Missouri girl, 14, thought she was shooting a deer when she pulled the trigger

[Mos Eisley]

Man, that headline sounded ominous...as I'm sure they intended. Instead it ended up being very interesting.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — She saw the antlers and a big brown body in the bushes.

And with one shot from her rifle Saturday, Abby Wilson, 14, killed what she thought was a very large white-tailed buck.

It wasn't. It was an elk.

"She called her dad, who was hunting nearby, and her dad realized it was an elk," said Tom Strother, protection regional supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "The dad called our agent in Boone County, Adam Doerhoff, and said, 'We think we just shot an elk.'"

Doerhoff said he was surprised to get that call and thought it probably wasn't an elk, noting that animal misidentifications are very common.

"The dad sent me a photo to my phone and it was very clear that, yes, that's an elk," Doerhoff said. "You don't expect to see something like that. I've learned to never say never."

They're looking for signs of Chronic Wasting Disease, which elk have been known to carry, and a DNA test that might tell them where the elk came from.

"Our elk biologist wants some parts to figure out where it may have come from," Strother said. "There are no reports of elk in this area. It was kind of a surprise to us. There was no evidence of any ear tags or collars on this one."

Strother said there is a ranch that has captive elk near Colombia on the west side of Boone County, but MDC has had no reports of any of those animals escaping.

"The big thing is to know your target and make sure you know it's a legal deer," he said. "You want to positively ID the animal you're going to shoot, but also know what's beyond your target — a tractor, a house or other hunters."

The elk carcass is being held in a cooler and the meat might be donated to a needy family if it passes the CWD test. Strother said it's possible the elk's antlers might be used as an educational display to help hunters know the difference between a white-tail deer and an elk.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-girl-14-thought-she-shooting-deer/860605001/

 

[MacFromOK]

Man, that headline sounded ominous...as I'm sure they intended. Instead it ended up being very interesting.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-girl-14-thought-she-shooting-deer/860605001/

No kiddin' ... I figured she'd shot another hunter. Nice read.

 

[Poke78]

I hope we eventually get the results of the DNA testing that provides a clue to the elk's origin. The prevalence of game cameras may eventually be the best source of info on the elk's travels.

 

[Perplexed]

So there “might” be charges brought against the girl, and she “might” get none of the elk? Not even the antlers, yet there’s no season for hunting elk in MO. Seems they should let her keep something other than pics.

 

[Honey Badger]

Honest mistake. They did the right thing and called it in. Give the kid a break. Let her keep it.

 

[deerwhacker444]

I wouldn't fine her, but I wouldn't let her keep it either. If you did you'd suddenly have a massive amount of "mistaken identity" elk killings.

I can kinda sympathize. First draw hunt I ever got drawn for was a muzzleloader hunt at Pushmataha. I had no idea there were elk in there. When dawn broke that morning, I saw the biggest set of antlers I'd ever seen stand up thru the scrub brush not 50 yards away. I could tell they didn't belong to a deer, but I can see where a newb could get excited and easily screw up.

 

[MacFromOK]

I wouldn't fine her, but I wouldn't let her keep it either. If you did you'd suddenly have a massive amount of "mistaken identity" elk killings.

Sadly, I agree.

 

[GlockPride]

I wouldn't fine her, but I wouldn't let her keep it either. If you did you'd suddenly have a massive amount of "mistaken identity" elk killings.

I can kinda sympathize. First draw hunt I ever got drawn for was a muzzleloader hunt at Pushmataha. I had no idea there were elk in there. When dawn broke that morning, I saw the biggest set of antlers I'd ever seen stand up thru the scrub brush not 50 yards away. I could tell they didn't belong to a deer, but I can see where a newb could get excited and easily screw up.

Well, OK does have an elk season and MO does not. So, big difference. I know it's only for certain areas, guided hunts, etc. Just pointing that out.

 

[dennishoddy]

I wouldn't fine her, but I wouldn't let her keep it either. If you did you'd suddenly have a massive amount of "mistaken identity" elk killings.

I can kinda sympathize. First draw hunt I ever got drawn for was a muzzleloader hunt at Pushmataha. I had no idea there were elk in there. When dawn broke that morning, I saw the biggest set of antlers I'd ever seen stand up thru the scrub brush not 50 yards away. I could tell they didn't belong to a deer, but I can see where a newb could get excited and easily screw up.

Exactly. If you make a mistake in any state, your not allowed to keep your mistake. If she avoids a fine, she will be lucky.
Proper identification of your target while hunting is part of being a hunter.
There are several mis-id's that resulted in a human being shot.

 

[Parks 788]

Exactly. If you make a mistake in any state, your not allowed to keep your mistake. If she avoids a fine, she will be lucky.
Proper identification of your target while hunting is part of being a hunter.
There are several mis-id's that resulted in a human being shot.

It must be because she is a 14 year old girl that it took 9 posts for someone to mention that she broke a cardinal rule of firearms handling a d hunting. Had this happend to an adult male you all would have had a fit. She shouldn't keep a thing from the elk and can be better served in other ways. She should be lucky to not have some sort of fine or other state sanction. As Dennis said, this could have been a lot worse.