a good reason to wear blaze orange

[sheepdog]

I can't help but wonder when I'm walking in hunting territory if a hunter spots me wearing my Orange, sets me in his sights, puts some pressure on the trigger and gets his jollies off knowing he can kill me but he simply chooses not to.

A safe hunter will never point his gun at another person. A gun is just a tool. Do you ever walk down the street with a hammer and get your jollies thinking, I bet I could kill thirty people with this hammer before someone stops me. No you don't. It's the same thing.

[mudhead]

A safe hunter will never point his gun at another person. A gun is just a tool. Do you ever walk down the street with a hammer and get your jollies thinking, I bet I could kill thirty people with this hammer before someone stops me. No you don't. It's the same thing.

In general I agree. Downtown streets of Bangor, ME? Keep an eye out for hammers.

[taildragger]

Sorry, Sheepdog, but you are barking up the wrong tree.

That trigger was not pulled "accidentally,", but on purpose with the intent to kill.

Etc....

Rain Man

The intent was not to kill a person, thats where the accident comes into play. Its negligent manslaughter and he should be charged, end of story.

[Tinker]

I think I might have scared a few folks when I went mountain bike riding in a local park with my blaze orange helmet cover on (and my neon green commuting vest as well). They must've been thinking ("Gee - I didn't know that they allowed hunting in this park." - [they don't] )
I put the cover on at the beginning of hunting season and leave it on wherever I ride until the season is over.
Be careful out there. There are a lot of guys who are excited at the prospect of bringing some game home - sometimes too excited. Add inexperience, as seems to be the case here, and youth (not all inexperience hunters are young, and not all young hunters are inexperienced), and very bad things can happen. Do your part to stay alive and, I might add, not freak out the hunters (it must be a real hair-raising thing to draw a careful bead on something, then realize it's a human being!).

[sheepdog]

The intent was not to kill a person, thats where the accident comes into play. Its negligent manslaughter and he should be charged, end of story.

Ahhh, common sense rears its ugly head. Let's have none of that!!!

[Marta]

Well there are accidents and then there are accidents. I always told my kids: If you put your brother's eye out, telling me "It was an accident" will not be an acceptable excuse. I would class "accidents" in which a motorist hits a cyclist or pedestrian, or a hunter shoots a person, to be in that category, too. It might not have been intentional, but the results are so serious that punishment is necessary.

[taildragger]

Well there are accidents and then there are accidents. I always told my kids: If you put your brother's eye out, telling me "It was an accident" will not be an acceptable excuse. I would class "accidents" in which a motorist hits a cyclist or pedestrian, or a hunter shoots a person, to be in that category, too. It might not have been intentional, but the results are so serious that punishment is necessary.

Hrmm, I'd put a depends there. Say, in this case, that the kid was actually shooting at a verified deer. He looks into the scope, and there is a branch that he cannot resolve due to the nature of optics. The branch changes the course of the bullet and it strikes a man that could not have been seen. Now, if the deer had a proper backstop (ie he wasn't shooting uphill w/o something to stop the bullet) I don't think he should be charged because that was a freak accident, no "justice" would be served by sentencing the shooter, only vengence would get served.

Now, the above is highly unlikely. In a case earlier this year (Sauk Mt in WA) I believe the two kids were being charged with negligent homicide since the case for legal murder was much harder to make, and would be harder to stick. Negligent homicide isn't too hard to prove in a case like this, its just a matter of the jury then.

[sheepdog]

There are always mitigating and/or agrivating circumstances. It would be good to let the authorities sort it out. Sometimes a shooting could be an accident, other times it could be negligence. It's all tragic.

[Manwich]

Do you ever walk down the street with a hammer and get your jollies thinking, I bet I could kill thirty people with this hammer before someone stops me. No you don't.

He don't know me very well, do he?

I also think you're giving hunters too much credit. I know some insane hunters who pack heat.

[sheepdog]

I also think you're giving hunters too much credit. I know some insane hunters who pack heat.

Hunters are just like every other group of people. Good and bad.

[Marta]

While we were hiking in the Pisgah on Saturday, we ran into a group of three hunters who were getting around on mountain bikes. I hadn't seen that before.

[Skidsteer]

I also think you're giving hunters too much credit. I know some insane hunters who pack heat.

I don't know any hunters that don't pack heat.

Bowhunters, I suppose.

[take-a-knee]

A safe hunter will never point his gun at another person. A gun is just a tool. Do you ever walk down the street with a hammer and get your jollies thinking, I bet I could kill thirty people with this hammer before someone stops me. No you don't. It's the same thing.

Some people do Sheep, they attribute "life force" to inanimate objects ( firearms ) this is essentially animism. Animism is the most primitive of all religious belief systems

[Nearly Normal]

I can't help but wonder when I'm walking in hunting territory if a hunter spots me wearing my Orange, sets me in his sights, puts some pressure on the trigger and gets his jollies off knowing he can kill me but he simply chooses not to.

Do us a favor.
If you decide to take up hunting, let us all know when and where.

[jaywalke]

I avoid the woods during rifle season for deer, but the expansion of hunting seasons is worrying. I don't mind giving up a few weeks, but the autumn is my favorite time to hike, and if you add up turkey season (which is growing in popularity and seems to have hunters willing to fire blindly into the brush), muzzleloader season, special doe seasons and winter seasons, it runs from late October through January.

I wear blaze orange, and do my dayhikes only on Sundays, when, thankfully, hunting is not allowed, but I'm not going to stay out of the woods that entire time. I've had some turkey hunters get royally pissed at me for "ruining their day" by daring to walk on the AT on public land, and it is no fun for anyone involved.

[Feral Bill]

You can't beat the "Don't Shoot I am a hiker" vest that ATC sells. I feel sorry for this kid. He was probably trying to shoot the big one and instead shot a hiker (or so we think). Now, he has a life on his hands. Granted, it was a tragic mistake, but not all of the blame should go on him.

The kid kills someone by not following the most basic hunting safety rules. All the blame does go to him. Prosecution for involuntary mnslaughter is appropriate.

[Wise Old Owl]

Why don't more companies make/sell backpacks and clothes that are bright orange? It seems like the majority of packs and hiking clothing are earth tones.

I don't want to walk the woods in blaze orange if I can help it, and I am sure the companies that make the gear do surveys to see what folks want.

FYI - Walmart now stocks a disposable blaze orange vest for 75 cents thats an ounce.

[Highway Man]

One year ago i was doing a day hike about a mile north to Sun Fish Pond. There's no marked trail there near the upper reservoir. I had to bushwhack west to hit AT. It's fun to do it in winter time. When I figured I was near AT, all of sudden, bang, bang, two shots fired towards the woods. Luckily I was low behind a knoll. I quickly took out my red rain jacket, put it on, and shouted out loudly. I was scared. Then I inched my way up to the top and saw two guys walking along AT. Yes, it's easy for them to walk on the trail to shoot into the woods. We never mentioned that incident. I left the area immediately back to Sun Fish Pond.

[sheepdog]

Ok, so it has been weeks, has anyone found out if they are going to charge this kid or not. The original story is very sketchy. Not enough info to form any kind of opinion on negligence. So any new news?

[Highway Man]

Not really a new news. Probably some of you have read it last year in the state of Washington during bear hunting season, a female hiker was mistaken as a bear by a teenager when she bent down to tie her shoe laces. She died at the scene about one mile(?) into the woods? i don't know what charges were put on the teenage or his guardian(s).