Spektator
Is that right?
In one typical year, 193 people were killed by hunters who mistook them for deer, bears, or other game.
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This is not about research. This is about people being HORRIBLE pathetic eyewitnesses. How in the hell do you mistake a bipedal human for a hair covered, 1000 pound quadraped, or a 1200 pound antlered herbivore? Why do hunters make these kinds of mistakes? It does not make sense.
Spektator
Is that right?
The heaviest wild black bear on record was 880 pounds; males rarely get heavier than 500 lbs, females than 300 lbs. White-tail deer run 200-300 pounds as full-grown adults.
I am talking about the larger bears, specifically the Kodiak and Grizzlies. The 1200 pound example was a moose.
Spektator
Is that right?
I have yet to find a report of a hunter's mistaking a human for a grizzly or a moose. Plenty of stories of hunters' mistaking humans for white-tail deer or black bears, though.
But why? Unless the human is a mother-in-law or Shaq, I dont see how an experienced hunter could mistake a bipedal species (human) for something quadrapedal.
Mak, do yourself a favor & take a Hunter's safety course. Get out from behind your computer & actually get out in the woods where people hunt. There is a reason it's the LAW in Hawaii to have to wear blaze orange safety vests while hunting, because 1.) People make mistakes & 2.) There are some really stupid hunters. I have been shot at during gobbler season, sitting in a bush WITH the state mandated safety vest on, giving a hen call to draw a cautious Tom into range (hens are not legal prey) I have also heard incoming rounds pass by, because someone fired at "movement" not a clear target. In some areas of the CONUS, it is legal to hunt in Ghillie suits during bow season IIRC, and that would complicate matters more...(hint: you have to be aware of what is behind your target while hunting...I've had my .45-70 punch clean through a russian boar-that round probably still had a bit of punch to it & probably continued a way down range.)
Just because i find hunting ridicolous and immoral does not mean i am a stranger to the outdoors. I am a regular when it comes to backpacking and berry picking.
You sure don't seem to get out there where the critters & hunting is at, otherwise you would know these things. No one that I know of would dare go out during hunting season without blaze orange, because they know hunting accidents happen. I hope your ancestors are proud of your stance on hunting, seeing how it kept them clothed & fed...
Well i dont accept hunters who kill animals just for fun and entertainment. Food is a different matter.
What is the deal with the "Blaze orange". Why cant people tell the different between a hairy animal and a hairless human?
Of all the people I hunt with, no one is doing it for "fun" we keep our freezer's full, I use the hides for various projects, and antler become handles for my home forged knives. Tusks and such are made into traditional Hawaiian pendants, even the bone is carved into fishooks. You have obviously never hunted or been in a shoot or no shoot situation, so trying to explain this to you is going to be like trying to explain physics to a cocker spaniel. If you want to understand it, get off your butt & learn about it
No, i mean why wear it so you dont be mistaken for an animal? Are people that unreliable when it comes to identifying things at close range.
No, you wear Blaze Orange so hunters know you are a human being & not to shoot in your direction. If I see Blaze Orange in the downrange area, I will lower my weapon to a safe direction so as not to put my fellow hunters in danger...Define close range. Are we talking Climax forest or triple canopy vegetation? Are we talking hunters , wildlife photographers, rangers, researchers or backpackers? I'm 6'3" and have had people walk right over me when I was lying prone in my Ghillie suit (and this is paintball...they know I'm out there & in a Ghillie suit (I have scared a couple of hikers that wandered up into our renegade field once...They had no idea what I was at first, or why I was yelling "Hikers! Cease Fire! Cease Fire!") There are very many variables, and peoples eyes can play tricks on them. Again, look at the guy on the right-that's all over the counter camo gear that you can buy at like Cabellas...no photoshop or camera tricks, thats just how camoflage works. Throw a real (as in not shop bought, but "made to match the terrain you are in" Ghillie suit with full veil & gun wrap & you will see nothing till the guy moves, and even then you will have a hard time telling what you are looking at.
People who only partially see something sometimes make mistakes about identifying it, that's just the way life goes. Heck, try looking at witness statements from urban crime situations like the London subway bombing or the unfortunate shooting of the mistakenly suspected person that followed some months later. eyewitness accounts can be terrible in just about any situation
People who only partially see something sometimes make mistakes about identifying it, that's just the way life goes. Heck, try looking at witness statements from urban crime situations like the London subway bombing or the unfortunate shooting of the mistakenly suspected person that followed some months later. eyewitness accounts can be terrible in just about any situation
Apology
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That guy on the right has a SUPERB ghillie suit. It's almost like a work of art, except you can't see it
Spektator
Is that right?
Yes, they are. What people expect to see influences their perception. I personally know of one instance in which a man walking down his own driveway to pick up the mail was shot (non-fatally) by a hunter only a couple of dozen yards away because the hunter could have sworn the man was a deer. I have nearly run out of the road because a dog dashed in front of my car--only to realize that the dog I thought I had seen very clearly was a piece of wind-blown trash. Since we moved to this county I have served on at least fifteen juries over the years, and as a juror I have heard witnesses testify to impossibly different versions of the same events--one witness' "blue Toyota" was another witness' "green Honda"; in one case witnesses described the same person as white, Hispanic, black, tall, medium, heavy, skinny, brown-haired, black-haired, wearing a tan shirt, wearing a yellow shirt, carrying a car side mirror, carrying a pistol, and carrying a bottle. A little research will find you a boatload of psychological studies showing that human perception is very unreliable indeed. Personal incredulity will not alter that.
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
... just inexperienced with hunting... Obvious by your comments and underlined by this post.
Others are posting information for you that explains that hunters DO mistake targets and fatalities occur. Do yourself a favour and review the evidence against your posted opinions. Apply Occam's Razor.
Which does not qualify you to comment on the mentality and/or skills of hunters.
Argument from incredulity is not valid in this case.
Hell's Bells man, you mistook a photo of a mountain lion for a bobcat and a ringtail for a racoon. I'm not even FROM the US and was able to identify these animals.
The two examples of your lack of skill at identifying animals alone should give you an answer to that question...
Mak, do you know what bad habit most recreational deer hunters have (other than shooting animals for no reason)? They drink while they hunt.
I'm going to assume you can figure out what happens when people mix alcohol and guns so I won't spell it out for you.
I'm going to assume you can figure out what happens when people mix alcohol and guns so I won't spell it out for you.
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