TheLastManInAmerica

Things could be changing for hunters up here in Washington. Some people, including some wildlife officials, are hoping to convince the state to reinstitute a law that would put age restrictions on hunters who go off into the woods alone. All this comes on the heels of the accidental shooting of Pamela Almli, who was killed on August 2^nd, while hiking near Sedro Woolley, when a fourteen year-old hunter whose only company was his 16 year-old brother, mistook her for a bear and fired. I am a gun owner and have advocated gun ownership in my pieces and in my post about this very incident, I advocated hunting as a significant factor in human evolution but I completely agree with those who wish to reinstate this law. However, I by no means wish to assuage responsibility from others who also share in the guilt of this woman’s death (i.e. the state, itself) 

            Hunting is not how it appears in video games. Animals don’t come whizzing by the screen, allowing you blindly open fire and nail all of them. Hunting is a game of patience. Scouting and waiting are key; animal don’t just come to you, you must first put yourself in the right position for your paths to meet. A few games of Big Buck Hunter might tell you otherwise, but that’s how it goes, which might explain why this accident could’ve happened. For any fourteen year-old is anxious and starving for excitement and if this kid happened to try his hand at such a game, he might be left with the impression that hunting works that way. Add to that the dull practice of patience hunting requires and it’s possible to see where the kid’s eagerness could’ve got the best of him at the first thought of sighting a bear.

            And even though the kid had passed a hunter’s safety course and had a license to hunt doesn’t mean that that zeal of a child is just going to disappear, not to mention the fact that kids just plain make mistakes; even a sixteen year-old can pass his driving test but still manage to mess up and kill an innocent person.  Which is why it is makes sense to have parental supervision for something like hunting, where there’s a danger of potential mishaps. I personally believe that if you aren’t old enough to own the rifle you’re hunting with ipso facto you shouldn’t be deemed suitable to carry it by yourself.

            In this context some blame could be laid on the government of  Washington State for doing away with age restrictions in 1994 when they revised state gun laws. On top of that, I believe the state could do more to protect non-hunters by separating popular hiking areas and zones where hunting is permitted. It seems asinine to me to have one area used for two such activities and to be so arrogant as to assume nothing like this will happen. Granted, it’s the first such accident in 25 years but that’s a streak that didn’t have to end if these areas of recreation were segregated. And even if they weren’t, regulations could be imposed to further protect people. For example, any trailhead could easily be marked with a sign informing hikers that hunting season is underway and if they still wish to proceed, to advise to dress in appropriate attire, such as a blaze orange jacket.             Simple things like those listed above could go a long way to ensure accidents like this are fewer and further between. Most hunters are not your typical bumpkin in the red flannel hat with ear flaps and coveralls, chugging a beer and passing the .30-06 off to little Billy Bob. And if hunters wish to prove that incidents such as that in Sedro Woolley are the exception, they could do a lot by supporting the idea of age restrictions without supervision and urge the State of Washington to put forth some effort and assure that an accident like this doesn’t happen again.    

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