Hunter charged with Homicide

[Marble]

Just my .02. Ive been to a lot of homicide scenes and the story told is the start of the investigation and the physical evidence proves or disproves. I would have to look at scene photos to really come up with an opinion.

IF the DA isn't a hunter, I hope she consulted some very experienced hunters to get some input.

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[87TT]

DA's name is Matt.
The defense attorney's story doesn't really help him. JMO I feel sorry for all involved but hope this saves someone else by being a lesson.

 

[HookUp]

I'm not against someone getting charged in a shooting. These incidents should never happen like this in hunting. Let this be a warning if you shoot a human there is no way to explain yourself out of the situation. If you aren't 100% sure don't pull the trigger.

 

[AG8]

Keep your orange or pink on, it probably would have saved this dude's life.

Totally agree. But just keep your orange on. Not everyone can see pink clearly in the field. In the rush for inclusion, I don’t think the whole pink idea has been thought out very thoroughly with respect to color blindness.

 

[Marbles]

Messy situation. Unfortunately I don't have enough information to pass judgement on any aspect of it. Hopefully the guy gets some hunters on his jury who can judge clearly once the evidence is presented.

 

[sndmn11]

Totally agree. But just keep your orange on. Not everyone can see pink clearly in the field. In the rush for inclusion, I don’t think the whole pink idea has been thought out very thoroughly with respect to color blindness.

Is pink similar to red for color blind people? I had never thought of that.

 

[5MilesBack]

The problem here is that we will never hear the victim's side of what happened, but the suspect's side is a little suspect. They are using radios while tracking, but the one guy that should have radioed something........didn't????? And then after not radioing his buddies to tell them he found the bull, he takes the time to take his orange off and is then right next to the bull for some reason????? This wasn't even HIS bull, why on earth would he be messing with it????? Even on bulls I shoot, it's normally a couple minutes after I find it before I even get close enough to touch it. Plenty of time to radio others. And why would the suspect be shooting at his buddy's bull? Trying to get up or not, I would be radioing my buddy to the spot for him to shoot or to keep tracking from there. Was the guy using a scope? Through a scope you should be able to tell the difference between the elk and someone next to the elk regardless what they're wearing. And even if the guy took his orange jacket or vest off.......why would he take his hat off too????? Too many things don't make sense.

Negligence is what it is. What if this had been a guy claiming his bull (totally different bull) that he just shot earlier that wasn't part of the hunting group? It's just a guy tagging his bull and then this guy shoots him because he sees an elk that he believes is in the process of getting up and about to run. Does that make it any different? No........it's still negligence.

 

[Ucsdryder]

The problem here is that we will never hear the victim's side of what happened, but the suspect's side is a little suspect. They are using radios while tracking, but the one guy that should have radioed something........didn't????? And then after not radioing his buddies to tell them he found the bull, he takes the time to take his orange off and is then right next to the bull for some reason????? This wasn't even HIS bull, why on earth would he be messing with it????? Even on bulls I shoot, it's normally a couple minutes after I find it before I even get close enough to touch it. Plenty of time to radio others. And why would the suspect be shooting at his buddy's bull? Trying to get up or not, I would be radioing my buddy to the spot for him to shoot or to keep tracking from there. Was the guy using a scope? Through a scope you should be able to tell the difference between the elk and someone next to the elk regardless what they're wearing. And even if the guy took his orange jacket or vest off.......why would he take his hat off too????? Too many things don't make sense.

Negligence is what it is. What if this had been a guy claiming his bull (totally different bull) that he just shot earlier that wasn't part of the hunting group? It's just a guy tagging his bull and then this guy shoots him because he sees an elk that he believes is in the process of getting up and about to run. Does that make it any different? No........it's still negligence.

I believe the article said a few people were there, meaning more than the victim and the shooter, I believe. Should be able to get a more unbiased story from the 3rd party.

Also, if me and a buddy both have bull tags and he shot it and were tracking it and I come across it alive, you better believe I’m putting it down. Why would you call your buddy on the radio as it runs off?

if this truly was an accident, nothing more sinister, charging the guy with murder isn’t going to keep this from happening again.

 

[87TT]

They aren't charging him with "murder". Just being negligent. I hope I never hunt with anyone who shoots without being sure of their target.

 

[Blockcaver]

5miles hit on the victim removing not only his vest, but also his orange hat. Seems a bit unusual if he was really wearing both that he'd take both off before radioing the rest of the party that he'd found the elk. Makes no sense to me, especially if it wasn't his elk.

As per shooting the elk, anyone in the party likely would have tried to put it down once wounded in any group I've hunted with given they had a legal license to do so.

 

[gbflyer]

For the conspiracy theorists, it seems like an awfully convenient, but complicated setup. I’ll go with a chain of unfortunate events leading to a very tragic accident. Can’t imagine the pain all those folks are feeling. I know a fella who pulled the trigger a long time ago, he’s OK but never been quite the same. Took decades to even pick up a bow again.

 

[AG8]

Is pink similar to red for color blind people? I had never thought of that.

In many cases it comes off as more of a grey. It’s based on the same issues of perception of the wavelengths of red and green light though

 

[fatlander]

This is truly tragic and sad. The saddest part is there was a discussion about this just a few months ago, and there were quite a few guys here that thought nothing of taking off orange at the kill. Almost this exact scenario was laid out in hypotheticals, and people said it was a stretch.

I’m not saying that the guy that pulled the trigger doesn’t bare the brunt of the blame, but doesn’t the guy that takes his orange off own some of that blame as well? Some States allow the seatbelt defense, for instance. Removing Hunter orange, while wearing full camouflage, in direct proximity to what everyone is trying to kill isn’t only foolish; it’s reckless.


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[MallardSX2]

People do crazy things in the heat of the moment.

Whether or not he deserves to be charged is not up to me.

 

[Jn78]

They aren't charging him with "murder". Just being negligent.

Exactly. He is charged with negligent manslaughter, which is a probation eligible class 5 felony. Literally the same level of felony as breaking into a car and stealing something or breaking into a payment box in a parking lot. He isn't even charged with reckless manslaughter, which is more serious than negligent manslaughter.

 

[Jn78]

I’m not saying that the guy that pulled the trigger doesn’t bare the brunt of the blame, but doesn’t the guy that takes his orange off own some of that blame as well?

We really don't know if he actually took off his orange. The quote about that in the news article comes from the defense attorney that the shooter hired. The defense attorney had not even received the police reports at the time he provided the quote.

 

[Whaledriver]

Hate to see all the "arm chair quarterbacking" here. Only one person knows what happened in this tragic accident. Unfortunately this year with all the fires, it has forced more people into less units. Add in the social media idiots and you will have hunters who feel this extreme need to succeed. Like was mentioned earlier this was a chain of bad events that concluded in the worst way. The best thing we can do as hunters is learn from it, make sure others learn it, and try not to make the same mistake. I had to haul my bull out in oak brush this year. I made damn sure that I looked like a blaze orange Christmas tree, especially packing the head and antlers. Can never be too careful these days.

 

[5MilesBack]

Removing Hunter orange, while wearing full camouflage, in direct proximity to what everyone is trying to kill isn’t only foolish; it’s reckless.

This could have just as easily been a bowhunter breaking down his bull and had a ML hunter shoot him because he wasn't sure of his target. So all bowhunters are foolish and reckless if they don't wear orange while in proximity of their animals?

 

[fatlander]

This could have just as easily been a bowhunter breaking down his bull and had a ML hunter shoot him because he wasn't sure of his target. So all bowhunters are foolish and reckless if they don't wear orange while in proximity of their animals?

Yes.


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[Ucsdryder]

This could have just as easily been a bowhunter breaking down his bull and had a ML hunter shoot him because he wasn't sure of his target. So all bowhunters are foolish and reckless if they don't wear orange while in proximity of their animals?

this year while breaking down an archery bull during muzzle loader season I took a couple orange vests (during ML season I hang them on the back of my pack) and hung them from the trees above us for the EXACT reason this poor dude got shot. This picture was from the hike out. Maybe I’m paranoid.