14-year-old hunter shoots hiker
 

A lady bends over to put something into her backpack. From 120 yards a kid hunting thinks she is a bear and mortally wounds her. What, if any, charges should he face? Is the consequence only the remorse of a terrible accident, or something more?


http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=269818

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ershot05m.html

Just one completely unrelated curiosity: the woman was 54 and married for nearly 40 years?

That is horrible. I have mixed feelings on this one. I would go for involuntary manslaughter, and probation. So essentially letting him off, but he is never allowed to touch a gun for hte rest of his days.

I have a fear of being out for a run and getting shot by the stupid rednecks that are out hunting quail in hte open lands near my house. Every fall I have to break out the bright orange running shirts as a precaution.

Having spent most of the summer in and around this area it is not unusual to see some crazy hunters. The other day I was driving down the Mtn Loop Hwy, about an hour away from Sauk where this happened and saw a group of 3 guys riding bikes down the middle of the road with their hunting rifles slung over their backs.

We had someone run, literally run, into one of our campground off the highway in Marblemount, less than 30 mins away from Sauk, aiming a loaded rifle into a populated campground because he thought that he would find a bear eating the campers food.

Who says Washington doesn't have republicans?

I know this is not unique to the Puget Sound, but in some ways embodies the thoughts in the thread on 'Redneck Stonehenge' - suburban and traditional rural life colliding.

As you know, one can drive 30 minutes in any direction from the suburbs of the Sound and run into national forests, monuments, or national parks. Around these wilderness areas are long entrenched rural communities, with their own outdoor culture – hunting, fishing, moto, snowmobiles, 4x4, etc. Add to these areas a very mobile urban outdoor community, traveling from the city with their distinct culture of hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and climbing. The result is a level of animosity on both sides around disagreements on the 'proper' use of the wilderness areas.

I realize I'm stereotyping the activities and attitudes of the two groups, but you can see the animosity that exists in threads like the one below from a local hiking forum - 50 pages of arguing over the shooting.

Seattle Granolas vs Eastern Slope hikers/hunters:

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewt...r=asc&start=15

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewt...=asc&start=735

first-degree manslaughter...

Odd: I just noticed that the victim, mistaken for a bear, was from “Oso”, WA.

white trash grandpa drops off white trash 2 sons who shoot the first thing they see moving.

better be a felony.

I hate laws that allow 14-yr-old kids to hunt big game. Way too early. But it is absolutely insane to let two kids that age hunt alone. What a tragedy.

I'm not crazy about the fact that a 14-year old and a 16-year old were running around with loaded guns and no adult supervision. I know it happens in the woods and praries of our fine land, but that is a ton of responsibility placed on some pretty inexperienced shoulders. Who knows, they might not be able to tell the difference between a human and a bear.

Grandpa should have had better judgment too.