Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

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Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:31 am

Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Updated Nov 16, 2019;Posted Nov 16, 2019
Aero Med
Neil Blake | MLive.com

An Aero Med helicopter responded to Ionia County after a man accidentally shot his brother while deer hunting. (MLive File Photo)

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
IONIA COUNTY, MI – A hunter was seriously wounded Saturday, Nov. 16, when he was accidentally shot by his brother.

The victim, a 28-year-old Lowell man, was airlifted from the scene in Ionia County. His brother, a 29-year-old Saranac man, told police he accidentally shot his brother with a muzzle-loader rifle thinking he was shooting at a deer that had been wounded.

Sheriff’s deputies and Saranac firefighters were dispatched around 5:30 p.m. to a field near Bell Road and West Grand River Avenue in Boston Township where the hunter had been shot.

Sheriff’s deputies found the brothers, who had been hunting together.

“Investigation on the scene and in follow up interviews determined this was by all accounts an accidental shooting that occurred after the men were looking for a deer that one brother had shot earlier with his muzzle loading rifle,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The brothers could not find the deer and were ending the search when they became separated in the dense cornfield. The brother who fired the shot was some distance away when he thought he saw the deer moving. He heard what he thought was the deer moving and fired, hitting his brother.

After firing the shot, he realized he had hit his brother and immediately called 911.

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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:40 am

Very sad situation.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby cspot » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:46 am

Wow.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:59 am

If you can't clearly see that something is a deer & that it's the deer your after then don't shoot. Terrible way to have that lesson driven home.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Trout » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:04 am

Hopefully it isnt fatal. I really feel bad for the family, and the brother who pulled the trigger, I'm sure he is in a pretty low place right now. Hopefully someone sees the story and thinks twice before taking a shot like that in the future.

Very sad to hear stories like this every year. Very glad it's not more common.

When I was about their age I almost made the same mistake. Close to last light and I was doing absolutely the wrong thing and using my scope to identify what I thought was a deer moving through some heavy cover as a buck or a doe. I didnt have a doe tag, couldnt positively ID horns and I lowered my rifle. 30 seconds later I saw more movement, a hunter emerged very close by where I had been using my scope as binoculars, not wearing hunter orange. He never knew some kid had the crosshairs on him 30 seconds earlier, safety off, finger on the trigger, and ready to fire. Had I got a doe tag that year, who knows how things might have played out. Him not wearing hunter orange doesnt excuse what I did at all. I knew better than to use a scope for that. Learned a valuable lesson, fortunately not the hard way.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby EllieTheChubb » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:09 am

Very sad. Although rare this is why I try to be out of the woods by rifle season.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby mheichelbech » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:10 am

Trout wrote:Hopefully it isnt fatal. I really feel bad for the family, and the brother who pulled the trigger, I'm sure he is in a pretty low place right now. Hopefully someone sees the story and thinks twice before taking a shot like that in the future.

Very sad to hear stories like this every year. Very glad it's not more common.

When I was about their age I almost made the same mistake. Close to last light and I was doing absolutely the wrong thing and using my scope to identify what I thought was a deer moving through some heavy cover as a buck or a doe. I didnt have a doe tag, couldnt positively ID horns and I lowered my rifle. 30 seconds later I saw more movement, a hunter emerged very close by where I had been using my scope as binoculars, not wearing hunter orange. He never knew some kid had the crosshairs on him 30 seconds earlier, safety off, finger on the trigger, and ready to fire. Had I got a doe tag that year, who knows how things might have played out. Him not wearing hunter orange doesnt excuse what I did at all. I knew better than to use a scope for that. Learned a valuable lesson, fortunately not the hard way.

Something similar but worse! Almost shot a guy carrying a buck out over his shoulders. I saw rack moving through a thicket, had the safety off about ready to fire and something just didn’t look quite right...held off to see a guy emerge into the clear with the buck on his back. Not sure how he did it, as it was a pretty big buck. Crazy!!
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:20 am

Trout wrote:Hopefully it isnt fatal. I really feel bad for the family, and the brother who pulled the trigger, I'm sure he is in a pretty low place right now. Hopefully someone sees the story and thinks twice before taking a shot like that in the future.

Very sad to hear stories like this every year. Very glad it's not more common.

When I was about their age I almost made the same mistake. Close to last light and I was doing absolutely the wrong thing and using my scope to identify what I thought was a deer moving through some heavy cover as a buck or a doe. I didnt have a doe tag, couldnt positively ID horns and I lowered my rifle. 30 seconds later I saw more movement, a hunter emerged very close by where I had been using my scope as binoculars, not wearing hunter orange. He never knew some kid had the crosshairs on him 30 seconds earlier, safety off, finger on the trigger, and ready to fire. Had I got a doe tag that year, who knows how things might have played out. Him not wearing hunter orange doesnt excuse what I did at all. I knew better than to use a scope for that. Learned a valuable lesson, fortunately not the hard way.

A person can't be certain of an ethical shot if they can't clearly see a deer to start with. So I think that is another lesson here. If people only take ethical shots they are not likely to ever accidentally shoot someone & the animal is less likely to suffer. But yeah, what that guy did was a stupid move.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:43 am

Terrible. When I'm hunting with a gun and and I see or hear something unidentified I ALWAYS tell myself it's another hunter until proven otherwise.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby minnesotahunter » Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:32 pm

DEERSLAYER wrote:
Trout wrote:Hopefully it isnt fatal. I really feel bad for the family, and the brother who pulled the trigger, I'm sure he is in a pretty low place right now. Hopefully someone sees the story and thinks twice before taking a shot like that in the future.

Very sad to hear stories like this every year. Very glad it's not more common.

When I was about their age I almost made the same mistake. Close to last light and I was doing absolutely the wrong thing and using my scope to identify what I thought was a deer moving through some heavy cover as a buck or a doe. I didnt have a doe tag, couldnt positively ID horns and I lowered my rifle. 30 seconds later I saw more movement, a hunter emerged very close by where I had been using my scope as binoculars, not wearing hunter orange. He never knew some kid had the crosshairs on him 30 seconds earlier, safety off, finger on the trigger, and ready to fire. Had I got a doe tag that year, who knows how things might have played out. Him not wearing hunter orange doesnt excuse what I did at all. I knew better than to use a scope for that. Learned a valuable lesson, fortunately not the hard way.

A person can't be certain of an ethical shot if they can't clearly see a deer to start with. So I think that is another lesson here. If people only take ethical shots they are not likely to ever accidentally shoot someone & the animal is less likely to suffer. But yeah, what that guy did was a stupid move.


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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Hawthorne » Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:49 pm

Tragic. Happens every year in michigan. I always read at least one story yearly.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Marshbuster89 » Mon Nov 18, 2019 2:01 pm

Wow. I’ll never understand how this happens. I got shot at twice last year from someone else (I did not know them) about 40 yds in the other side of some red brush and I seriously thought I was done for. I cannot believe how stupid some people get when they think they’re target animal is in range.
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby Missionshooter » Mon Nov 18, 2019 2:06 pm

I've never seen a blaze orange deer
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby wolverinebuckman » Mon Nov 18, 2019 3:55 pm

https://www.uticaod.com/news/20191117/a ... t-shooting
This one was a fatality...20 year old :cry:
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Re: Michigan:Hunter accidentally shoots brother after mistaking him for wounded deer, police say

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:31 pm

These are both very sad stories. It is a reality we face. It hit me pretty dang close to home a couple years ago. A guy got shot on the public I hunt. A couple city folk seen his flashlight and thought they were deer eyes. Shot him in the stomach with buck shot. To make matters even worse it was during our late doe season so legally they couldn't be hunting with firearms on public. Private only.

Honestly these stories never surprise me. Actually they shake my nerves a little n remind me of how many clueless Yahoo's are out hunting with guns. I know myself, I've had many encounters with guys on public land who should not be in the woods with a firearm...or anywhere else for that matter. Still every year I'll see a guy or two sneaking through with very little or no hunters orange.


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