way toward helping the situation but unfortunately as long as there are reckless (and just plain stupid) people out there the possibility of a repeat of these situations is going to remain a distinct possibility.


:EDIT: After rereading this post I would like to clarify something, I think I may have worded that poorly and left the impression that I was referring to the "slow" student as stupid when that was not my intent at all, when I used the word "stupid" the the person that was the subject of my post was not who I was talking about. This fellow was what I describe as maybe a bit slow and even that may be an inappropriate description to some folks but I do not in any way mean it as a disrespectful slur.

[AggieEE]

IIRC back in the 70's Jack O'connor wrote an article for Outdoor Life called "Why we shoot our brother-in law". Was an interesting read, if you can find it. In effect, the point was that if you want to see something strong enough, game animal, your brain will make it happen. The one example that sticks in my mind was this guy shoots an elk. He was wearing white mechanics overalls with "Joe's Garage" in red script on the back. Another hunter shoots him thinking he was an elk. O'connor's comment was he has hunted a lot of elk but he has never seen one that was white with Joe's Garage in red script on its back. Maybe I've been lucky but, I've never taken a "sound shot" and I've always wanted to make sure of what I'm shooting at.

[Hickory]

There are a lot of "sound" hunters out there.
They will shoot at anything that makes a sound.

[Hickory]

I should have read some of the preceding posts,
I guess sound shooters was already addressed.

[oldred]

"Sound" shooters don't seem very "sound" to me!

[Hardcast416taylor]

To this day a buddy of mine has a cousin that has a left leg limp. He was wearing an all orange hunting jump suit that had been in effect for a few years from the old red hunting colors. Anyway he was standing by a dead elm tree in an open 10 acre field watching for deer to emerge from a drive by other hunters in his camp to make. He saw someone everge from the tree line in a different spot than what his group would come out. He waved at this person to let him know he was standing there. The other fellow pulled up and fired striking him in the thigh area above the knee. He started yelling about being a hunter and don`t shoot anymore. The unknown shooter fired at him again, this was when the already wounded man fired into the air twice. At this the unknown shooter started screaming that HE was a hunter and don`t shoot HIM! He ran back into the woods and was never apprehended. The drive hunters arrived minutes later and got him to a hospital to tend the gunshot and broken thigh bone. A few years later I had to dive to the deck as bullets were snapping limbs off around me in a drawn out string of a dozen shots or more. I was yelling I was there and stop shooting. When the firing stopped and I was sure there were no more incoming rounds I finished driving the pines where I was told there were no other hunters there by the land owner. At the tree line edge we found a kid of about 14 or so with an M-1 carbine with a 30 round banana clip in it. He said that yes he had fired "several" shots at a spike horn that emerged from the pines. He wouldn`t let us check how many rounds were in the mag and trotted away to another farm where I`m sure he came from. I haven`t hunted deer "up North" since that happening in 1970.Robert

[1lonewolf75]

I never make a sound shot. Always know what yer shootin at. I'd rather let a trophy get away then accidently shoot someone. On my dads place there is about 8 people allowed to hunt. Some of em we might not know where they are so ita always chwck afore ya shoot. As a teenager I was walkin round out of any huntin season carryin a .22 in case of snakes when I heard a bee that moved way to fast. Never heard a shot but that'll get yer attention quick!!!!

[ksfowler166]

Some good reasons to wear body armor me thinks. I have been shot at while turkey hunting. A poacher (rifles are illegal) was shooting at the decoys mistaking them for live birds. The only time I could understand a hunter being hit by another is during a drive (deer or pheasant) or not knowing what is behind his target (ricochet or no backstop).

[M-Tecs]

Had my "sights" on one of these more than a couple of times.

[M-Tecs]

I have killed over 160 deer with a firearm. I have never shot at a deer. I pick a very specific part of the deer as an aiming point and that becomes my target. I don’t understand how anyone can just shoot at a deer much less a sound. Same for squirrels and rabbits.

[oldfart1956]

In the state of Pa. for many years (and most likely now) the most likely time to get shot was spring gobbler season. I'm not counting self inflicted shots here. Pa. has been back and forth about the law concerning wearing orange while moving in spring gobbler season. One of the staunchest opponents of the law is a woman who was shot several (note...several) times while sitting down trying to call in a tom. The shooters kept on shooting AND advancing on her even as she lay screaming on the ground. Now here's something I want ya'll to understand. In the state of Pa. in spring gobbler season you can only shoot BEARDED birds. That gobbler can be doing a break dance 10yds. away, gobblin' its head off and in full strut... and if it does not have a beard you can not shoot it. You can shoot a hen...if it has a beard. (some actually do) But first rule...has to be a bearded bird. And yet, it's the most likely time of the year to get shot in mistake of game. Audie....the Oldfart..

[MBTcustom]

I do not shoot at sound. I am very safe in the woods. When I was 16 years old I was squirrel hunting with a 1897 Winchester 12.
I saw a squirrel jumping through the bushes. It was a nice grey squirrel. I saw it, identified it as a target, put the shotgun bead on it with just the right lead, and was squeezing the trigger when I realized that it was not a squirrel, but a grey baseball cap being worn by a man walking in the woods at a good pace.
One more second, and I would have blown his head off and at that distance, that's not an exaggeration or a figure of speech.
Shook me up so badly, I dropped the shotgun.
You might ask, how big an idiot do you have to be to make that mistake? Let me be very clear: in that situation, with the light exactly where it was, it was an easy mistake to make. Way too easy.

[Hannibal]

I've worked in industrial-type environments for most of my life. I've seen more than my share of damage, and 1 fatality.
One thing I've learned over the years. It's pointless to ask "How could anyone be so stupid?!" Bad things happen all too easily.
Never forget the potential of a firearm. To yourself, and to others. Once the pin hits the primer, you can't take it back.
Ever.

[rondog]

A friend of mine lost a little brother once. Lived in upstate Michigan, he was walking the dog on a trail alongside the woods near home at dusk. When the dog came home for help they found him there with a rifle wound in the chest. All they could figure was someone was spotlighting for deer, saw the reflection off his glasses as he looked toward the light, and assumed it was a deer's eyes. AFAIK it was never solved and the killer never found.

[TXGunNut]

I used to work for a guy that wanted to go hog hunting with me, told him he wouldn't come back. He finally figured out what I meant, stopped asking.

[DLCTEX]

When I was 10 I was rabbit hunting on my uncle's farm. As I walked in a shallow gully to get through a brush patch a bullet struck the bank next to my head and I know I felt the wind off the 22 bullet passing my forehead. I ducked down with heart racing and prepared to defend myself. As a stranger peeped over the edge I was aming between his eyes. After he got over being startled, he asked if I had seen a rabbit. I told him that was no rabbit, but me. He insisted he shot at a rabbit. I didn't take my eyes off him until he was long off the property.

[lead-1]

Back in high school there was a kid who was blinded in one eye while squirrel hunting. He was taken hunting by a friend that started out very safe, he told the noob to go to a certain spot and stay there, don't move around.
He then said where he would be and walked up the hill a ways, he told the noob do not shoot up-hill and he wouldn't shoot down-hill and they should be fine. The noob got bored and started walking next thing you know he is up-hill from the guy and the guy actually shot a squirrel but part of the shot made it to the noobs face a little farther up the hill costing him an eye.

[NavyVet1959]

When I was in high school back in the '60s a fellow student killed someone while squirrel hunting and some of the facts at the time were at first very suspicious, like the fact he was squirrel hunting with a 30-30!

if you reload, I can see using a .30-30 for squirrels. A .310 round ball over a few grains of Red Dot (or similar) would be a good load. There are some people though that will use a full power load and aim just under the squirrel on the tree and the exploding bark supposedly kills them.

i remember a few years ago reading a news story about a guy who shot another hunter out of a tree and said that he mistook him for a deer. Those deer sure are getting smart if they have learned to wear orange and hide in trees.

[flounderman]

I happened to be in WV the first year they required the hunter orange. The first guy shot was wearing an orange suit and the guy that shot him stalked him for a ways. Sounded suspicious to me. Guy squirrel hunting with the local sheriff in WI years ago, shot him. Brother in law said he asked the doc if he would live and the doc said yes, but he would have had a better chance if you hadn't tried to field dress him after you shot him.

[xtphreak]

Follow-up report is that the guy who shot him was a convicted felon.
Of course being a convicted felon he's not supposed to be holding a firearm let alone squirrel hunting
It also says that they are friends but they all have the last name and it's a very unusual last name

[NavyVet1959]

Follow-up report is that the guy who shot him was a convicted felon.
Of course being a convicted felon he's not supposed to be holding a firearm let alone squirrel hunting

That is not always true.

Besides, it is my firm belief that that particular law is unconstitutional anyway. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED means EXACTLY that.

[fatnhappy]

That is not always true.

Besides, it is my firm belief that that particular law is unconstitutional anyway. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED means EXACTLY that.

That IS always true per the gun control act of 1968, otherwise known as public law 90-618.

Your assertion that convicted felons should enjoy the same rights as honest law abiding citizens is Constitutionally flawed.

To think you're advocating someone like William Spengler enjoying the same rights of firearm ownership as John Q public probably wont gain much traction with this membership.

[xtphreak]

That is not always true.

Besides, it is my firm belief that that particular law is unconstitutional anyway. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED means EXACTLY that.

Unless the conviction was expunged, or they received a presidential pardon, yes under Federal law it is true.
Expunging also is not possible due to lack of specific funding for BATFE to process.

If you know otherwise, please post specific federal statute.

[gnoahhh]

I remember an incident almost 40 years ago when a guy was mistaken for a deer, and shot in the guts- 45 minutes before legal shooting time, dressed in orange head to toe, and carrying a lantern...

The investigation came up empty- it was simply a case of jitters by a young kid who was, like 10 years old (I don't remember the exact age), and dragged out to the woods by a "proud papa" who couldn't wait a few more years for the kid to mature some more before starting to 'make memories'.

[NavyVet1959]

Unless the conviction was expunged, or they received a presidential pardon, yes under Federal law it is true.
Expunging also is not possible due to lack of specific funding for BATFE to process.

If you know otherwise, please post specific federal statute.

The 2nd Amendment is a reaffirmation of a RIGHT. A RIGHT cannot be take away from free men and any attempt to do so is both morally and legally corrupt.

Still, even with the current (unconstitutional) laws, a person can have their firearm (and voting) rights restored even without their conviction being expunged or them being pardoned. This is handled differently in the different states.

And then there is the issue of black powder firearms. Since they are not considered firearms by the ATF, they are not controllable and former felons can possess them.

[NavyVet1959]

That IS always true per the gun control act of 1968, otherwise known as public law 90-618.

Your assertion that convicted felons should enjoy the same rights as honest law abiding citizens is Constitutionally flawed.

To think you're advocating someone like William Spengler enjoying the same rights of firearm ownership as John Q public probably wont gain much traction with this membership.

All you have to do is look at how firearm ownership was treated during the first years of the country to see what the intentions of the Founding Fathers had with respect to the 2nd Amendment. They did not prevent felons from owning firearms. They did not prevent people who were bat-(excrement) crazy from owning firearms. The problem that I see today with gun owners who claim that they support the 2nd Amendment is that they have been brainwashed by the leftists into thinking that some restrictions upon their rights is acceptable. They are well down that slippery slope that will eventually lead to gun registration and confiscation. Some of us choose to take a stand on firm footing at the top of the slope instead of somewhere along the slippery aspect of it.

[fatnhappy]

I have to say that's just about the dumbest thing I've read on this forum. Ever.

You're asserting convicted felons, having enjoyed the rights to equal protection under the law, adjudicated as felons by a jury of their peers after enjoying a trial upholding their 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th ammendment rights should enjoy the same rights to firearm ownership as law abiding citizens when they have already demonstrated a lack of the commensurate responsibility. Well, I'll tell you something, I want criminal control. I'd much prefer convicted felons cool their heels in the graybar hotel. Since convicted felons have no right to vote and in many instances no right to privacy, any assertion they have a 2nd ammendment right isn't couched in the law, the constitution or moral high ground.

Not only do I want convicted felons in possession of firearms prosecuted for violating the GC Act of 1968, I want them prosecuted vigorously and to the fullest extent of the law. I want the architects of social strife that regularly and routinely rob, assualt, rape, burglarize and murder America's citizens to spend long periods of time away from the fruits of liberty.

The litany of repeat offenders and their heinous crimes that would fill all the pages of these forums. The overwhelming majority don't deserve the benefit of 2nd chances.

[NavyVet1959]

I have to say that's just about the dumbest thing I've read on this forum. Ever.

You're asserting convicted felons, having enjoyed the rights to equal protection under the law, adjudicated as felons by a jury of their peers after enjoying a trial upholding their 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th ammendment rights should enjoy the same rights to firearm ownership as law abiding citizens when they have already demonstrated a lack of the commensurate responsibility. Well, I'll tell you something, I want criminal control. I'd much prefer convicted felons cool their heels in the graybar hotel. Since convicted felons have no right to vote and in many instances no right to privacy, any assertion they have a 2nd ammendment right isn't couched in the law, the constitution or moral high ground.

Not only do I want convicted felons in possession of firearms prosecuted for violating the GC Act of 1968, I want them prosecuted vigorously and to the fullest extent of the law. I want the architects of social strife that regularly and routinely rob, assualt, rape, burglarize and murder America's citizens to spend long periods of time away from the fruits of liberty.

The litany of repeat offenders and their heinous crimes that would fill all the pages of these forums. The overwhelming majority don't deserve the benefit of 2nd chances.

Yep... You're well down that slippery slope...

I might not personally like felons in possession of firearms, but I have to take a stand on principle here. GCA68 is totally unconstitutional since its sole purpose is to limit (infringe) firearm ownership. The 2nd Amendment is absolute (as intended by the Founding Fathers). It is no different than the Freedom of Religion. Do we restrict the religious practices of felons after they get out of jail? By treating firearms differently than any other tool that can cause harm, we are falling into the liberal mindset that somehow firearms are different.

[wgr]

I was hunting on Ft Campbell about 30 years ago.I reported to MWR check station at the end on my hunt.Some guy's talking about their day,and I over heard one say,that he didn't see anything,but did get off some sound shot's.----???. Your guess,I would imagine,is the same as mine.Now that's scary.
i have heard that more than one time. like i got off a sound shot walking in. very scary