Hunting accident in Vermont

[slagmaker]

Read this this morning. Very sad

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/28/vermont-man-kills-himself-after-fatally-shooting-friend-in-deer-hunting/

A Vermont man took his own life Saturday after accidentally killing his friend in a deer hunting accident, police said.

Authorities said they believe 49-year-old Timothy Bolognani, of Readsboro, Vt., killed himself with a hunting rifle after accidentally shooting his friend, 39-year-old Benjamin Birch, while the two were hunting for deer Saturday morning, the Bennington Banner reported.

The two men were reportedly hunting in woods about a mile west of Howe Pond Road in Readsboro with another friend, identified as Mark Colford.

Police said that when they responded to the scene, they found Bolognani and Birch dead from gunshot wounds, according to the newspaper.

Investigators said Birch shot at a deer, which then ran through the woods. The three men tried to track the animal, police said, and at some point Bolognani fired his rifle.

Birch was heard crying out before Bolognani and Colford found him lying on the ground, where he later died, the newspaper reported.

Bolognani, the son of former state Rep. Betty Bolognani, then shot and killed himself with his own rifle, police said. No foul play is suspected.

"These guys were best friends and professional hunters," Birch’s mother, Jacqueline Clara Howe, told the Boston Herald.

The hunting deaths were the second tragedy to hit the Bolognani family in the past two years.

Bolognani's 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, reportedly died in a snowmobile accident in Jan. 2010.

The teenager was struck by an oncoming snowmobile after falling from her own, according to the Burlington Free Press.

[kyfuzzyface]

Very Sad
Always hate to here news like that, adds more fuel for the anti-hunters

[FinsnFur]

Professional hunters uh? I would like to hear the lady's definition of that.

This is why I quit deer hunting. Public land is too tough to obtain, and public land is full of this crap.

[shaddragger]

  Idiots are everywhere Jim. 3 weeks ago in Virginia we had to go ask the neighbors to change directions to stop the bullets that were flying through the woods behind me. They never thought those projectiles could pass through that plywood and make it into the timber.

[coyote101]

Terribly tragic.

Pat

[iahntr]

Horrible deal !
I can't imagine the pain of shooting and killing your best friend.
Obviously it was more then he thought he could take.
Very sad.

[slagmaker]

There was more to read if you followed a link on the origianl page but my internet is so slow. I was wondering exectally how a "profesional" hunter could accidently shoot someone. I would think that a "profesional" hunter would make positive ID on his target, know what was behind it and all that. Unless it was an accidental discharge that killed his friend but then again, a "profesional" hunter should know how to prevent them.

[Hawks Feather]

I have to agree that it was a tragedy, but also agree that "professional" was used without thought.  Maybe she was thinking experienced - either way, one of the four major safety points in the hunter safety class is "Know your target and beyond" and obviously he was not being a safe hunter.

Jerry

[HuntnCarve]

A terrible tragedy for sure.  Bad things happen to good people regardless.   Sometimes you just cannot explain why things happen? Friendships run pretty deep.  Prayers go out to the victims and their families.

Dave