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| Hey Jethro, that there look like a deer to you? |
An Ohio man is facing charges after accidentally firing a high-powered rifle at a brown pickup truck he mistook for a deer, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The hunting accident was the second this week in the county and drew a sharp rebuke from Sheriff Joe Gerace, who called Friday’s incident in the town of North Harmony “absolutely irresponsible.”
Deputies charged 26-year-old Marvin C. Miller of Middlefield, Ohio, with second-degree reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm across a roadway. The shooting took place around 11:20 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Robert Merritt, of Springboro, Pa., called 911 to report that the pickup truck he was a passenger in had been struck by a bullet. Merritt and the driver, who was not identified, were on an access road heading toward state land on Wiltsie Road.
Miller told deputies and New York State Environmental Conservation police that he had mistaken the pickup truck for a deer when he fired a round from his 7mm high-powered scoped rifle. The bullet struck the vehicle’s front fender on the driver’s side just a few feet from the cab.
The round entered the engine compartment, disabling the truck, the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. After firing the shot, Miller left the woods and checked on the truck’s occupants.
One the one hand this idiot literally mistook a truck for a deer.
On the other hand it WAS a kill shot, so I guess he can take a little pride in his accuracy.
At least this time there was no loss of human life unlike that unfortunate incident in New York.
Now I am not a hunter, as all of you are well aware, however I HAVE seen a deer or two in my time.
I can legitimately say that I have NEVER mistook a motor vehicle, a person, or even a dog, for a deer in my entire life.
I would think that the ability to make such a distinction should be the very first hurdle that somebody had to negotiate before anybody allowed them to have a hunting license or gave them a firearm.
Florida man accidentally shoots himself during road rage incident
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wesh.com/article/man-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-road-rage-incident-ocso-deputies-say/13930544
Both of these "deer" shootings happened in the same NY county, Chataqua County. This one seemed to involve non NY-State residents as both shooter and "vicitim". The county is on Lake Erie, and near the PA/NY state border. That county sheriff was busy with stupid shooters this weekend.
ReplyDeleteTexas dad accidentally killed by son during shooting lesson
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/texas-dad-accidentally-killed-by-son-during-shooting-lesson/
Doing Darwin's good works for him.
Delete....Want to amend the previous note about the location of Chautaugua County, NY. where both of these "deer" shootings happened this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe county is in the southeastern corner of NY State, bordering the PA/NY border, and only a few miles east of Ohio.
Further irony is that the towns where the shooting occurred (North Harmony and Sherman) are only 10 or 12 miles apart, depending on whether you take the northern route or southern route between them.
That poor sheriff seems to have more than his fair share of stupid hunters this weekend.
South-WESTERN corner of the state - I live there. An hour south of Buffalo; about 6 hours west of New York City.
DeleteOops, Sorry, ll:18. You are right! Sometimes I get east and west mixed up --- in my mind I was visualizing the map and the county to the east of the border line.
DeleteThanks for pointing it out. I live in NY also, but all the way over on the Eastern border with MA.
No prob ! 100% of the hunters I've talked to since this incident are saying he deserves jail time; nothing more bone-headed than what he did. Civil suit too.
Deletehttp://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/native-americans/
ReplyDelete10 million+ Estimated number of Native Americans living in land that is now the United States when European explorers first arrived in the 15th century
Less than 300,000 Estimated number of Native Americans living in the United States around 1900
5.2 million identified as American Indian or Alaska Native in the 2010 census
'“White Americans have the most rancorous antipathy to the whole race of Indians; and nothing is more common than to hear them talk of extirpating them totally from the face of the earth, men, women, and children.”'
It’s a known phenomenon called buck fever. The combination of excitement for the hunt, low light, distance and inexperience cause a sort of optical illusion that makes inanimate objects, people and other animals look like game. This is one reason one of the commandments of shooting is that you confirm before you pull the trigger that this is something you want to shoot and kill. Many people have experienced it. A former collegue of mine shot a snow goose and had to turn a dead swan into fish and game. It’s real and it happens more than most hunters care to admit.
ReplyDeletePlus, really none of that wild game tastes very good. People just hunt because they like to kill shit, because really, no one wants to eat it. People give us salmon, moose, caribou, you name it and we thank them graciously and then feed it to the dogs.
DeleteIn some states it is legal for the blind to hunt. Just saying... gun laws, why bother?
ReplyDeleteIs he going to mount the front grill and headlights over his mantle?
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember Tom Lehrer? He had a great satirical song about hunting season.
“...three hunters, two game wardens and a full bred Guernsey cow.”
Both of these incidents were illegal. One was after dark, the other across a road.
Too bad the sheriff can’t go through records, haul in every hunter in the county and revoke their licenses until they pass a refresher course in hunting safety.
Mr and Mrs Prince soon. I bet they will have some beautiful babies.
ReplyDeleteJeez....now if it was a Chevy Impala that might be a legitimate mistake...but a Ford pickup???
ReplyDeleteI grew up in deer country and each year a few drunken rednecks would mistake each other for deer and do Darwin some pretty good favors. Derp!
ReplyDeleteJeepers (sorry for the sort of pun) yet when I was a child back in the 1960s, we had to go through (because of my father, thank you dad, really, thank you) a Minnesota DNR gun safety class for hunting (as I recall, more than one weekend) when I was in the 7th or 8th grade. Best thing I did in my life as I decided I didn't want to hunt (with my idiot/macho cousins and uncles) and yet it gave me a lot of respect for guns for the rest of my life and also hunting skills. I don't know how some people learned to hunt, yet I think alcohol was involved and they didn't learn much from anyone else. You don't shoot if you don't know what you're aiming towards nor after dark or near sunset/sunrise, etc. Anyway, it's a reason I'm glad I don't live in the farther suburbs or rural areas. People can be targets there. Sadly.
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