Thread: Another Hunter Killed

We all need to be very clear about this – ANY hunter can make a mistake that can and frequently is fatal to another human.

How can this happen – well it’s our brain interpreting our senses incorrectly.

The easiest way of understanding how it can happen to ANY OF US is to consider why pilots need instruments for flying in cloud or at night. No matter how experienced the pilot, the sensory information being conveyed to their brain is open to misinterpretation. A pilot understands this and their training is to absolutely rely on the instruments – it took a lot of deaths to gain this understanding !!

ALL Hunters MUST understand that the they are capable of making a mistake (of misinterpreting the data) – no matter how experienced they may be – that’s because we don’t have an “instrument” to rely on, only our understanding of our own weakness, and that understanding can prompt us to re-evaluate.

If you are not convinced by the pilot example, exactly the same thing happens to sailors - both amateurs and professionals, they mis-time lights, they hit rocks clearly marked on charts (and chart plotters), because they trust their senses instead of their instruments.

This is the reason I actually feel in more danger (when hunting) when I see many of the comments in these sorts of discussions “it will never happen to me” – my first though is - oh yes it will, and you’d better understand how and why, or it may indeed be you pulling the trigger !!

I still can't see how more training is going a make any difference when the hunters doing the shootings are quoted as saying they were 100% sure they were shooting a deer?
Maybe be proactive and look at it the other way around and protect yourself rather than relying on others. Make it compulsory to cover yourself, more than a hat, in dayglo/blaze when bush hunting, like it is overseas. Sounds dumb but the flashing LED idea would probably work too if it didn't scare game away, not many deer wear those. Sure its a bit more cost but any of these solutions are going to cost something cause knowing what's right and doing the same isn't obviously working.
Eyesight testing possibly should be part of the licensing system too. It's relatively important to be able to see when shooting isn't it?

Totally agree Tentman. As I said in my earlier post - complacency is a dangerous thing. We all need to be aware that it has happened to other very experienced hunters, and it can happen to any one of us. I get fully blazed up these days, and recent magazine articles appear to show that I am more concealed from deer in my blaze orange, than someone else in brown/green camo gear. I also believe that just an orange beanie is not enough, and in low light, could be seen as a bit of light shining on a red's summer coat.
Some mates think that the blaze clothing is perpetrated by retailers, but I'm willing to glow in the dark to save my arse. I'm not a good enough bush stalker anyway - so if you see an orange glow overlooking a slip - don't shoot!