VA: Hunter shot students, 1 dead

[Ricky]

1 student killed, another wounded by hunter who thought they were deer

FERRUM, Va. (AP) — Officials in Virginia say a college student was shot to death while collecting frogs for biology class by a hunter who mistook her and her classmates for deer.

A Ferrum College spokeswoman says three students were collecting frogs Tuesday afternoon along a trail a mile west of campus.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries says 23-year-old Jessica Goode was shot and killed and 20-year-old Regis J. Boudinot was shot in the hand. The third student wasn't hurt.

Department Sgt. Karl Martin says 31-year-old Jason David Cloutier of Ferrum was charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm and trespassing.

Cloutier's bond was set at $20,000 and court officials say he doesn't yet have a lawyer.

No one answered the phone at the home of the only Cloutier listed in Ferrum.

 

[Kicker96FS]

That's bad. I guess someone didn't tell that asshat you are supposed to shoot the 4 legged ones.

 

[MassMark]

Working at the gun counter, I see at least daily a person who should not be in the woods - let alone someone who should be in the woods with a gun...I think this must be this type of person. What a tragedy for these kids and their families...

 

[rep308]

Wasn't it in Vermont where a hunter shot a woman hanging out her laundry and he was acquitted on the defense that the woman was wearing white gloves?

 

[P-14]

Wasn't it in Vermont where a hunter shot a woman hanging out her laundry and he was acquitted on the defense that the woman was wearing white gloves?

I think that was Maine.

 

[Scrivener]

Wasn't it in Vermont where a hunter shot a woman hanging out her laundry and he was acquitted on the defense that the woman was wearing white gloves?

No, that appalling act of jury invertebracy was in Maine.

Note that the killer was also shooting across a road he was standing on the edge of.

 

[Admin]

No, that appalling act of jury invertebracy was in Maine.

Note that the killer was also shooting across a road he was standing on the edge of.

The only possible other fail you could add to the equation is he was intoxicated and standing on top of a baby.

 

[derrick_lui]

This just sucks, prayers to the parents.
Bad news for everyone.

 

[Scrivener]

The only possible other fail you could add to the equation is he was intoxicated and standing on top of a baby.

But gee; he was a Boy Scout troop leader and he felt really bad about it. Besides, punishing him wouldn't change anything and she really should have known better.......

Hope Elmer Fudd got crucified in a civil suit.

 

[Fixxah]

So much for knowing your target. Was the student shot in the hand holding it towards the shooter while screaming, "Don't shoot!"?

 

[MassMark]

So much for knowing your target. Was the student shot in the hand holding it towards the shooter while screaming, "Don't shoot!"?

In my hunting days, I was a lone hunter for a reason - people like this. I took one of my friends on a deer hunt and "buck fever" was an understatement. When he unloaded his 4th shot on a Budweiser can in a bush, I was done. I left him in the woods and went home....When he called me the next day to express his displeasure at me abandoning ship, I encouraged him to spare someone's life and just shoot himself, or at the very least pour cement into his gun barrel and vow to only get his nutrition at Burger Chef, (that dates me eh?)....

 

[drgrant]

This reminds me of the incident where some douchebag gunned down a girl riding a horse, because he mistook the horse for a deer... and he did it with a
muzzleloader of all things.... one would think that muzzleloader users are a little more cautious, but apparently not.

Problem with hunting is there is always that small percentage of douchebags that get sauced up and go out there and shoot at anything that moves, and basically ruin it for the majority.

-Mike

 

[qmmo]

There are lots of people out there that have no business hunting, owning a firearm or even driving a motor vehicle. I've run into a few folks that I've refused to sell ammo to because IMO they are not safe to be around when they have a gun in their hands. No matter, they just go somewhere else and buy what they want. In many cases, just being hominid is enough to get a hunting license, driver's license, etc. Some cretins don't even bother with the licensing at all. Even if you only bow hunt like I do, there is still a chance some poacher might pick you off out of a tree or from behind a blind. This situation is definitely bad for everyone. I feel for the families.

 

[paulie walnuts]

I don't understand how this can happen. How can you shoot at something and not know what you are shooting at and where your shoot placements are going to end up? What do this people do, they see movement and light the place up with buckshot and hope they hit vitals. I this sh*t pisses me off and give gun owner and hunters a bad name.

 

[jhblaze1]

what is so hard about being sure of your target?


I hate stupid people.[sad2]

 

[freedom2012]

Clearly this guy is a liability to anything that moves in the woods.

Because there are people like this, I never hike or go in the woods without Hunter Orange on during the season (except Sunday).

Last weekend my brother went for a hike in Maine. I made him wear my hunter orange hat and vest. He encountered 3 Hunters on the the hike. I am not blaming the victims here, just pointing out a fact of stupid people existing in this world and how to protect yourself against them.

 

[Bob P]

Reminds me a bit of a story my father tells on occasion from WWII. He was platoon sgt. They were a green unit just moving to contact. They hear some noises at night just beyond their position and their 90 Day Wonder LT goes nuts and starts emptying his carbine into the night and throwing grenades. My father gets him to stop shooting and calms him down - and they don't hear anything else for the rest of the night. Next morning the find a herd of cows in the field in front of their position. The cows were unwounded.

Too bad numbnuts wasn't as bad a shot.

 

[George D]

Happened last year in Vermont
http://caledonianrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=42257

I think the year before that a guy from Charlemont did the same thing, shot and killed a guy picking berries that he thought was a bear.
I don't walk my dog in the woods much this time of year.

Edit-Just noticed that the first comment on that article is actually about the guy I mentioned.

 

[upStomp]

The only possible other fail you could add to the equation is he was intoxicated and standing on top of a baby.

That's right up there with "punching kittens".

 

[Baystatesuks]

Unfortunately here in VA (particularly in the National Forest), there are a lot of wackos that sound hunt. That's right, hear a sound and shoot in that direction. Seems reasonable huh?

This is also the reason I only hunt on my private land where I can try to minimize being around careless people.

 

[Nicole]

Back when I was a teenager, I lived in Virginia and was into horseback riding. Every fall, whenever we'd ride the horses into the woods, we'd wear orange vests and clip sleigh bells onto the horses. Despite this, we would still run into hunters with shocked faces. One was actually drawing down on us as we rounded the bend and came into view. We always wondered if he though maybe Santa's reindeer would be covered by his deer tag?

 

[Brin747]

Our property backs up on a couple hundred acres of woods that my sons love to hike in. Needless to say, they are not allowed back there this time of year.

 

[ateamrob]

there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for this whatsoever. No excuse at all.

One of the 4 cardinal safety rules is,

always identify your target and what is around it. No excuse for not identifing your target.

Its asshats like this that make me want to puke.

Rob

 

[Kalahari]

what is so hard about being sure of your target?


I hate stupid people.[sad2]

This is what I've been thinking....I'm not an avid hunter by any means, but it seems like it would be difficult to confuse a woman hanging laundry for any kind of animal. Or students in the woods. One would think that people ought to be able to identify the unique movements of other people compared to animals...Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like it should be obvious to me...

 

[Kicker96FS]

Several years ago when I was hunting in VT, we were staying at a cabin a Buddie's, buddie owned, real nice. Anyways, we hunted until sundown and I was walking back to the cabin in an open field, there was a drop-off into another field, about 15-20 foot drop, and I knew there were other hunters around because there was a pickup truck on the edge of the field. Behind me was a 20 foot pile of loam.

Keep in mind now, it is now dark, no hunting. I hear a shot and hear a round hit the loam pile behind me. I also heard the wizz of the bullet as it sailed by me about 15 feet away! So I called out to my Buddie and I hear brush in the lower field as some frack'n VT moron runs away.

Orange vests are no longer orange in the dark, (to your eyes) they are just something moving.

I had a few extra beers that night.

 

[Baystatesuks]

This is what I've been thinking....I'm not an avid hunter by any means, but it seems like it would be difficult to confuse a woman hanging laundry for any kind of animal. Or students in the woods. One would think that people ought to be able to identify the unique movements of other people compared to animals...Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like it should be obvious to me...

You would be really surprised what strange shapes can look like a deer in low light. That is why I always talk to myself or whoever is around very loudly when coming out of the woods at night. Sound carries a long way and last time I checked, deer don't talk much.

 

[K-DUB]

I vaguely recall something about "knowing your target" or something.....

Morons. Too bad for the students & their family.

 

[arlow]

Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[dsm]

Tragic, inexcusable incident.

But I love how the media has to put in the headline that it was a student.

Do you think they would have mentioned in the headline if it had been an accountant?

 

[RI_John]

Also not blaming the victims whatsoever, but I can't imagine going into the woods during deer season without at least a blaze orange vest. It's insanity.

Knowing there are idiots like this hunter in every state, when we're up in Maine during deer season, we don't let the kids play in the yard, at all (both my sisters houses and my dad's house are out in hunting woods), and we dress the kids in orange just to walk from the house to the car. By the front door of everyone's house in November up there is a big pile of orange hats, vests, and gloves that you put on, even if you're just going to check the mail.

Again, not blaming the victim, but idiot hunters are everywhere.