Father Kills Son in Hunting Accident, Mistakes 9-Year-Old for Turkey

[Thickasabrick]

Source: TransWorldNews

Atlanta, Ga. 4/20/2008 07:20 PM GMT (FINDITT)

A father accidentally shot and killed his son after mistakenly taking the boy for a turkey while the two were hunting in Belle Plaine, Minnesota.

According to police Anthony Klaseus and his son Hunter had been out around 6:30 p.m. Saturday when the accident occurred. The two had been hunting turkey when the father fired his 12 gauge shotgun at what he believed was a turkey.

The gunshot hit his son directly in the chest. Anthony Klaus immediately called 911 but responders pronounced the boy dead at the scene.

Read more: http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=43899&cat=14

[Happyhippychick]

1. How absolutely horrible.

[saigon68]

30. He wasn't real careful

There is a lot here that doesn't make sense. I have about 20 turkey's who come into my yard. Looking for food at the Bird feeders. They are magnificent birds, very smart too. It is difficult for me to see how he could have mistaken a person for a turkey.

Especially when you always use a shotgun to harvest them. In WI there is a lottery to get a license. I think Turkeys are more work than the thrill of the chase and hard to clean etc, and therefore I don't hunt them or bother to enter the lottery. They can be rough tasting too.(Especially in the spring) In the fall they are tastier because there are lot of corn and soybean fields around my place. We just picked up our deer hot dogs sausages etc last week killed before Christmas and recently packaged at my country butcher store down the road.

That sports fans is very good eating !!!

Too bad for this guy, I'm sure we will hear more of the circumstances. Its very easy to get in an accident if one is not "constantly vigilant" apparently someone wasn't here:-(

[dlfinn]

78. WHAT THE HE**

Why do these people have to take their kids hunting with them,,when they are so careless...or trigger happy,,,I have passed up many shots when hunting,,when knowing that someone or something is in the way,,its a tragic story,,And i do feel for the family,,I dont hunt much anymore,,I have been turned off by the commercial aspect,,all the big sporting good stores next to the urban centers,,plus the stupid NRA pulling in hunters,,,

[Crunchy Frog]

2. Guns don't kill people...

[Egalitariat]

6. .... morons do.

[Name removed]

77. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dlfinn]

79. guns do kill people,,,

do we go around and say that a person that died in an electical accident wasnt killed by electricity,,,do we say when a person died in a flood,,because they wouldnt leave their home,,,that they we not killed by the flood,,NO,,,guns do kill people,,common sense,,,if the father and son were taking photos of turkeys,,a bullet or shot wouldnt have killed the son from a camera

[mcctatas]

3. How tragic, my heart goes out to that father and the rest of

the family

[Scout]

4. well that really sucks for all concerned n/t

[Yael]

5. And if he wasn't out there sport hunting innocent animals, this wouldn't have happened.

Gun nuts, don't bother. There is no excuse for "sport hunting" in my world.

[hobbit709]

8. The people I know that hunt eat what they kill.

[coriolis]

11. So you are a vegan?

:eyes:

[Yael]

17. No, but I get my food from the grocery story, not a shotgun

You are free to disagree as to which is preferable.

[coriolis]

19. Yeah, well nobody kills that hamburger you eat.

I don't disagree, I just see that you are a total hypocrite.

[Yael]

31. Not with a shotgun.

Kosher beef has specific rules about humane slaughter.

[coriolis]

32. More humane than a bullet to the brain? Are you insane?

:eyes:

[Papagoose]

35. Kosher slaughter is NOT necessarily humane

Cattle in traditional slaughter are killed by a bolt to the brain, theoretically resulting in near instant unconsciousness.

Kosher slaughter method involves cutting the throat of a conscious animal and allowing it to bleed to death, fully aware of it's peril.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/national/30cnd-kosh.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Irreverend IX]

43. So raising animals in tiny pens and pumping them with drugs...

Is more humane than shooting an animal that's lived a normal life in the wild?

[bitchkitty]

70. Wrong - it used to be more humane.

But factory kosher is just as bad as factory farming, don't kid yourself.

I don't eat meat. But I find it amusing that you're taking the moral high ground because the meat you eat never roamed free.

[bean fidhleir]

74. "Kosher beef has specific rules about humane slaughter"

But as Dr Grandin has reported, there are kosher abatoirs that follow the letter rather than the spirit of the rules, causing the victims both terror and agony in their last minutes of life.

[Prayingforrain48]

54. I'm not a hunter, but

I think that the animal that lives its entire life in the wild, only to be shot and eaten by a hunter has a much better life than the "food" that you buy at the supermarket which most likely lived a life of almost endless suffering.

[Pavulon]

62. Behold..

made famous by recent film. But this is no different than a rifle round.

[Bluzmann57]

13. So how do you know they were "sport hunting"

I am not a "gun nut" but am a Midwesterner as are the people in the article. Hunting is popular around this part of the country. And believe me, it isn't all that hard to mistake one target for something else from a distance, particularly when folks are wearing camouflage.I realize there is no real point in even trying to discuss gun laws with someone like you, so I won't even try. Eat your veggies and be a good little vegan. Just leave the rest of us alone.

[Tab]

21. Probably was sport hunting.

I don't hunt myself, but I don't have a problem for people who do it for FOOD. In fact where I live, they need to bag a deer to get the food to get through the winter.

I'm saying it was probably sport hunting because who wants to eat a turkey loaded with leadshot? He was using a shotgun, so he'd have to be very careful if his son was nearby. Those guns don't discriminate much.

[Bluzmann57]

27. "Probably was sport hunting"

But we don't know. And as far as eating wild turkey, it is much tastier than the shit sold in supermarkets and more humane as well. I live near a turkey processing plant and have seen the barns, or whatever one calls them, where they are all crowded together. Not a good situation.I will say that you bring up a good point about the use of a shotgun though. But I have eaten turkey slain with a shotgun. No lead anywhere.

[harmonicon]

65. have you heard about the flavoured shot?

It's no joke - some company makes shot out of some sort of compressed stuff that's edible, and it's flavoured, so you just leave the shot in the bird, and it melts away when you cook it. Too bad that I don't like turkey and don't hunt (guns scare the shit out of me).

[pasto76]

36. WOW.

"...it isn't all that hard to mistake one target for something else from a distance, particularly when folks are wearing camouflage."

If you cant tell if its your "target", then you shouldnt fire at it. isnt this taught in safety classes? Isnt this common sense?!?

Is bagging a turkey so important its ok to shoot at something moving, even if you're not sure what it is?

Wow.

SGT PASTO

[Paladin]

51. Camoflage Clothing Is Absolutely No Excuse

And gun laws don't have fuck-all to do with this tragic incident. Your lack of "gun nut" status doesn't exempt you from plain common sense.....

[pasto76]

33. hunting is legal

sport or not. Thats not what killed the boy. Ask anyone, even the hardcore hunter rednecks out there if they are familiar with statements like "never point a gun at something you're nhot willing to destroy". In Army langauge that means _positive identification_. Firing a weapon at a target, minus P-ID is so grossly negligent....
Anyone familiar with hunting, with firearms OR with kids knows what a dangerous recipe this is.

[CANDO]

49. Are you a meat eater?

And if so, have you ever witnessed factory farming and slaughterhouse techniques? How would you like to live your life in a cage so narrow you couldn't ever turn around? You may find sport hunting not to your liking, and that's ok....but on the other hand, you had better not be a meat eater either. Just sayin'.

[krispos42]

57. You mean, getting all-natural, hormone-free...

...antibiotic-free, free-range meat?

Gee, I thought good enviromentalist progressives were suppose to be all for that stuff?

[Hobarticus]

63. Apparently, only if it dies by natural causes. eom

[hobbit709]

7. I was taught not to shoot until you could SEE the target.

[YDogg]

9. damn

[ulysses]

10. that, friends, is a ruined man.

Jesus, I can't even imagine.

[BadgerLaw2010]

12. Totally stupid and avoidable.

Don't snap shoot in bad light with a hunting party. Especially with turkey hunting.

"Know your target and what is beyond."

[MadMaddie]

15. Yes and to add you have a 9 year old...who should have been by

his side.

Tragic.

[krispos42]

69. Sunset was at 8:03pm CDT

He had all the light he needed...

:-(

[flvegan]

14. My opinion on hunting aside, this is an absolute tragedy.

I feel for the dad and the family.

[Clear Blue Sky]

16. Cheney has a son?

Sarcasm aside, a real tragedy. I can't imagine the anguish the father feels.

[TheCowsCameHome]

18. The boy was named Hunter?

I'm getting an image here...............

Still tragic, no matter how you look at it. And unnecessary.

[Generic Brad]

64. Sounds like "Hunted" would have been a more appropriate name

[closeupready]

20. So, so sad.

:cry:

[Generic Brad]

22. I always mistake my loved ones for turkeys

Perfectly understandable.

[chill_wind]

23. WHY--- WHY must children this young be dragged along for these thrills? n/t

[kestrel91316]

28. Well, if they were planning on eating the turkey, it wasn't "for thrills".

That said, the dad broke basic rules of safe hunting when he should have been teaching his son those very rules.

My dad took me along deer hunting when I was in JHS. But there were very strict admonishments to stay behind him and do exactly as he said, when he said it. I liked the "looking for deer" part, and sneaking up on them, and of course loved the venison. The actual shooting and killing held no attraction for me, though, and I have never fired a gun myself.

[ileus]

37. My 3.5 yo son begs to go hunting with me and I don't even hunt anymore.

It's all in a young mans nature that grows up in a rural area where 90% of fathers hunt.

I haven't hunted since my daughter was born in 02...

[BreweryYardRat]

24. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't commit suicide.

Poor guy.

[Berry Cool]

26. I don't see how he's going to be able to live with himself.

Awful.

I don't suppose you have to wear blaze orange when you hunt in Minnesota.

[RebelOne]

72. Blaze orange is not required when turkey hunting.

From the Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook

BLAZE ORANGE REQUIREMENTS
Small Game Seasons: You may not take small game unless a visible por-
tion of at least one article of clothing above the waist is blaze orange, except
when hunting wild turkeys, migratory birds, raccoons, or predators, or when
hunting by falconry, with nontoxic shot or while trapping.

[ulysses]

29. that was my first thought.

[bluerum]

25. Chest shot close up with a shotgun. This guy was either drunk, blind

or had no common sense.

[ileus]

34. when I was 9 and hunting with dad, I didn't leave my fathers side.

what a bleeped up story....what to hell was he thinking?

Spring season is the most dangerous hunting season of them all...

There needs to be a blaze orange law even for spring season.

[Thickasabrick]

40. Your dad was smart man - too bad this guy wasn't as smart.

[trotsky]

71. Minnesota loophole

Blaze orange is required for most hunting, but not for turkey hunting. And you are right, there is no reason why they should have separated. But no human could inflict the amount of suffering on that man that he is feeling right now.

[Thickasabrick]

38. Here's another link. They were both wearing camoflauge. They

spotted a group of turkeys and the father told the son to stay put. Obviously he didn't. I feel sorry for this father but he was clearly negligent in this case. The kid should have never left his sight.

http://wcco.com/local/hunting.accident.sibley.2.704129.html

[saigon68]

45. Never shoot until you ARE SURE

Obviously he wasn't SURE ENOUGH

[Thickasabrick]

48. Agreed, when my son was 7 he stopped listening to me - I would

never trust him to not follow me in a situation like that. I really feel for that Dad - can't imagine how he told the Mother.

[Lost-in-FL]

39. Unfortunate act of stupidity.

[BreweryYardRat]

42. Pal, I hate fundies as much as you do, but there's a time and place for that sort of thing.

A comment like that in this situation is unnecessary and reprehensible.

[Lost-in-FL]

46. We don't know if this person is a fundie...

and that is irrelevant. I am actually mad at this situation and as cruel as my post may sound is due to anger more than making fun of what happened.

[Psephos]

47. That's some ice cold shit you got there. n/t

[ovidsen]

50. More like a tragic and senseless act of stupidity.

But I see your point, and unlike a few others here, I don't regard your comment as cold and insensitive.

I have nothing against hunting, as long as it's done for food as well as well as the challenge. I take exception to hunters who kill just for the thrill of killing. I don't understand them at all. But no matter what the circumstances, hunting, especially with firearms, is inherently dangerous, and this sounds like a horrible tragedy for everyone, and I mean everyone involved. I can't imagine how that poor father is managing to live with what he did. I hope he gets counseling and all the loving support from his family and friends that they can possibly give him. He'll need it.

[truthisfreedom]

41. This forum is becoming more and more thoughtless every day. Some of these comments are absolutely

inhuman.

The family lost their son in a tragic accident. My heart goes out to them. I cannot judge them... I could just as easily kill a child by accident with my car.

[Lost-in-FL]

44. A car accident is different...

You don't kill your son in a hunting trip by shooting at him/her thinking is a target. Maybe cleaning the shotgun would be understandable, dropping a gun or else but not by aiming at a child. But that is just me.

[Pavulon]

60. I went on hunting trips, no problems

never had family or friends die hunting. Been to many funerals where vehicles were involved. None of those listed things are understandable. You do not fire, point, or otherwise operate a weapon in such a way that anything it is pointed at will be destroyed.

This person obviously made a horrible and unrecoverable error.

However when you drive tomorrow you are more risk than if you go hunting. People are out of control with cars and if they thought of them like a weapon capable of killing others they may act differently.

[muryan]

53. Theres a certian degree of negligence involved in a car accident

that pales in comparison to the level involved in this accident. My heart goes out to the family, but this is just so easily avoidable its hard not to be angry at the senseless loss of life

[Pavulon]

58. This is a horrible thing

something that just destroyed lives. And to your point if you kill a person on the phone in your car you are THE SAME. This person obviously made several serious errors leading up to this.

It is not less negligent to kill or injure with your car, it is just more accepted.

You run a stop sign on the phone or messing with your radio and kill a person, you are a murder.

True accidents are very rare.

[DemBones DemBones]

67. You are right, MOST auto accidents, gun accidents, accidents of all kinds are

due to human error, often to carelessness.

Very few are due to mechanical defect of a car or other non-human factors.

[DemBones DemBones]

68. Yes, I wonder how many children were killed that day due to auto accidents

that were the fault of one of their parents? Probably more than one.

On any given day during hunting season, thousands of men -- and women -- take their kids hunting. Very rarely does a child get killed.

Since there are many different hunting seasons (deer, turkey, pheasant, quail, dove, bear, moose, elk, etc.) hunting season lasts a good part of the year, too.

[KSinTX]

52. Horrible and tragic nt

[madmom]

55. Two things make me say WTF, first you NEVER shoot unless you are

absolutely positive of your target, second were is the blaze orange you are supposed to wear in the woods to keep things like this from happening?

[krispos42]

61. Turkey hunters don't wear blaze orange

Turkeys have great eyesight and superb reflexes. Par for turkey hunters is a getup that would make Rambo jealous.

Head-to-toe in environmentally-compatable camoflauge, including boots, baclava, and shotgun. Check it out...




I was watching a turkey hunting show a few years ago. Two groups of turkey hunters were on opposite sides of a small field, each one totally unaware of the others presence there. Each group was furiously using their turkey calls, trying to the the "birds" across the field to show themselves! This went on for most of an afternoon...

[RebelOne]

73. Blaze orange not required when turkey hunting.

From the Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook

BLAZE ORANGE REQUIREMENTS
Small Game Seasons: You may not take small game unless a visible por-
tion of at least one article of clothing above the waist is blaze orange, except
when hunting wild turkeys, migratory birds, raccoons, or predators, or when
hunting by falconry, with nontoxic shot or while trapping.

[mwb970]

56. Hard to imagine hitting the woods with a gun and a 9-year-old.

One or the other, yes. But not both. Duh.

[pitohui]

59. terrible tragedy

i honestly do not see the need to report this as national news

the father apparently made a horrible mistake for which he is paying a terrible price, why does this need to be aired in front of the entire nation?

[DemBones DemBones]

66. This was posted in the GEORGIA forum when it happened in MINNESOTA.

It was moved here from another forum, LBN I think.

I sent an alert and asked them to move it since it's not a Georgia story at all.

[saigon68]

75. And they exiled it here

Oh well I guess the dozens of pedophiles in Texas and Brittany's latest escapade are more interesting

But since someone else owns this place and I am a guest they can do whatever

[ecstatic]

76. what a senseless tragedy...

[lavndrblue]

80. Why is this a relevant story now?

This happened a year ago and was widely publicized.