The man's side of it!

When I first saw this news item on Monday I intended to blog about my hunting horror stories. With all that's been going on in our family the last few days I forgot.

I was seventeen years old when I started hunting. I bought a used Mossberg bolt action shotgun from a friend at work. After work, we would go behind the Manville Dumps in New Jersey to shoot skeet. We also picked off any rats we saw or any bird unfortunate enough to fly by. I signed up for the hunter safety course so I could get a hunting license and easily passed. Many times I would join my friend Mario, after work he would teach me to hunt rabbit or pheasant. When I turned eighteen I got my firearm permit and bought a nice Mossberg 12 gage Pump action Shotgun. I hunted for many years and never had an incident.

Mario moved away and so I looked for someone else to hunt with. My wife's girlfriend suggested that maybe her husband Rickey would go with me. Rickey and I went on quite a few hunting trips together but he always made me a little nervous. I was taught gun safety at an early age, Rickey always seemed a little careless, he didn't empty his gun when he put it away, it seemed like he never cleaned it, and was sometimes careless where the gun was pointed when we were hunting together. I was always telling him to point it down and away from me.

Rickey and I decided we would get a couple of dogs and train them to hunt. He found a family selling some pure bred Welsh Springer Spaniels. I have had dogs all my life and so I knew that you don't choose a dog, you let the dog choose you. We got to the house and Rickey claims the first dog he sees, I sat on the floor and let the dogs come and investigate me. There was this one male puppy that came to me and was just so excited to be near me. I played with him for about fifteen minutes before I decided that he was the one! I named him Champion, Champ for short. I spent a lot of time playing with Champ and training him. He was a great dog. Rickey didn't bother much with his dog, mostly kept him in a pen. When I decided Champ was ready to go hunting with me for the first time, Rickey and his dog came along too.

We went to the Black River Game Refuge in North Jersey. It was stocked with Pheasant, you had to sign in at five in the morning, but they didn't let you through the gates until seven AM. Seven o'clock came and we all went through the gate. there were probably fifty or sixty people there. About ten minutes into the field we heard guns going off all over, Rickey yells "let the dogs go!" so we did. Champ immediately spotted a bird and went to point. Rickey's dog took off and never came back! I'll never forget the look of shock on his face as we watched his dog disappear in the opposite direction of all the shooting. You see Rickey never bothered to train his dog not to fear the gunshots or heed his commands. With Champ's help I was able to get my limit of pheasant.

My younger brother got the hunting bug and got his license and joined us one time to hunt rabbit. We went to a farm field near where Rickey lived. When you hunt with two or more people, you form a "skirmish line." Every one walks in a even line. The man on the left can only shoot straight in front of him and to the left, the guy in the middle can only shoot straight in front, and the guy on the right, only in front and to the right. It's very important not to get ahead of each other. Rickey was on the left, My brother in the middle, and I was on the right as we walked through the field. I was constantly telling Rickey to stay with us as we walked. He kept lagging behind. Suddenly a rabbit bolted from his hiding place right in front of me and headed to the middle, Tim raised his gun to shoot but Rickey shot first, Almost shooting Tim's legs out from under him. I was so mad I grabbed Rickey's shotgun and broke it. That was the last time Tim or I went with him.

But that's not the only incident that happened to me. I started deer hunting that year and spent many hours scouting a good place to hunt. I found a very active spot behind Chimney Rock park in Green Brook. I spent every day all week long waiting for "the big one." I could hear guns going off in the distance but I never saw a deer. The last day of Deer season, as it started to get dark, I climbed down out of my deer stand and started to walk back to my truck, I heard shots fired. Then all of a sudden stuff started hitting the trees all around me! Some one was shooting at me! I dropped to the ground and screamed "I am out here! Stop shooting!" I waited until whoever it was either stopped shooting or ran out of bullets. Then I went back to my truck and took off for home. I don't think anyone was shooting at me (at least I hope not) but maybe they didn't get their deer and just wanted to vent their frustration. The result could have been the same though. Someone could have been killed.

That was the last time I ever went hunting. New Jersey has too many people in the woods that are reckless with their guns. I don't advocate a stop to hunting or removing guns because I have enjoyed the thrill of hunting and shooting, and don't want to ruin it for others. But I would like to see more open land set aside for hunting and better training for people and hunters who buy the guns and get their licenses.

I eventually sold all my guns and bought a computer, that was the best move I ever made.

I posted the original article in the extended entry

Five killed, three wounded in shootings

Updated: 11/22/2004 06:30:46 AM

EXELAND, Wis. - Five hunters were shot dead and three others injured after a dispute in northwestern Wisconsin.

The confrontation began around noon in a rural area southwestern Sawyer County. Authorities said a hunting party returning to their deer shack saw a hunter unknown to them occupying one of their tree stands. They confronted the hunter, and were apparently shot.

One of the shooting victims used a walkie talkie to radio back to their deer shack for help. When the victim's hunting partners came to the scene, they were also shot.

Sawyer County was in a virtual lockdown as authorities searched for the gunman. One suspect was eventually taken into custody around 5:15 p.m.

The suspect, Chia Vang is being held in Sawyer County Jail.

Officials at Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake said they treated three gunshot victims. They said one of the victims was transported to a hospital in Marshfield, Wis. Another victim is in critical condition and is undergoing surgery. The third victim is in fair condition in the intensive care unit.