Fellow Hunter Mistook Him For A Deer
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 6 months ago
Deer season for archery is currently open in Georgia, but firearms season doesn’t start until Oct. 19. Meanwhile, Glynn County police and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is continuing to investigate how a teen was shot dead by another man’s rifle while hunting Saturday.
Bobby Lane, 17, was pronounced dead at a hospital after police say fellow hunter Hector Romero mistook him for a deer, according to a DNR news release.
Witnesses told police that all of the parties involved knew each other and came to the Myers Hill area to go hunting. Police were called to a wooded area in the 500 block of Myers Hill Road in response to reports of a person shot. Once there, officers met with a group of hunters at Friendly Express on highways 82 and 303.
First Coast News spoke with Lane’s cousin who says Lane and Romero were hunting friends and had been on trips before.
Firearms season doesn’t start until October 19 and Rawling said Lane and Romero knew of the state regulations.
“I’ve been hunting for a very long time and in all my years of hunting, I’ve been told if you don’t exactly know what it is, 100 percent exactly what it is, you do not pull the trigger,” Rawling said.
Let’s see. Four legs versus two, deer skin versus human skin, clothing, etc., etc. Yea, I can see how the mistake was made.
This is absolutely stupid. First of all such a shot risks an unethical kill on a deer. Second, it risks killing a human.
Don’t be this person.
On October 2, 2019 at 7:24 am, Heywood said:
Steven Wright once said, I accidently shot my father-in-law in a horrible hunting accident. I thought he was a deer in an orange vest stealing a cup of coffee by the campfire.
How many of the gun safety laws did had to be broken for this to happen?
On October 2, 2019 at 7:55 am, ambiguousfrog said:
I live in ga and am following this, something is fishy about it. Doesn’t say any clothing was being worn that was geared towards hunting and last I knew you had to look down a scope at your target. Before you license you take a safety course. If in a group don’t you establish do’s and dont’s? Like stay in tree stand and don’t wander? It’s bow only now, so there’s that. I think hunting is the excuse for some jackassery that went bad.
On October 2, 2019 at 9:42 am, June J said:
Ambifrog is probably right…smell test failing.
I’d bet that being caught in the woods with a rifle during bow season would be an automatic ticket/fine/arrest depending upon the game warden and state laws.
On October 2, 2019 at 3:20 pm, Differ said:
Feral Pig, Coyote, Armadillo and Ground Hog are no closed season, no bag limits in GA….perhaps they were hunting those critters….perhaps….
On October 2, 2019 at 3:41 pm, xtphreak said:
Hey Heywood
The correct answer is, it’s absolutely illegal to shoot a deer drinking coffee, regardless if it’s wearing blaze orange or not.
On October 2, 2019 at 3:58 pm, Longbow said:
This sounds like a murder to me.
On October 6, 2019 at 10:21 am, Ned2 said:
Sadly, this happens every year, somewhere.
On the bright side, these kinds of incidents are much rarer than they used to be.
On October 8, 2019 at 5:00 pm, Sanders said:
Got into a position at 4 a.m. on a mule deer hunt, year before last. I knew he was in there, as he was grunting at me. Couldn’t take a legal shot until 1/2 hr. before sunrise, anyway. Plus, I could not see him clearly yet. I wanted to be sure of my shot. It was a great spot. Rested the rifle in the fork of an oak tree. Nice steady rest. All I needed was more light. I kept checking my watch.
He was still there – he’d grunt every few minutes and blow. It was getting lighter and lighter. My blood was pumping. The excitement of the hunt causing adrenaline to surge. I’d seen the bucks hiding out up this canyon when I’d been back there cutting wood this past summer. They were some big ones.
It was getting lighter. My watch showed it was a 1/2 hour before sunrise. I put the crosshairs on his shoulder, just behind. It was a perfect broadside heart shot. The Remington 700 in 7mm Rem Mag with my handloaded 168 gr. Nosler Partitions would do the job nicely.
But I could not see any antlers. From the neck up was obscured by a scrub oak. Damn. Can’t shoot what I cannot identify. I knew in my gut it was one of those big bucks. I could tell by the body mass. But I had to see some antlers for my own piece of mind. Then…he moved off and down the canyon and up the other side.
I followed. Stalking him up. He must have gotten a scent, as he started running through the brush. I never got another bead on him. But I did see his antlers – a nice 4×4. Then I heard the shot. A dang road hunter!
Some dude driving slowly along the dirt road shot the buck as he emerged from the brush to cross the road. I’m lucky not to have been hit, as he was shooting directly toward me as I was stalking the deer.