A hunter from Minnesota who killed a 14-year-old Mesa County boy in an accidental Colorado shooting last year was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison. 60-year-old Guy Pohto pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter and careless hunting in the September 13th death of Justin Burns, who was bow hunting with his father at the time.
I almost got killed when I was 13. My dad and myself were still hunting a late season shotgun only season for blackmails in Oregon. We were still hunting thru some thick brush on private land only we had permission to hunt. I was coming up on a little opening and this guy who was trespassing sees me move and starts shooting at me, and unloads his semi auto with buckshot. Bark is just flying off the tree right next to me. I hit the ground and start yelling. My dad runs over and gives the guy the what too. To this day I know I was very lucky.
fawn's Link
It's hunting people not war. There's is NO reason to ever be killed by another hunter (when not being attacked by a bear/lion/etc).
You take another life it should be serious jail time.
It was carelessness, a serious mistake, not premeditated or malicious.
If someone shot one of my children, accident or not, they wouldn't get the chance to spend a single day in jail.
In the end, this one is terrible for everybody involved. I really feel sorry for the kids dad.
And, by the way, this doesn't hold a candle to the amount of family memebers lost to DWI deaths every year and there is rarely an uproar about that...
If the boy had been holding an elk decoy, I might agree with you and maybe even think a lesser punishment might be in order! But he wasn't, and to discharge a firearm or even a bow and arrow at an unidentified target is wreckless disregard for life! And the fact that he will probably be out in way less than five years is even more reason the punishment should be longer!
If someone shot one of my children, accident or not, they wouldn't get the chance to spend a single day in jail.
And that just might warrant life in prison, or worse, as it is deliberate and thought out rather than carelessness or a tragic mistake.
If they can't see a deer or elk to shoot at, what in the name of god are they shooting at? I just Dont get it.
Terrible, tragic, stupid and foolish.
That said, I have to agree with old sarge.
Last year during elk season my hunting partner and I were at a usual hotspot. It was getting dark and we had just had a pretty good elk encounter. It didn't work out but it was fun. About 20 minutes went by and we decided to set up camp on a ridge. All of a sudden we hear a bugle. It is not completely dark, but it's pretty dark. It sounds like the bull is going to come right past us. We quickly discuss if we should try to shoot it, but fortunately our pins decided for us. It was too dark to see our pins so it was most definitely too dark to shoot. We decided to sit back and just watch to see what the bull looked like. A few minutes later we hear footsteps. He is on the way. Then we see him walk out not 10 yards away. It is too dark to really make out his rack, but he looks decent. I actually wondered if I could shoot if I had a trad bow and didn't need to worry about sights or pins. I decided I probably could. I looked at where I would aim-straight up the front leg, 1/3 up the body. But something didn't look right. It just looked a little lanky and dark. Is it a moose?...no. What is it? Oh sh**!...It was two other hunters. They never saw us and just kept walking. My buddy looked at me with a look on his face that told me he thought the same thing and realized the same thing at the same time I did.
A chill runs down my spine every time I think about this. If I had a wider peep or brighter pins or it was just barely a little lighter, what would have happened? Anyone that knows me or has hunted with me will tell you I am a very responsible, by the book hunter. I think many of us have probably pushed the envelope on legal shooting times and to be honest with you, I don't think I would have technically been far off from legal shooting light. We were in dark timber which truly is-dark.
It is amazing what your mind can make your eyes see when you want to see something. My hunting partner and I have seen thousands of deer and elk. We know what they look like. But on that evening, our minds convinced both of us, that we were looking at a bull elk. Not two other hunters. This is similar to why motorcyclists and bicyclist get hit by cars. If you aren't looking for them, many times your mind just doesn't register they are there.
This is a horrible situation all around. I don't have children, but still can't imagine what it must be like to lose a child and certainly can't imagine seeing your child get shot and killed. But I also can't imagine how horrible it would be to shoot and kill someone much less shoot a child. I think if I was the shooter I would probably beg the father to kill me or just I would just find a way to kill myself on the spot. For those that think the shooter didn't get punishment enough, do you think concrete walls can punish you more than your own mind? If you were the shooter would you ever be able to crack a smile, laugh, or get any enjoyment out of life knowing you had robbed life from a child. Be careful how you judge others. Mistakes, even horrible ones, happen.
I really think you need to rethink your term of "responsible".
Suddenly his hunter hit the ground prone, aimed his gun, looked through his scope and excitedly gasped, .Which one is the bull!? Which one is the bull!!!?"
Tom asked, "where from the packstring are the elk?" The hunter suddenly jumped up and was totally embarrassed. He so wanted to see an elk that his imagination tricked him.
He shot at the "sound" in the brush.
Also it states he could have gotten probation had he not had 15 misdemeanor offenses already.
Sad loss for the family on reckless conduct.
there are no winners here, I can't imagine the family of the boy being happy that another family is losing one of its own for 5 years, especially at 60 years old going to prison
sad all the way around
So, this dude has a felony conviction in CO now. I hope that he never picks up another weapon once he gets out (I don't believe that he legally can have a gun in MN after the felony).
This means that the judges in MN didn't do their job. This is proof of the suffering that soft judges cause when they don't do their job. I hope that the judges in MN receive the news and learn from it.
I'm glad that the CO judge didn't go too light.
ElkNut1
What was he charged with and what were the sentences in each? (I would think that if he has 15 DUIs/manslaughters, you are probably right. If he has 15 speeding tickets, ... In other words, unless you know something about the previous cases, how can you make a judgment if they did their job?)
"I'm glad that the CO judge didn't go too light."
The CO judge could have given him 6 years.
In VA I caught two trespassers driving on my property and carried the videotape in to the courtroom. The judge told them not to do it again and dismissed the case. One was a convicted felon who was allowed to carry a gun but only for hunting. The end result was that I had to continue to prosecute (because they didn't stop being scumbags) in order to get the charges to stick. When the charges finally stuck they straightened up. My opinion is that anybody with 15 misdemeanors would have to be a career criminal.
I don't mean to be harsh on MN's judges, any judge that lets criminals go is hurting the rest of us. Soft judges are in every state. The CO judge could have given anything between a probation period up to 6 years in prison (according to the posts above). So 5 years in prison was a relatively stiff sentence.
But if my son was shot(God forbid), I think all of my attention would be focused on getting him the quickest medical attention available, and not on anything(or anyone) else!
The rest of you guys.... Maybe you don't know that CDOW has found that when a moose is accidentally killed by an Elk hunter, the majority of the time, the shooter is quite an experienced hunter who has checked off brow time length, etc. before deciding to shoot.
It happens not because they are foolish, but because they are GOOD enough to have picked out the animal while seeing only parts of it, and when the moose has un-palmated brow tines, it is all too easy to make those parts add up to whatever you're looking for.
So NOBODY is immune. And the minute you think you're "too good" to make that kind of mistake, you're putting yourself at risk and others in potential danger.
So not to defend the shooter here..... But let's be careful out there, eh?
I almost shot a horse, with a muzzy hunter on its back. I was doing a cold calling sequence in a OTC unit with an E/S tag and heard an animal coming in to my setup. I saw the flash of brown hide and drew back. I saw a huge animal coming out and was getting focused on putting my pin behind the shoulder. I had my finger on the trigger and was ready to go. Saw a change in color and shape, the hunters leg and moved my finger off the trigger.
Out came the horse with a rider followed by another horse and rider. They had on orange vests and hats but i wasn't focused on the upper body of my supposed elk. They never saw me and just rode on by. I get it, it can happen and i always think of that scenario when i get to my elk camp!
