Man who shot Kaimai hunter blinded by stag fever
Quentin Mccreedy was gripped by the thrill of "stag fever" when he lined up and shot another hunter, in the mistaken belief he was about to bag a deer.
Mccreedy, 37, of Waitoa, was sentenced to six months of community detention when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday charged with causing the death of Douglas Leech by carelessly using a firearm, namely a Tikka T3 hunting rifle.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/105626782/man-who-shot-kaimai-hunter-avoids-jail
anyone who gets so excited because of tag fever and cant identify what theyre looking at should be allowed in the bush with a rifle
The cause wasn't "stag fever", it was carlessness
1
I have friend who spent decades working in pest control and has put more rounds through his rifle than even the most active hunters imagine possible. And he gets deeply upset at this kind of incident, in his view this is negligent and careless in the extreme.
You must know that everytime you pull the trigger there is NO pulling that damn bullet back.
And I have to say, while I usually refrain from second-guessing Court decisions, this guy seems to have been remarkably fortunate with his sentence. And I would very much expect the Police to refuse him a gun licence ever again.
1
I know what you are all saying and Im sure we have all heard the instruction "dont go there during the roar" but when you look at some of the people doing the shooting you have to wonder What is going on? Why are very highly regarded and experienced hunters shooting other hunters who often they knew were in the area. You are right this doesnt happen by accident. It happens because they aimed and pulled the trigger. Why did they aim there? Someone who knows hunting should be able to figure out what is going wrong and how to fix it.
Its only a matter of time before they hit a tramper
the experienced ones think they have identifying their target worked out until they come across a person wearing fleece that looks like a deer pelt from a distance, they think they can see enough to determine its a deer, like dozens of times before. in the bush you cant tell colour, one guy was shot in the head when he was wearing a high vis hat...
1
Most hunters have gone away from orange high vis because in some light it can appear brown. Blues and pinks are becoming more common. Deer are fully colour blind so they dont care. I would wear pink if it meant not getting shot
My informant recommends powder blue, the same as UN troops wear. There is nothing else in the bush the same colour, and is the least likely to be confused with any animal pelt in poor light.
@geeves. Feel obligated to corect you there:: Deer only lack colour vision at the red end of the spectrum. They can see green through blue no problem in colour. Which is why hunters go for orange which will not stand out for deer but will for people.
A check on wikipedia (or elsewhere) will confirm this.
> anyone who gets so excited because of tag fever and cant identify what theyre looking at should be allowed in the bush with a rifle
> The cause wasn't "stag fever", it was carlessness
What are the best ways to measure whether someone's capable of shooting someone like this, though? Is there some way to measure people and rate them above or below a threshold that defines whether or not they can be trusted not to see and react to something that isn't there?
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| Started by | waynowski |
| On | 20 July 2018 |
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