Bow hunter fatally shot in San Juan National Forest

[seeth07]

Shooting a person regardless of what color they are wearing is not an accident. That term has no business in this discussion. I would suggest the dude from PA get himself some soap on a rope.

Do you or anyone else on this forum know the true full story? I don't recall seeing a statement from the defendant with his side of the events? Maybe I missed it.

Lots of people jumping to conclusions assuming this is a case of an individual who is an idiot and doesn't belong in the woods because he didn't properly identify his target. Until we know the whole case and exactly the recount of what happened, it's unfair to jump to those conclusions.

 

[Jason73]

Do you or anyone else on this forum know the true full story? I don't recall seeing a statement from the defendant with his side of the events? Maybe I missed it.

Lots of people jumping to conclusions assuming this is a case of an individual who is an idiot and doesn't belong in the woods because he didn't properly identify his target. Until we know the whole case and exactly the recount of what happened, it's unfair to jump to those conclusions.

I happen to have a friend who was on the S and R team that recovered the body. He had some knowledge on the situation.

 

[EKYHunter]

Do you or anyone else on this forum know the true full story? I don't recall seeing a statement from the defendant with his side of the events? Maybe I missed it.

Lots of people jumping to conclusions assuming this is a case of an individual who is an idiot and doesn't belong in the woods because he didn't properly identify his target. Until we know the whole case and exactly the recount of what happened, it's unfair to jump to those conclusions.

Well it appears to be factual that one man shot another man whom he thought was an Elk. Fact is, it was a man and not an Elk. Fact is, one man is dead because he was mistaken for an Elk. Fact is, muzzleloader hunter failed to distinguish man from Elk. Am I wrong?

 

[seeth07]

I happen to have a friend who was on the S and R team that recovered the body. He had some knowledge on the situation.

Ok but they still don't probably know the whole story.

I'm just simply playing devils advocate and trying to slow down all the judging because you just never know. There was a case awhile back here where a guy was stalking a buck on his hands and knees and another hunter shot at rhe buck, missed and hit the guy behind thr buck and injured him (didn't die). The guy that was shot actually got fined because he had removed his orange to make the stalk. Shooter in court was found not guilty for attempted manslaughter

 

[seeth07]

Ok yes you are supposed to know not only your target and what's beyond but I totally can see how this could be an accident hunting in the cattail marshes here...

 

[Addicting]

I'm just simply playing devils advocate and trying to slow down all the judging because you just never know.

I right there with you. He will have his day in court and the truth will come out. None of this soapbox forum banter will have anything to do with it.

 

[CycleFishHunt]

I don't recall seeing a statement from the defendant with his side of the events? Maybe I missed it.

This follow up article was also posted and mentions the following, from the arrest affidavit.

“When he saw white in the pines, he took a shot at what he thought was an elk,” according to the affidavit written by Dolores County Sheriff Don Wilson.

Morosko reloaded, thinking he had shot an elk. But when he checked, he saw that he had shot and killed an archery hunter.

That's obviously not the full story, but it doesn't sound good. It's what I am reacting to. Seeing white in the pines does not sound like positively identifying one's target (and what's behind it). It sounds like an admission of recklessness... to me anyway.

 

[seeth07]

This follow up article was also posted and mentions the following, from the arrest affidavit.



That's obviously not the full story, but it doesn't sound good. It's what I am reacting to. Seeing white in the pines does not sound like positively identifying one's target (and what's behind it). It sounds like an admission of recklessness... to me anyway.

Yes, you certainly may be right. No doubt. Let's get the end story and than call him a reckless pos.

 

[Jason73]

This follow up article was also posted and mentions the following, from the arrest affidavit.



That's obviously not the full story, but it doesn't sound good. It's what I am reacting to. Seeing white in the pines does not sound like positively identifying one's target (and what's behind it). It sounds like an admission of recklessness... to me anyway.

Well he was a white guy. Probably should have been the first clue it wasn't an elk.

 

[COEngineer]

Do you or anyone else on this forum know the true full story? I don't recall seeing a statement from the defendant with his side of the events? Maybe I missed it.

Lots of people jumping to conclusions assuming this is a case of an individual who is an idiot and doesn't belong in the woods because he didn't properly identify his target. Until we know the whole case and exactly the recount of what happened, it's unfair to jump to those conclusions.

If you don't want to read all the posts up to this point and the articles that were linked, that's fine. But don't jump in on page 10 and start with, "Well, we don't know anything."

 

[seeth07]

If you don't want to read all the posts up to this point and the articles that were linked, that's fine. But don't jump in on page 10 and start with, "Well, we don't know anything."

I have been following this and did read every single post.

As stated, we don't have the testimony of the defendant yet.

 

[OverlordBear]

View attachment 210121


Dude shot an elk he thought was a deer.
Montana - hold my beer.

Llama Is actually really good. It is like a fatty red meat. Like a pig and cow had a baby. If that llama was wandering on public land abandoned it might have been legal to take.

 

[TOGIE]

i feel okay jumping to some conclusions here.

there's just hardly a single excuse that could exist that makes it anything less than negligent homicide to shoot and kill another hunter.

but that's my opinion. and i will hold it no matter what. even if he is found not guilty.

 

[mtmiller]

If that llama was wandering on public land abandoned it might have been legal to take.

How dare you. It had a name.

 

[Irrelevant]

How dare you. It had a name.

Llama meat is fairly lean like all game meats. The flavor of Llama meat lies somewhere between that of beef and lamb. Llamas were used by the ancient Inca civilization in South America.

Llama meat is fairly lean like all game meats. The flavor of Llama meat lies somewhere between that of beef and lamb. Llamas were used by the ancient Inca civilization in South America.

www.exoticmeatmarkets.com

 

[jt13]

I'll be curiously watching this case when it hits the courts. The charges seem to fit the crime from what I see in Colorado statutes.

What is curious to me is how many of you were surprised he pled not guilty. Unless the prosecution was offering him a dandy of a plea deal there was ZERO reason to plead guilty. He might as well make the prosecution earn their keep and hope for a procedural error or somewhere along the line where his rights were violated.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I'm not going to further derail this thread but;

In Ontario, crop damage is absolutely NO reason to shoot big game outside of lawful hunting. There is also no such thing as a "Destruction Permit" and black bear, like most big game animals, are protected against killing for the reasons you have stated. "Causing havoc" on a corn field is far from a valid reason to shoot a bear, that's what crop damage insurance is for. Bears can be trapped and relocated, or hazed.

You don't have a clue. The MNR does give farmers here permission to cull bears and cranes but the carcasses have to stay in the field. There's paperwork involved. Farmers can and do designate their authorized agents to do the culling for them (they are personally too busy with their dairy operations to mess with shooting bears). Again, paperwork is involved. I signed on to shoot bears for one farmer several years ago but never killed one. Only if I had to. I had a close call with my dogs once. He desperately wants me to shoot cranes but I won't do it with my dogs. I'm told the sword-faced buggers can be dangerous if wounded.

We have so many bears here and too few MNR personnel to mess with hauling them around in traps. I'm not sure how an insurance adjuster would assess bear damage. The damn things just go here and there in the middle of the fields and lay waste. Corn is ten feet tall and six inches apart. I can't see five feet in that crap. Many a time I've become disoriented looking for a downed bird. Sometimes bears knock down patches of several hundred square yards. Thirty yards across is about the norm. Near as I can tell they just roll around in the stuff. Or maybe knock it down for fun? All kinds of it left on the ground with cobs still attached. They are VERY destructive.

Haze them? Har, har. Bears stay in the corn while I'm shooting geese fifty yards away. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. I can hear them in there knocking stuff over. And they'll steal any geese that fall their direction too. I have learned to make every effort to avoid shooting birds unless they fall in the cut portion in front of me. When the farmers combine their corn they have a neighbor bring in hunters with tags who set up at both ends of the field and wait. When the last row is cut, the bears bail out. Noise of combine and trucks during harvesting means nothing. Two years ago I watched three bears shot at once that way. A bomb could go off in the standing corn and they won't leave. Best way to get them during season is to sit on the edge of the cornfield at dusk and shoot them when they leave for water. But we have so much water here it's hard to predict where they'll go for it. Trapping them, even if the traps and staff were available, wouldn't work well for bears that are living high on the hog in standing corn. The bear hunter guy told me it's pretty much hopeless trying to bait them once they're into the corn.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Sorry for that dairy farm derailment. I am pretty sure this guy shot at a noise. He heard a bull bugling and screaming very close. I've had it happen and yes, it can get a fella worked up when you hear them bellering and smashing brush fifteen yards away but can't see anything. It is exciting ... but for me never exciting enough to pull the trigger. I was rewarded by going up to the same spot a week later and shooting the bull of a lifetime... in full sight. I think this guy said he "saw something white" because it was his only means of dodging the sound shot conviction which would be a slam dunk for manslaughter. Unless the dead archery hunter was decked out in a sheet, which would seem to be the wrong kind of camo if it was early enough in the season for elk to be in the rut, I am assuming there's a very high probability the only thing "white" he was wearing was his face. It'll be a tough sell for a jury, but if the shooter can convince them that tiny bit of light colored flesh was enough to fool him, then he may get off with only the lesser charge of improperly identifying his target. If he had admitted to shooting only at a noise then he never had a target and that would be gross negligence, not an accident. An easy manslaughter conviction.

I think the fib about seeing something white won't work very well for this guy. Even if the archery hunter was for some reason wearing white clothing which seems unlikely, what did the muzzy hunter think he was shooting at, an albino elk? Mule deer have white fur but he acknowledged he was stalking a screaming bull elk, not a deer. He didn't think out his lie carefully enough. I expect prosecution will get him to crack on the stand and admit to a sound shot.

 

[SaskHunter]

@OntarioHunter I can admit when I am wrong and did more digging on this and you are correct, landowners, through the ministry of environment can hire trappers or hunters to euthanize problem bears and the process is more or less similar to what you have described.

Still waiting on your reference on blaze orange requirements for non-hunters recreating on Crown Land during a big game season where blaze orange is required, though!

 

[NativeIndian]

@OntarioHunter I can admit when I am wrong and did more digging on this and you are correct, landowners, through the ministry of environment can hire trappers or hunters to euthanize problem bears and the process is more or less similar to what you have described.

Still waiting on your reference on blaze orange requirements for non-hunters recreating on Crown Land during a big game season where blaze orange is required, though!

THIS is refreshing! Thank you SaskHunter. These days someone that admits when they're wrong seems to be a dying breed. Good luck in your hunts this year!