Originally Posted by
Nomercy448
Frankly, no, nobody should shoot at sounds in the dark, but none of us know that that's what happened. For all we know, the dad and son confronted the guy about hunting in their spot and threatened him, making the shooting self defense. Or maybe it was a moon lit night and the dad was carrying rattling antlers hanging over his shoulders with the kid closely behind. Either is possible as far as I'm concerned. I wasn't there to know what happened, so who am I to say how it went down, and what the consequences should be for it? Would you still suggest felony charges if it was the dad, hunting with his son, or the 15yr old kid himself that had accidentally shot the 53yr old man instead?
Moral of the story? Don't pi$$ on someone else's shoes unless you're sure of where they've been.
I don't think it is reasonable to say "it could have been self defense." Sure, it could have also been lightening that struck the gun and made it go off. Or maybe he was attacked by a nocturnal squirrel and his gun accidentally went off while he fell to the ground. In my mind thats about as likely as the victim taking their teenage son into the woods and starting a violent confrontation with another armed hunter in the dark at 5:30 a.m. thereby necessitating a self defense shooting.
99.9% of the time a hunter gets shot in the dark, its because some bozoo was trying to poach a deer. And I say "poach" because killing a deer before legal light does constitute poaching even when you are on land that you are allowed to hunt. Unsafe gun practices should be condemned by all responsible hunters and gun owners.
If this was self defense, the shooter should explain it. Otherwise, he should do serious jail time. I just had a kid myself and when I'm 44 I may be taking her hunting. To imagine me getting shot in the dark in front of my kid and then having a bunch of yahoos on the internet speculating that it could have been self defense is infuriating. Perhaps when you read a story about a drunk driver killing someone you say "don't rush to judgement they could have been forced to get drunk against their will."