6 hunters mistakenly shot as deer hunting season begins, idiots among us

AMET said:
i think drinking is the number one problem with "accidental shootings" going along hunting roads i cant help but notice an alarming amount of beer cans on the side of the road.
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Oh yeah. I personally just shake my head and stay quiet when a person's plans for the the night or weekend don't get further than "Go home, get drunk." Some people, at least around here, have taken alcohol and built their entire life around it.

I initially offered to take some guys to the range, but cancelled when I found out their plan was to show up after a few beers. Which for these guys would have meant only eight or ten.
 
blargon said:
It's law here to wear blaze. Just shows you that its a stupid law that doesn't work...A coworker of mine was shot in the thigh a few years ago. Wearing a blaze parka, the guy said he thought it was a bear...

Sure doesn't make me feel any safer.
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Doesn't work? Perhaps you misunderstand what it is supposed to do. Blaze orange makes it easier for conservation officers to find you.
 
Had a pair of close calls many years apart. In a dramatic differing situation, a friend hunting in the shotgun zone near Moose-Jaw/Regina once came home with a 12 gauge slug hole that had almost completely tore the upper pocket out of his white hunting coveralls. He only truly realized his close brush with death, only after reaching for his cigarette package, end of hunt, and then discovered the immense hole passing through his clothing. Unbeknownst to him another third hunter (uninvited) shadowed himself and his hunting companion into thier 'honey hole' and took a risky shot without checking his backdrop first off. There was an angel looking out for someone on that day indeed!
 
Since these shootings were accidental, I assume someone else in the same hunting party was careless about Rule #1.
With a single hunter getting shoot with their own gun, that's just plain stupidity.
I don't think any of these cases were about someone in another hunting party mistaking anyone for deer.
 
45ACPKING said:
No charges??? Wtf... At the very least there should be charges under the firearms act.... People who shoot people, accident or not... Should not be allowed to carry a firearm in my books, let alone have a hunting liscence LOL
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Possibly - just possibly - it went something like this. Hunter that got shot moves out of position or is walking where he's not visible. Deer moves past the other hunter, they take a shot, some shot passes over the deer, through the bush, and hits the first hunter that's neither visible nor in position. In that case, there's not really much in the way of reasonable fault for the shooter.
 
terez said:
They aren't "accidents"......

It's sloppy, incompetent, negligent firearm handling/use and or careless/negligent judgement and decision making.

An accident is when a rock tumbles from a cliff and falls on you, a tree branch lets go and falls on you.
When a firearm is loaded with ammuntion, the muzzle gets pointed at something and the trigger pulled it aint no accident.
There are varying degrees of malice, negligence, stupidity, incompetence involved but it's not an accident when a firearm handled by a human goes off and strikes another.

Same goes for cars, chainsaws and medication.

Whether it's shooting at something misidentified, dropping a loaded gun, putting it away with a round in the gun, pointing it at someone as a "joke" its not an accident.
One or more of the basic fireams rules got violated....all guns are loaded/never cover anything yer not willing to destroy, never put yer finger on the bang switch till you want it to go bang.
As for when someone is shot misidentified or unidentified or in the heat of buck fever...well that's definitely no accident!

There's never been a case of a gun loading itself, covering something and pulling the trigger on it's own...takes a human to do that.
There's never been a case of a car fueling itself, turning itself on, driving itself down the rd and crashing into something...takes a human to do that.
None of these are "accidents"....inattentive, incompetent, negligent, malicious, careless, preventable....yes...but not accidental.

Funny....in the timeframes quoted by the media that the firearms "accidents" occured... a handful or so.....there would have been thousands of car "accidents" that resulted in far more grievous injury/death and damage......lil to no commentary made there.

Oh... and when the media do report on car "accidents" the commentary usually starts with " the car drove off the road, or the car collided with another car". Should start with "the human operating the car drove off the road, or the human driving the car colided with another car"

Accountability for ones action's.......
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I won't go on to defend any certain individuals, but making judgement without the facts is what I see here. Not every single incident is human error, as well you mention auto accidents. Do you realize what can happen on a motorcycle if your transmission implodes at high-way speeds, resulting in your drive chain seizing, yes your rear wheel can lock-up, or how about a tire exploding at a high rate of speed. Some accidents occur from part failures. My first thought would be accident shooting is neglegent gun user. Maybe a person could take a fall down a hill, tumble and some way, some how the gun go's off. Maybe trekking through very thick brush a branch could knock off a safety unkown to the hunter, trip up and take a fall. Strange things can and do happen, few and far between. I often wonder like road accidents how often gun accidents include alcohol.
 
This stuff is why I stopped hunting whitetails years ago, and I won't go anywhere near my favorite ruffie woods during gun season.

I dunno how some folks get a PAL and a deer tag - I watched a guy last week at the Range trying to load his lever gun while the action was open, and becoming very agitated, much angry talk in what I think was an eastern European language, when the rounds wouldn't feed into the loading port. I explained, mostly with sign language, that the breach needed to be closed while loading..... and it seems he was heading out for whitetail the next day.......:bangHead:
 
Generally where I hunt other people don't venture. Deep forest areas in northern Alberta/Saskatchewan with no access for vehicles or quads is a deterrent that hunters will not venture into. Also, I hunt on private land where very few are permitted. It has been safe so far, thank God!
 
Just go to the range starting about 2 weeks before any big game season and you will see how this could happen. Guys shoot once a year and just swing their firearms all over the place. I stay away from the range during this time and also hunt alone.
Hope all involved are going to be ok.
 
Possibly - just possibly - it went something like this. Hunter that got shot moves out of position or is walking where he's not visible. Deer moves past the other hunter, they take a shot, some shot passes over the deer, through the bush, and hits the first hunter that's neither visible nor in position. In that case, there's not really much in the way of reasonable fault for the shooter.
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I often wonder if a deer was actually present in some of these instances. Was there actually a deer, or is it that the shooter just refuses to admit that they mistook a person for a deer?
 
i think the biggest issue i have with this aside from someone almost losing thier life at the hands of someone who shouldnt be out there, is that canadians including wendy will say that we are in fact not trained, reckless and out of control. this of course will be followed up with calls for better regulation and tighter controls.
 
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waterwheel said:
Possibly - just possibly - it went something like this. Hunter that got shot moves out of position or is walking where he's not visible. Deer moves past the other hunter, they take a shot, some shot passes over the deer, through the bush, and hits the first hunter that's neither visible nor in position. In that case, there's not really much in the way of reasonable fault for the shooter.
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Seen that before. Right scary when you see somebody wandering into your safe zone
 
visbuurt said:
Seen that before. Right scary when you see somebody wandering into your safe zone
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Well, I'm a novice hunter, just finished my first shotgun drive. And I got right S*** when someone shot a deer and I wandered over to have a look before the doggers were out. I was concerned that the folks that invited me were a bunch of rednecks. And I guess maybe they are :) but they're very safety conscious.
 
waterwheel said:
Well, I'm a novice hunter, just finished my first shotgun drive. And I got right S*** when someone shot a deer and I wandered over to have a look before the doggers were out. I was concerned that the folks that invited me were a bunch of rednecks. And I guess maybe they are :) but they're very safety conscious.
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Good on them, even though they might have been asses about it they just don't want to see anyone hurt, especially the new guy.
 
canadaman30 said:
I won't go on to defend any certain individuals, but making judgement without the facts is what I see here. Not every single incident is human error, as well you mention auto accidents. Do you realize what can happen on a motorcycle if your transmission implodes at high-way speeds, resulting in your drive chain seizing, yes your rear wheel can lock-up, or how about a tire exploding at a high rate of speed. Some accidents occur from part failures. My first thought would be accident shooting is neglegent gun user. Maybe a person could take a fall down a hill, tumble and some way, some how the gun go's off. Maybe trekking through very thick brush a branch could knock off a safety unkown to the hunter, trip up and take a fall. Strange things can and do happen, few and far between. I often wonder like road accidents how often gun accidents include alcohol.
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Yes, a part can fail. If the gun actually failed and went off truly accidentally like a sear failed or a trigger or spring failed..sure
Do you really believe that's what's going on with 99.9999999 percent of these incidents??
Oh and if the part fails....why was the muzzle covering a human when it did...see rule about all guns are loaded and never cover something yer not willing to destroy.

I ride bikes, snowmobiles, cars etc...mechanic on them too.
Do we really believe parts failure is what's going on with the vast majority of those "accidents" either??

And alcohol??.......like I said....NOTHING accidental about consuming alcohol and then doing anything with a firearm....much less staggering around on uneven ground and brush with it loaded!!! The negligence, malice and stupidity has already occurred...regardless if the gun goes off or not.

Yer right we don't have all the facts on each and every one of these incidents.....and I'm not bashing ANY particular incident or individual.
I'll stand by the commentary as is tho.....and stick to the concept that personal accountability and the consequences of one's actions are responsible for the vaaasssttt majority of firearm "accidents".....
Seen and lived it in the military, as well as personally and professionally otherwise. I've known peers, friend's, family who have been on the business end of a "accidental" shooting....both fatal and not and bore witness as a professional paramedic for 26 yrs to countless events. None of them were resultant from a freak parts failure. A precious few appeared to involve circumstances such as footing, balance, falls etc.....vast majoority involved human defective behaviour.

Treking thru thick bush and difficult terrain is what hunting is all about...it is not the exception but the norm.....it's what one is supposed to prepare, train,and endeavour to do...it is arduous and dangerous...needs to be given the discipline and intent it deserves.



Gonna switch gears here all.
...'tis the time of year to pause, remember our veteran's sacrifices both fatal and lingering that made hunting/firearms ownership/the pursuit of happiness and all our freedoms possible and a lasting legacy. While lounging in my PJ's sippin a coffee enjoying a lil CGN time it just occured to me that bantering amongst ourselves freely about our pursuits of free civilian firearm use should prolly acknowledge this....at this time of the yr.
Long Live a Free Canada!
 
terez said:
Yes, a part can fail. If the gun actually failed and went off truly accidentally like a sear failed or a trigger or spring failed..sure
Do you really believe that's what's going on with 99.9999999 percent of these incidents??
Oh and if the part fails....why was the muzzle covering a human when it did...see rule about all guns are loaded and never cover something yer not willing to destroy.

I ride bikes, snowmobiles, cars etc...mechanic on them too.
Do we really believe parts failure is what's going on with the vast majority of those "accidents" either??

And alcohol??.......like I said....NOTHING accidental about consuming alcohol and then doing anything with a firearm....much less staggering around on uneven ground and brush with it loaded!!! The negligence, malice and stupidity has already occurred...regardless if the gun goes off or not.

Yer right we don't have all the facts on each and every one of these incidents.....and I'm not bashing ANY particular incident or individual.
I'll stand by the commentary as is tho.....and stick to the concept that personal accountability and the consequences of one's actions are responsible for the vaaasssttt majority of firearm "accidents".....
Seen and lived it in the military, as well as personally and professionally otherwise. I've known peers, friend's, family who have been on the business end of a "accidental" shooting....both fatal and not and bore witness as a professional paramedic for 26 yrs to countless events. None of them were resultant from a freak parts failure. A precious few appeared to involve circumstances such as footing, balance, falls etc.....vast majoority involved human defective behaviour.

Treking thru thick bush and difficult terrain is what hunting is all about...it is not the exception but the norm.....it's what one is supposed to prepare, train,and endeavour to do...it is arduous and dangerous...needs to be given the discipline and intent it deserves.



Gonna switch gears here all.
...'tis the time of year to pause, remember our veteran's sacrifices both fatal and lingering that made hunting/firearms ownership/the pursuit of happiness and all our freedoms possible and a lasting legacy. While lounging in my PJ's sippin a coffee enjoying a lil CGN time it just occured to me that bantering amongst ourselves freely about our pursuits of free civilian firearm use should prolly acknowledge this....at this time of the yr.
Long Live a Free Canada!
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If I were a bettin on it, human error most likely. I watched an episode of Canada's Worst Driver. Man-o-man if there's as bad of hunters as those drivers, then I'm glad I only hunt with my father. But for the 1% of accidents, strange things can and do sometimes happen. I used to go moose hunting with a group and watched some pretty dumbazz unsafe things done. Needless to say reasons like that are why I stopped going.
 
Makes me wonder, if 6 hunters were shot and not killed, how many actual deer are running around wounded from having "pot shots" taken at them? I would imagine it's exponentially more.
Why is it so difficult to teach people to only shoot when you acquire a solid shot at the boiler room (heart/lungs/liver)? I know that sometimes mistakes happen but c'mon there's no excuse for mistaking someones f-ing shoulder for a clean shot at a deer.
They should be making a huge public example of these peoples punishment (and a harsh one at that) in hopes of smartening up anyone else that thinks this style of hunting is the way it's meant to be sported.
 
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