RE: Tragic Accident
 

You are an ass - show some compassion you like most folks on this forum are getting your licks in while you can - you think your words or opinions can make it any worse

RE: Tragic Accident
 

Just giving my opinion don't like it I really don't care.

RE: Tragic Accident
 

Totaly Agree!

RE: Tragic Accident
 

X3

My take on all of this FWIW. I read about these "accidents" every year. "mistaken for game" is how the reports read. I truly believe that in the majority of cases, these things happen to good people who think they are safe hunters doing the right thing, but get caught up in the moment and lose their mental focus. Anyone who has taken a Psychology 101 course should be familiar with "premature closure". If you are a hunter, you should become familiar with what this term means. Basically EVERY ONE of our brains is wired to fill in information gaps as the need arises. So someone sees movement or a part of something that looks like a game animal and the brain fills in the rest. That makes the hunter truly believe he/she is seeing the game animal in question. ANYONE can be a victim of this.

So how do you guard against this? Know that it exists and when you think you see your target, look again, look harder, don't see individual parts, see the WHOLE target. Don't shoot into thick brush. Look, look and look some more before you take the shot. Might the hesitation to be sure of your target makeyou lose your shot opportunity? Sometimes, it might happen. No game animal is worth the risk if your brain makes a mistake.

Like fingerz42 said. Discussion like this is always good. It makes us all look inward to see what could happen and makes us all safer hunters. Too bad a young man had to lose his life to bring this about. My prayers are with the family. I can't even imagine what they must be going through.

Good luck to all out there and be safe!

RE: Tragic Accident
 

Update on the story:

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/18608114.html

RE: Tragic Accident
 

Wow, Hope they throw every charge they can at him.[:@][:'(]

RE: Tragic Accident
 

I hope they lock him away forever.......



StarTribune.com
Charges: Hunter who killed son had beer, pot in his system

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

May 5, 2008

The Belle Plaine man who fatally shot his 8-year-old son in the chest last month while turkey hunting had alcohol and marijuana in his system at the time, according to a felony second-degree manslaughter charge filed Monday.

Anthony Klaseus, 39, told authorities that he told his son, Hunter, to stay put as he circled a field to approach turkeys sometime after 5 p.m. April 19 in a field east of Crahan Lane near County Road 6 in Sibley County, according to charges filed in Sibley County District Court.

Klaseus called to the turkeys. They called back and moved toward him.

"Then I heard something snap or break near me, and a large figure rose up," he told authorities. "I thought it was a turkey, and I shot and it went down. I thought I shot the turkey. Then my son jumped back up screaming and then fell back down."

Hunter, dressed in full camouflage and wearing a hood, looked like a "turkey fanning out," Klaseus told authorities. Department of Natural Resources regulations only allow hunters to shoot turkeys with visible beards, a feathered appendage on the breast.

Klaseus and paramedics performed CPR on Hunter, but he died at the scene.

Klaseus took a breath test at the scene that registered a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.06 percent, the charges said. A urine test taken three hours after the shooting showed an ethyl alcohol concentration of 0.05 grams per 67 milliliters. It also showed that he had marijuana in his system, although the exact concentration won't be known for a few weeks.

Authorities said it's unclear exactly when he consumed the alcohol and marijuana.

Two 12-packs of beer, three six-packs of beer, an empty 24-pack of beer and a marijuana pipe were found in Klaseus' truck at the scene, the charges say. The packs of beer contained empty and full cans.

"That's just one side of the story," said Klaseus' attorney, Patrick Flanagan. "The family is distraught. They're trying to work through the loss of their son. They were hoping the county attorney would come up with a different conclusion."

Flanagan declined to address details revealed in the charges. The family did not want to comment, said Hunter's grandmother.

Hunter's death was the first turkey hunting fatality since turkey hunting began here in 1978. Last year, two people were fatally shot in hunting accidents in Minnesota. All told, in 2007, there were 23 incidents of hunters being shot at in the state.

"One of the 10 safety rules of hunting, besides being sure of your target, is not to consume ... alcohol or be on any kinds of drugs," said Al Thomas, executive director of Turn in Poachers, a nonprofit that promotes safe and ethical sportsmanship. "By following the rules of safe shooting, maybe it could've been prevented."

Klaseus is also charged with felony reckless discharge of a firearm and two misdemeanor charges: trespassing and hunting turkeys without a license. He was drawn to buy a license, but never made the $18 purchase.

Klaseus is scheduled to make his first court appearance May 22. He will not be arrested in connection with the charges.

He was cited by a DNR official for marijuana possession in 1996.

RE: Tragic Accident
 

He deserves everything he gets.So senseless and stupid.My god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Tragic Accident
 

First off, my prayers go to the family and to the little boy.

Second, the father should rot in hell. Taking a 8 year old boy hunting after you've been drinking and smoking dope. Why was he even in the woods in the first place? Unreal.

RE: Tragic Accident
 

and without a license to hunt... and trespassing on property he wasnt supposed to hunt on in the first place...

Very sad story... sickening to think about..