I wasn't intending to write about local things, unless they are political, of course, but this story really bothers me, and has made national news. A 54 year old woman was shot by a 14 year old hunter on Sauk Mountain on Saturday, the opening of bear season in Washington. It really hits close to home, not only because the mountain is ½ hour away, but because my daughter and her friends just went hiking there last weekend, and I almost went on the same hike with some friends on the day it occurred. It is a very popular wild-flower trail that is infamous for its flower hike. And while there are tragic hunting stories throughout history, this one could have been prevented.
At first the news reported that the teenage hunter was with an adult, but recent developments in the story put him with his 16 year old brother, while grandpa slept in the truck by the trail head. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that 14 year old boys are a little trigger happy, and why this grandfather let his grandsons hunt near a popular hiking trail just perplexes me.
According to the story, the woman, hiking alone (which many locals do) and wearing a blue shirt, bent over to put something in her back pack when the boy mistook her for a bear and shot her in the head. Search and rescue were called in to recover her body which had fallen into steep terrain. According to her husband in Oso (about 10 miles from us), no one has been charged in the shooting.
You might say I'm being a little harsh expecting charges to be filed against the child, but this is point blank neglect and ignorance that lead to manslaughter. That's right, it's manslaughter. I didn't know this before but there are no age limit on teenagers hunting alone(?!) in Washington, and no laws to charge the grandfather with being neglectful. Yes, the boy should be charged, because every intelligent hunter knows that you must confirm your target is an animal BEFORE you fire your rifle, and you just don't shoot into a hiking trail because you see something black. In addition, if a teenager were to hit a person and kill them with their car, they would be charged with manslaughter. Are you telling me a gunshot death is not as serious as a traffic death?!
The Forrest Service and DNR also need to restrict hunting near hiking trails, I will be doing some lobbying myself for law changes. There are plenty of areas for hunting away from the popular trails. In fact, the Skagit Valley Herald interviewed a trail guide who frequently takes bear hunters to the OTHER side of Sauk Mountain, because he knows that many people go hiking in the summer up and down Highway 530 and Mountain Loop Highway. Despite this tragedy, I will continue hiking around here, but probably won't be bringing my black husky/shepard mix named Bear with me anymore.
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5 comments:
This was a terrible thing. I agree with you that it is manslaughter and the way you equate it with getting in an auto accident is probably the best if not only way to describe it so that people can understand that it is a criminal offense. Negligence on the part of the parent, or grandfather, and the child. Most kids would be mentally scarred by doing something like this, but when you put it up against losing your life, it doesn't measure. There has to be consequences--the same as if they accidentally set a fire or got in an auto accident.
Of course, if it were my child (he wouldn't have been out hunting with his brother), I don't know if I could feel the same.
I don't think anyone should go to jail for any of this, but they should all be charged. It certainly should prevent them from getting a hunting liscense in the future?!
What is really scary is the hiking posts I have read from people trying to hike the mountain behind us. We were just researching local geodes that we could hike to, and ran across some scary stories of local rednecks threatening hikers with guns in three different instances!!
No way, there are red necks out there?!? ;) JK Sounds like a great place to go hike.
I wouldn't want the child to go to jail either, how about some community service? I hope he doesn't want to hunt anymore at all, having killed someone on accident.
Why punish a child when it's the law itself that allows people to hunt at the same area dipsticks hike.
No one said the child should be punished. There is a difference between being charged and being punished. In fact, the judges and prosecutors around here are very understanding of the hunters and fishermen, unless they are poaching.
The child, and yes 14 is a child, should NOT get a hunting liscense for quite a while. If a kid hit someone with a car, they would be charged. A gun is just as deadly as a car. The hunting laws should change, and I have contacted my state representatives about this.
The facts are, and this is from the sheriff's office, that the kid looked through his scope to confirm his target, and NOT binoculars. If you've ever taken a hunting safety class, then you would know that you should ALWAYS confirm your target with binoculars because the scope has too narrow of a field of view.
Point blank there is a difference between first degree and second degree manslaughter, and this was undeniably an accident. This kid is not going to jail, and if he does then Skagit County voters should vote the prosecutor and judge out of office next time around. There are consequences to actions whether they are on purpose or not, and I feel his consequence should be not firing a weapon for a VERY long time, because he (and his grandpa) was VERY irresponsible.
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