Deer Hunter Shoots Friend Near My Home


BC1

BC1

,
Rifle season opened a few days ago in NY. Lot's of popping in the woods all around our homes. My best friend (an attorney) called to tell me about his new client. This guy shot his best friend and killed him about a mile from our houses. It was right in my friend's backyard... his neighbor. My friend was cooking outside on his grill and heard shots. Generally, no big deal, we hear them daily... year-round. A few minutes later police cars came flying up this quiet country road. Then came a state police helicopter with a search light. Somehow I missed all this even though I live right there. Here's the facts... two guys hunting near dark. No one wearing blaze orange, both wearing cammo. The shooter had lost his eyeglasses earlier in the day but continued to hunt. He was using a .270 caliber Winchester. He had no scope and was using steel sights. He saw movement and fired hitting his friend in the shoulder. The guy bled out right there in the woods before they could get to him. Police investigated and did not charge him. He came to my friend for legal assistance. I learned a few hours ago that the DA wants to charge him with a criminally negligent homicide and intends to convene a grand jury. This guy is done. Even if he beats the rap he'll be sued. Hunters, please identify your target before taking that shot. Wear blaze orange. and be sure to get out of the woods before dusk. Read the story here --> Link Removed
 

I don't know what it is but even very experienced hunters have shot their friends dead in this country as well. One of the hunters killed this year was shot through his orange beanie, by a hunter who had been president of the local Deerstalking club. This is in a country that prides itself on it's outdoors ethos. One would have thought that we'd have the safety issues well engrained by now.

Mr Dodds' death is New Zealand's third hunting death this year. Cam McDonald, 29, was shot dead by another hunter in Aorangi Forest Park, Wairarapa, on April 7. A few weeks earlier, 26-year-old Southlander Mark Richard Vanderley was killed by another man in his hunting group while spotlighting for deer. Of the 12 hunting-related deaths between 2002 and last year, 10 were caused by someone in the same hunting party. All had been avoidable, said the Mountain Safety Council's firearms and safety manager, Mike Spray, and if every hunter followed the basic rules of firearm safety, the figure could be reduced to zero.
 
If I remember we had a Vice-President who made a similar mistake. Seems like they were both at fault, hunting without glasses and hunting without safety orange.
 
Rule of thumb is...don't pull the trigger unless you have identified the target. If you cant clearly see the target (i.e. no glasses) you don't send the lead. If you hunting and lost your glasses and you need them to see, get the eff out of the hunt for the day. Idiots like this give fodder to all the gun haters and animal rights groups.
 
An experienced hunter should have known better than to shoot without positive ID. and to be out in deer season without any blaze orange. Guess you just can't fix stupid.
 
I can't hunt anymore because I've had six heart attacks but this story is why, when I hunted, and I was in the field a lot, I didn't go out in gun season except on land I leased. Too many people shoot at movement regardless of its color. My last experience with permission hunting was jumping behind a tree while someone we didn't even know was on the property hammered five magnum rounds into a button buck that we had let pass because it was a button buck. Blaze orange is required in my state (Kansas) but doesn't show through brush that you might move. People get shot here too, last I remember was an 18-year old hunting with permission who got killed by a roadhunter. My solution was becoming a bow hunter. Longer season, fewer accidents.
 
BC1 would you mind filling in some blanks? Is camo required? Are rifles the norm or is it like some states where shotgun are common? How far away was the friend? Were they hunting outside of the allowed time? (Here the rule is half hour before sunrise and half hour after sunset).

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BC1, I completely understand your concern. Today I was hunting public land, walked through the river to get up on the middle between the forks. A smaller, but not small, doe ran up the bank and towards the far side to the fence line and as I started to lead the target I saw a black hole in the foliage. I dropped the rifle and had to sit down for a minute. When I shouted out, I got no response. I unsnapped my carry and approached and cleared the blind. Long story short...Some assbag had their camo blind out on public land without orange on it and I had almost taken the shot, which considering my rifle, was very likely to go through the doe. I called the warden and stayed with the unattended blind for over 2 hours until he came and tore it down.

FOLLOW THE FRICKIN RULES!!!! Had I not seen it and the blind been occupied, I would probably have killed someone.
 
Warbirds said:
BC1 would you mind filling in some blanks? Is camo required? Are rifles the norm or is it like some states where shotgun are common? How far away was the friend? Were they hunting outside of the allowed time? (Here the rule is half hour before sunrise and half hour after sunset).

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
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Yeah, I learned a little more today. In Orange County (about 50 miles North of NYC) rifle, handgun or shotgun can be used. Blaze orange isn't required. They started out on their own land and wandered off onto someone else's land who has it posted against hunting. They were hunting outside of the allowed time. Sunset was 4:32 PM and the shooting was about 5:15 PM. I believe the distance was 60-70 yards. The shooter actually went to work the following day, which blows my mind. I believe the victim was 38 years old.Very sad situation.
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Then, on top of this, the following evening there was a home invasion two houses away from where the hunting accident occurred. This is nuts. There aren't burglaries where we live let alone home invasions. The country life is no longer safe from thugs.
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Home invasion robbery under investigation - MidHudsonNews.com

TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Police in the Town of Newburgh are investigating a home-invasion robbery that occurred Tuesday evening.

At about 9:15 p.m., Town Police received a call that masked intruders had just fled a private home on Forest Road after robbing an elderly couple and one other resident. The victims reported that as they were preparing to go to bed, three white or light-skinned men wearing dark-colored masks and gloves forced entry through the front door and demanded money.

After punching one male resident several times and searching the home for valuables, the intruders fled with some cash and jewelry. No weapons were displayed or threatened.

The victim who was punched did not require medical attention.

No vehicles were seen in the area. An area search by police failed to locate any suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to call Newburgh Town Police Detectives at 845-564-1100.
 
I would like to state also, not only identify your target, but the background where the bullet may travel.
My son and I were set up this past weekend in our blind, even though on private land, since state land was nearby, had the required orange on all four sides of the blind (blaze orange camo pattern). About 45 minutes into the day, hear a shot and notice our blind 'move' a bit. Son and I look at each other and mention how that shot sounded just on the other side of the property line. I glance up at the top of the blind and we have two nice holes in the top, a nice through shot about 2 FT above our heads.
Not only didn't the hunter verify the background, he clearly shot into a no trespassing area from his spot, not a good idea as he would have to trespass in order to retrieve the deer if he had connected.

end rant
 
That last "hunting accident" killing in my area turned to be something quite different. I H&S worked with the victim for about a year in a restaurant. The story that was originally told to police was that him and two others were out deer hunting. They were walking single file and he was in the front. The person in the rear tripped, falling into the man in the middle who happened to have his finger on the trigger and safety off. The gun went off, shooting my former coworker in the head. Then the story gets ridiculous. He was still alive but instead of calling for help...they shot him again as a "mercy killing" since he was "never gonna make it." Needless to say they were charged with 2nd degree murder. Then a few weeks later police discovered that the victim had been dealing heroin at the time and the whole thing was actually a botched murder/robbery scheme. They're charges were upgraded to first degree murder.
 
I've had some people that I hunted with who deserved to get shot. Crinkling butterfingers wrappers every few minutes, dropping them on the ground, stepping on the sticks instead of avoiding them, making phone calls and shouting into the cell...sheeit leave that crap at home and DONT LITTER!
 
BC1 said:
No, Bloomy has nothing to do with this. He's mayor of NYC. State DEC laws were in place long before him.
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My wife got a free subscription to his business magazine. I've been using it to clean the poo out the turtle tank. There's nothing of value in it. Every article that has the word "gun" in it also has a sillouette of an M4 complete with flashlight, red dot, forward stubby and sometimes a bayonett.
 
tricolordad said:
BC1 said:
No, Bloomy has nothing to do with this. He's mayor of NYC. State DEC laws were in place long before him.
Click to expand...

My wife got a free subscription to his business magazine. I've been using it to clean the poo out the turtle tank. There's nothing of value in it. Every article that has the word "gun" in it also has a sillouette of an M4 complete with flashlight, red dot, forward stubby and sometimes a bayonett.
Click to expand...

Lol I see that a lot too. And half the time they reference a picture of an AR they'll call it an AK. Shows how clueless they really are.
 
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