" Im a hunter obviously and I have no need or drive to kill...some of my most enjoyable hunts have resulted in no game taken or shots fired...Im not the exception ...the people who are careless are the exception... Yes ive seen articles about people not liking the snomobiles but no way is the coverage the same when a death occurs. Lets face it there are idiots everywhere and in all walks of life... My biggest concern as a hunter is the people who hunt once or twice a year and hunt areas that they dont know. You have to know all the landscape around you. "

" Wannabe Rambos see 100' depth of treeline and think they are in the middle of Madagascar. Idiots kill. "

" Intent -- no, and that is why he was charged with manslaughter and not murder. But he was firing a gun too close to a dwelling, which is against the law even if no one is living in the dwelling. The guy was not only careless, he was careless about something which could kill someone -- and he did.

No one said careless drivers are any less bad, but they don't all start driving like frenzied maniacs all on the same way -- the way it is on the first day of hunting season. (My boyfriend works in a meatshop skinning deer, and he lets a bunch of buddies hunt on his farm, so I KNOW how those guys get about the first day of the season).

And if you've never heard complaints about snowmobilers, you don't read the papers much. Put a person on a motorized sled and it goes to their heads like they think they are all movie stuntmen, not to mention the many too-young-(IMO)-kids who get out there and drive across roads with traffic coming. You'll see lots of protests to ban snowmobiling in all kinds of peaceful quiet natural areas.

As I have said before, here and elsewhere, there are lots of good reasons for hunting -- wildlife and land management are just a couple examples. But that's not what motivates hunters -- they just enjoy tracking and killing things, and there are an awful lot of them who get all jeeped up and determined they are going to show how good they are by getting a deer the first day that they don't take proper care.

And someone ends up dead. Usually it's another hunter, which is tragic enough. But this was in innocent toddler, INSIDE her own home. That is beyond merely "careless" -- it's manslaughter, if not negligent homicide. "

" Unfortunate and terrible tragedy all in the same that poor family. Isn't the general rule 500ft from a dwelling? what was he doing so close and aiming towards a dwelling? As for the comments from Elbridgefool..your right no matter what it is car, snowmobile etc. there is always grip about the hunters. I am one person whom is scared of my son hunting because of the crazy, uncompliant to the rules hunters out there.
God Bless that family and their loss. "

" And I suppose there isnt careless drivers,pilots,engineers, or even careless politiicians who have killed people on accident... i dont believe his intent was to harm anyone... and by the numbers hunting is safer with less deaths per participant then motorcycleing,snowmobiling,skiiing and numerous other outdoor activities...very unfortunate for sure that people jump all over hunters when a bad thing happens but ive never seen the ban snomobile protesters out there... "

" How awful... What was he doing so close to the home? I dread hunting season because someone always gets killed around here within the first couple days of the season opening. It is terrible that people lack common sense. "

" Every year, some careless hunter kills someone the first weekend of gun season -- why couldn't it have been some other careless hunter instead of an innocent child inside her own home?!?? "