These are some sad and tragic stories about callous idiots who shoot indiscriminately at dogs. But several decades ago, my cousin was shot in the heart and killed on the first day of our small game season. He was hunting with his father, my Uncle, who was absolutely devastated, and never got over it to his dying day.
I never got over it either. How do you forget something like that? Andy was several years older than me, but he often took me hunting, shooting, and fishing with him. He was a good hunter, and a true sportsman who helped to instill in me a love for the outdoors. That Savage Model 220 20 ga. hammerless I've talked about here... my very first shotgun... I bought it from Andy with my paper route money, and he gave me a very good price. I still have it.
I've told the story of his death here before, and repeated it to a number of friends and co-workers over the years. About 10-12 years ago, I was relating the story of his death to a co-worker. When I got into details such as when and where it happened, I noticed that he got very pale. He asked me for my cousin's name. When I told him, he lost what little color he had left, and told me he was there that day, and had been hunting with the guy who killed my cousin. He told me how he the the first to come up on the scene, and his buddy was pacing frantically, and told him he had shot someone. He (the shooter) wasn't concerned about anything but himself, but at that point, nobody could have helped Andy.
He told me how he went to call the State Police, and guided them to the scene. He told me about the search to find anyone who he might have been hunting with, which happened to be my Uncle. He told me about them finding him and leading him to the scene to identify his dead son. And he told me about the look on the face of my Uncle. My Uncle insisted upon driving himself home to inform my Aunt and his other kids. To this day, I can't imagine how he did that.
My co-worker went on to tell me that this buddy was the one who had gotten him into hunting and shooting, because his family didn't hunt. He said that this guy often made him very nervous, because he often shot indiscriminately into the brush at noises and movements, hoping to kill a deer or whatever. That day, "whatever" happened to be my cousin, who was the young father of a now orphaned two year old boy.
Of course, an investigation was done. The shooter said that he was shooting at a turkey in a low bush. I don't know anyone who has ever seen a turkey in a low bush. I certainly haven't. However, it was ruled an accident, and he lost his hunting license for a year or two. That's a pretty lenient sentence for murder. This sort of irresponsible behavior is why we are required to wear florescent orange. My co-worker said that he never hunted with this guy again after that day.
Be careful out there. And don't worry about trivial little shit like possible copyright infringements upon the writings of a dead writer, when the intent is possibly saving the life of a dog... or a friend or relative.
