Florida man mistakes girlfriend for hog, shoots her

[Ian David]

A Florida couple was on a weekend camping trip that ended in an airlift to the emergency room.

Steven Egan, 52, was hunting with his girlfriend, Lisa Simmons, in the northern part of the state when he mistook her for a hog and shot her.

"He saw a hog and thought he shot it and went to look for it," Maj. Steve Clair of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office told ABC News. "He heard her and thought it was a hog and just shot."

The mistake was not actually related to her appearance. Rather, Egan had earlier shot at a hog that continued to evade him. He reportedly instructed Simmons to stay at their campsite while he pursued the evasive animal, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office However, Simmons ventured away from the campsite, apparently searching for oranges that had fallen from nearby trees.


A Florida man mistook his girlfriend for a hog, shooting her (AP/Mike Groll)

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/florida-man-mistakes-girlfriend-hog-shoots-her-211904311.html

Florida never disappoints.

[Bluzmann57]

1. I wonder if she's going to break up with him?

Mistook her for a hog? Boy, that is asking for trouble.

[Enrique]

2. once he explains the mistake

I'm sure she'll be very forgiving.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. Sarcasm thingy missing??? You think? n/t

[asjr]

3. OMG! I am running that through my mind and

am cracking up. "mistook his girlfriend for a hog".

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

14. ROFL

Would make for bad first date, I think.

[ileus]

4. Oink for me girl...

oh and never shoot at a sound....always know your target (and what's beyond)

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. SYG

Stop Your Grunting.

[benld74]

6. Yeah right,,,,

[ManiacJoe]

7. Shooting at sounds instead of ...

... identifying your target. It is amazing how many idiots do this in the name of hunting.

[Dr_Scholl]

19. That's why I don't hunt on public land.

Too many idiots like this guy running around.

[Kaleva]

8. I don't think that even Dr. Phil could salvage this relationship.

Seriously though, this guy has proven he should not have guns in his possession. He certainly should be prohibited from hunting in Florida for many years. He's clearly a menace.

[iverglas]

26. and yet right up until the moment when he shot somebody ...

there was just no reason to keep him away from guns!

Funny how that works, eh?

[Kaleva]

30. There probably wasn't.

I served in the Navy of years and was trained on the .45 pistol, the M-14 rifle, the M-60 machine gun, the .50 caliber machine gun, the 20mm Vulcan cannon and the 25mm Bushmaster cannon. But if I went out hunting and accidentally shot someone because I didn't visually verify my target and fired in the direction of a sound, I feel I'd have no reason to bitch if my guns were then taken away and i was prohibited from hunting for many years.
Despite the training and experience, my actions would be proof that I was a menace to others when armed.

[iverglas]

31. the funny thing is it isn't all about "you"

But if I went out hunting and accidentally shot someone because I didn't visually verify my target and fired in the direction of a sound, I feel I'd have no reason to bitch if my guns were then taken away and i was prohibited from hunting for many years.

There actually is an injured or dead person in these scenarios.

I know my neighbours to the south are very fond of the punishment side of crime & punishment, but punishment just never never, really really, does anything about the harm that has been done.

Where a harm is avoidable, or where there are known good ways to reduce the risk of a harm occurring and the incidence of it occurring, that's where sensible people, or at least people who notice the victims in these scenarios and have a genuine interest in all those "others" who are potential victims of similar events, tend to focus their thinking and efforts.

Reducing the risk of a fool shooting another person in a situation like this is a pretty tough nut to crack, I'd never say otherwise.

Where I'm at, both firearms licences (mandatory) and hunting licences (mandatory) require completion of training courses (there's overlap of some sort; I haven't looked up the details recently, but it boils down to: mandatory training and mandatory testing before licence issued).

That seems like one way a start might be made on reducing these particular risks.

Of course, you can't make somebody take training before using a firearm if there is no oversight at all of who has acces to firearms ...

[Clames]

32. Well gee...

Where I'm at,

...maybe you'll explain why your location has fuck all to do with this incident? This isn't all about you (or anything to do with Canada) either.

[Kaleva]

33. I had to take a hunters safety course before I could get a hunting license.

In Florida, anyone born after May 31, 1975 also has to take such a course before they can get a license. There is an exemption for those 16 years and older and were born after May 31, 1975 who haven't taken the course. They may hunt without a valid hunter safety certificate if they are under the direct supervision of an adult - 21 or older - who holds a valid Florida hunting license.

The guy who shot his girlfriend is 52 so he wasn't required to take the course as he was grandfathered in.

You can argue all you want about Florida needing tougher requirements before people can get a gun and/or hunt but it's a pointless exercise as you'd never get enough folks to agree with you.

[Lawlbringer]

9. So...people go hunting with their girlfriends?

Is that...like...what you do?

[ManiacJoe]

10. I take it that you don't know any couples like that?

[DonP]

11. I've heard that some couples even play golf, camp and fish together too

Is your circle of friends so narrow and homogenous?

We have a lot of couples that frequent our local shooting ranges including my daughter, her husband and several other couples that are friends of theirs.

[Lawlbringer]

12. No, I'm just unfamiliar with hunters.

Just struck me as odd to go hunting as a couples thing. Fishing is relaxing, golfing is...not gonna get into that lol.

I do know couples who go shooting, but isn't going to the range way different from going hunting for wild hogs? I didn't mean to come off as criticizing, and I'm sure you didn't either, but as I said earlier: it just struck me as odd, so I asked if that was a common thing.

[DonP]

13. Up here (Illinois) it's mostly upland birds, Pheasant etc., some go for ducks and geese too

I know several couples that are out along the Mississippi flyway camping and up before dawn in a blind or field for ducks and geese through the season, even after the first few snowfalls. Not my idea of fun, but there's a lid for every pot.

For years Hogs were only a Southern and Southwestern thing, but now feral Hogs are a growing sport area with their spread. They even are hog hunting in Upper Michigan now. I think I read that domestic pigs will go feral in only 3 or 4 generations and the way pigs breed and reproduce that's now long.

Hunting together, at least for me, is a lot more than just shooting though. I've gone with wife and friends, including other couples, had a great time and never got a single shot off. I've also gone and got enough pheasant and quail for a nice wild game dinner for 16 of us after a good weekend in the field.

For me, there's just something about being up with friends before dawn and walking a cut over cornfield in Iowa or an old railroad right of way in Southern Illinois at first light in crisp fall air with people you know and like. We usually wind up sitting in a small town diner for breakfast talking about shots missed or shots taken when everyone else is just waking up and starting to stir.

[jeepnstein]

16. Happens frequently around here.

The popular image of hunters roaring around the back roads in a pickup truck drinking beer and shooting signs is not the way it really is. Most hunters take their hunting far too seriously to get drunk and stagger around in the woods hoping to sneak up on their prey. That's just not the way it really works.

Poachers? They're another story altogether.

There is a difference.

[rl6214]

17. I sure hope he never intended on proposing to her

Pretty awkward having to say you thought your girlfriend/wife was a hog.

[guitar man]

18. He's in deep shit

With no way out. He either has to admit he was shooting at sounds, which is a real no no, or, that he saw his girlfriend and still identified her as a hog. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes!

[era veteran]

20. What apology would work here?

If that pig hadn't had on a tube top and that Molly Hatchet tatoo this would have never happened

[cleanhippie]

21. I have visions of "Deliverance" in my head now.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

24. I'm rather happy...

...that I've not seen this movie.

[cleanhippie]

27. But it's a classic!

You will never look at Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, John Voight, or a banjo the same ever again!

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

29. I'll consider it.

I did read the "squeal like a pig" line.

[AtheistCrusader]

22. This thread is useless without pictures.

In all seriousness, though the rate has declined precipitously, this is still one of the most common dumbass hunting mistakes. Not knowing your target and what is behind it.

A rustling bush is not a clear fucking shot at your prey, no matter how long the day has been, no matter how empty-handed you may be, no matter how excited you might be at finally getting a shot.

Buck fever gets humans shot.

[sylvi]

23. From the "Comments" section:

Bryson • St Paul, Minnesota • 2 days 20 hrs ago

He almost got away with it but I heard she squealed on him.





Am I going to Hell for laughing at that?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

25. I suppose...

...that makes him a male chauvinist... well, you get the idea.

[Ian David]

28. LOL! That's awful. n/t