Frak

Two boys in Texas are recovering from gunshot wounds after being hit with what authorities believe were stray bullets from nearby hunters.  The boys were playing basketball at their school, which has several areas open to hunting around it, when they were shot.  Investigators are questioning several landowners and hunters.  Both boys are still in the hospital, hopefully on the mend.

This is a Rule 4 violation of immense proportions.  In my search for a place to hunt, I struggle to find a landowner that both allows hunters to use their land and doesn't have neighbors too close for comfort.  This is one of the reasons I love hunting at Fort Knox, even though it's not the most productive hunting ground on Earth.  I can pretty much guarantee that the only people who are out in the woods with me within the conceivable range of my gun are other hunters plastered in blaze orange.

I have gone hunting on small farms that have homes on all sides of me, and I have to do a lot of work to make sure to scout out shooting lanes so that there is very little chance of a bullet, either a pass-through or a miss, going near someone's home or kids playing in their yard.  My worst fear is that I will negligently hurt someone, and I try to make sure that I don't even come close to inconveniencing the neighbors.

We all know the Four Rules.  We all need to follow them, and police our buddies so that they follow all of them, both in letter and spirit.  Two children are now in the hospital because of a split second of negligence and all hunters and shooters will be associated with incidents like this.  We must work together to make sure that when we are given a reputation gained through our lowest denominator, it's not one that can be held against us.