[OldDominionAngler]

These types of sad stories always remind me that I should wear blaze orange more often when fishing this time of year...even when I'm close to a hunting boundary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...?hpid=newswell

According to this article, there have been 39 hunting related fatalaties in VA since 1998. 17 of the 39 people killed were shot by hunters who thought they were animals. Anyone else find these numbers suprisingly high? Perhaps I do because I've never been deer hunting before, but the idea of mistaking a human for a deer absolutely blows my mind...the silhouette, colors, and types of movement of the two seem so completely different.

These stats made me want to gain some perspective so I did some google research and one statistic I found was this: about the same number (44) of fatal black bear attacks occured on the entire North American continent during the 20th century. Of course, there are many angles to consider here...one being that two thirds of those fatal bear attacks happened during the 90s.

This is not an attempt to start a "What's more dangerous?" discussion or suggest that many hunters are reckless. It is, however, interesting that the scary thoughts that consume my mind while being in the woods involve bears and snakes while my chance of being killed by a hunter's bullet, albeit miniscule, are far greater.

[Rodn276]

The even more scary part is that it doesn't mention how many people were mistaken for an animal, shot and did not die.

I know of at least one, a guy and his son-in-law, the son-in-law mistook the guy for a deer and shot him in the pelvic area and he survived, I am sure there are more, possibly more that survive than shots that are fatal.

[AshevilleTroutBum]

Simply unbelievable. That's what adrenaline combined with eagerness can do.

[GrannyKnot]

I'm not much of a hunter, but my dad has sat in a tree stand or blind every season for the last 45 years. When I forwarded him this story, his response was, "I really don't see any way this could have been an accident".

The mother of that girl sure does have a good heart.

[Rodn276]

Originally Posted by GrannyKnot

I'm not much of a hunter, but my dad has sat in a tree stand or blind every season for the last 45 years. When I forwarded him this story, his response was, "I really don't see any way this could have been an accident".

The mother of that girl sure does have a good heart.

I agree as well, I have been hunting for 10+ years and don't understand how it could happen either, but evidently it does.

[rbishop]

My uncle was shot thru the chest by his brother in South Georgia deer hunting back in the 80s. Mistook him for a deer. It was late in the day in poor light conditions and my uncle had just got out of his truck and stepped into the woods without his orange vest. The 30-06 slug passed thru him without damaging any vital organs. He survived to hunt many seasons after that. They were both very, very experienced big game hunters. He should have taken the time to put his vest on and his brother should not have taken a shot without knowing 100% it was a deer. Both made critical mistakes.

[Neusewader]

Thank goodness those were critical mistakes and not fatal mistakes!

I put my faith in a blaze orange cap. Maybe I should switch to kevlar waders