|
| News |
|
| Four Alabama Turkey Hunters Shot In “Mistaken-For-Game” Incidents |
| |
| By Nick Carter |
|
Posted Tuesday April 24 2012, 2:34 PM |
| |
You’re more likely to sustain an injury while golfing than hunting, but a rash of accidental shootings in the turkey woods this spring reminds us no turkey is worth risking the life of a human being.
Four “mistaken-for-game” shootings had been reported as of presstime in mid April. In all four incidents the hunter who pulled the trigger thought he was shooting at a turkey.
State Hunter Education Coordinator Marisa Futral said four accidental shootings in one turkey season is unusual. Prior to this season, there were just four accidental shootings in the last five years of turkey seasons. However, two of those four were self inflicted, and both of those were fatal. Thankfully, none of this year’s accidental shootings have been fatal, although some of the victims suffered serious, probably permanent injury.
“Bottom line is, they didn’t identify their target,” said Futral.
Mistaking a human for a turkey may seem ridiculous to most hunters who are schooled in the importance of positively identifying the target and being sure of a clear line of fire. AON reports on these cases with the hope these accidents will remind hunters of the danger of not absolutely identifying their target.
On the Wrong Property
The one accidental shooting we have heard of in which charges were filed was in Randolph County on March 29. Conservation Officer Harry Clark charged the shooter with hunting without permit on a hunting club where the victim was a member. The victim suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Wesley Brian Bowen, 29, of Newell, was shot in the face when he went to a food plot on his hunting lease after hearing a gobbler. The shooter, Johnny Ray Bradley, 58, of Wedowee, was also following turkey sounds and entered the hunting club via his father-in-law’s neighboring property, said Clark.
Bowen came in that morning through the hunting club’s main gate and didn’t think any other hunters were on the property. Bradley entered the property from the opposite side, Clark said. So neither man knew the other was there.
“When (Bowen) got in there and he heard the turkey gobble, he went down to the food plot to see if he could call to him, and of course he heard the turkey gobble, but he also heard some calling that sounded like a person calling,” said Clark, “and he was in the process of getting out of there when he got dusted with a load of No. 4s.”
Bowen was hit with a 3 1/2-inch load of No. 4 shot fired from about 40 yards from a 10-gauge shotgun.
“One pellet went in his eye. One went in the side of his face right below his eye. There were several on his neck, several on his forearm and several on his right shoulder,” said Clark.
“So far it just looks like it was a case of two hunters, where each of them didn’t know the other one was there, and one guy shot without identifying his target. He shot what he thought was a turkey, but it turned out to be a man.
“He heard a hen clucking behind him, and he looked in the direction that jake went. When he saw that shape, he thought it was a full-grown gobbler. According to him, it was the boy’s seat and backpack frame that looked like a turkey’s wings stretched out where he was strutting.”
Bradley has been charged with hunting without permit. Bradley said he thought he had permission to be on the property, according to Clark. However, the president of the hunting club told Clark that Bradley was not supposed to be there.
No. 5s to the Back of the Head
A shooting in Baldwin County might make hunters think hard about where they decide to sit and who they decide to hunt with. On April 1, a Florida man was shot in the back of the head by a hunting buddy with a 3 1/2-inch shell.
“He got a load of No. 5s at about 45 steps to the back of his head,” said Holmes. “He had hearing damage and everything else... He was hurt real bad. He’s lucky he’s not dead.”
Three men were working a gobbling bird together, said Holmes. When it came time to set up, Keith Stewart, 39, of Bay Minette, gave instructions.
“The shooter had told his brother, ‘Alright, you go right here, and this is your area to shoot in.’ And he told the second guy, the victim, ‘You’re right here, and the turkey should be coming toward us this way.’ He got behind them.”
Holmes said Stewart set up behind the victim, Marc Dunsford, 29, of Century, Fla.
“He wound up almost directly behind the guy. He said he was looking at a turkey, said he saw its head,” Holmes said. “Everybody associated with the accident said there was a turkey there.”
At about 7:20 a.m. Stewart fired at what he thought was a turkey and hit Dunsford in the back of the head with what was probably three-quarters of the load, Holmes said.
“The guy had a headnet on, and I was looking at it—of course it was mixed with blood—but the color of the headnet matched with the color of a turkey. It was brownish red, it just looked like a turkey’s body,” said Holmes. “It’s just a simple matter of he did not properly identify his target.
“Some of the pellets apparently got into his ear canal and caused some bleeding, and he’s lost some hearing. He was injured pretty badly.”
No charges were filed or expected in this incident either.
A Family Affair
In another Baldwin County shooting, a Perdido man shot his wife while he was hunting with his grandson on March 18. The woman was treated and released from the hospital with minor injuries.
Conservation Enforcement Officer Thad Holmes said the man, William Ernest Bush, 56, and his wife, Janet Bush, arrived at the property and split up. The couple’s 13-year-old grandson went with his grandfather. Janet Bush went off on her own. The shooting happened at about 9:30 a.m.
“They were supposed to meet at a certain location, and he and his grandson were walking up and they saw something move,” said Holmes. “Apparently it was her left elbow that came out from behind the tree because she was reaching into her bag to get something—to pull something out of her pocket. It looked like a fan is what he said.”
Holmes said the man fired a single shot at 60 yards with a 12-gauge. The shot peppered the side of her face and arm. Holmes said no charges were filed at the scene, and none are expected.
Adult Supervision
Details in a Jackson County shooting are sketchy, as it was a juvenile who fired the shot. What we do know from Conservation Enforcement Officer Keilan Lord is Ricky Johnson, of Fort Payne, was hunting with a teenage boy and the boy’s father on April 1. Johnson moved away from the boy and his father to call, and the teenager shot him with a 12-gauge in the neck and face from about 40 yards.
Lord said the teenager thought he was pulling the trigger on a turkey and that Johnson is expected to make a full recovery. Lord said no charges are expected.
Legal Issues
Kevin Dodd, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries chief of law enforcement, said filing charges in mistaken-for-game shootings is left up to the investigating officer as well as the local prosecutor. Other than citations for hunting violations, which would be enforced by conservation enforcement officers, it is left to the district attorney and a grand jury to decide if more serious charges should be filed.
“A lot of times, especially fatalities, they go before the grand jury and let the grand jury sort that out. And in some cases we say, ‘this is father-son or husband-wife, it’s obvious there is no ill will, it was purely an accident.’ Even if there is a minor violation, we a lot of times choose not to,” said Dodd.
He said shootings related to turkey hunting are generally caused by hunters failing to follow safety procedures, and there is no violation conservation enforcement officers can cite people with.
“Now the grand jury could return an indictment saying that it was gross negligence or something else,” Dodd said, “but it wouldn’t be a hunting and fishing violation. It would be manslaughter or something like that.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
