Shooter Says He Mistook Cow for Coyote

[kurth]

Shooter Says He Mistook Cow for Coyote
5 hours ago

COLFAX TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A man says he shot and killed a neighbor's cow after mistaking it for a coyote. Authorities and the owner are skeptical.

The undersheriff in northern Michigan's Benzie County says he doesn't see how anyone could confuse a 1,400-pound, pregnant cow with a coyote, which typically weighs 20 to 45 pounds. And anyway, shooting coyotes is illegal during deer-shooting season. Authorities asked the county prosecutor to bring charges.

The 42-year-old man told authorities he was out to shoot coyotes near his home Saturday when he killed the cow, Undersheriff Rory Heckman said. Heckman said the man then tried to drag the cow home. "The part of his story he is holding to is he shot at a coyote. I don't know how he hit a several-thousand-pound cow mistaking it for a coyote," Heckman said.

The cow, named Hannah, had wandered away from her farm. "My husband thought that he should go through some therapy looking at repeated pictures of cows and coyotes, because they look nothing alike," said owner DeAnn Mosher. "It didn't make any sense to me."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMwV1GENKXgcfyBAxvMRoALAiMWQD8T31TJG0

[valerief]

1. Was the shooter named Cheney? If so, the cow will need to apologize for looking like a coyote. nt

[Flabbergasted]

2. Couldn't be Cheney. This guy shoots animals not people.

[TomInTib]

4. It was Pam Williford who shot Whittington.

The (former) Ambassador to Switzerland.

I know this for a fact.

[Flabbergasted]

9. .....

You know it sounds incredibly implausable that Cheney would take the heat for this lady for numerous reasons.

Care to share?

[KingOfLostSouls]

3. hahaha

IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!!!

[valerief]

5. That was a great episode. nt

[KingOfLostSouls]

8. heh

I just thought it was appropriate. I worked on a ranch all my youth, how the hell could you mistake a cow for a coyote?!?!

*insert dick cheney joke*

[Submariner]

15. I worked at a deer check station in Vermont during hunting season

in the '70s. The local farmer had spray painted the word "COW" in fluorescent orange on the sides of his cows, because too many times the fashion conscious Wall Street hunter with his custom made hunting rifle would shoot Vermont cows thinking they were the common white-tailed deer. :eyes:

[silverweb]

6. Damning detail:

"Heckman said the man then tried to drag the cow home."

"The cow, named Hannah, had wandered away from her farm."

I don't know about you guys, but I'm guessing that possibly our "coyote" hunter figured he'd scored himself a year's supply of free beef.

Did anyone think to check whether he had a deep freeze waiting at home?

[tuckessee]

12. You hit the nail on the haed.

I think you're correct.

Out where I live it's well known that if one's cattle wander across the river (it's pretty shallow & easy to do in the summer) they'll be in a deep freeze before sundown.

[silverweb]

13. It's the only possibility that makes any sense.

The article doesn't say just how he was trying to drag it home, but I'll bet a pickup was involved.

This sure looks like an impulsive crime of opportunity -- but one the perp was a little too well lubricated and too unprepared to pull off efficiently. :D

[KingFlorez]

7. I don't believe the shooter's story

How can anyone possibly mistake a cow for a coyote?

[provis99]

10. the dope tried to drag a 1400 lb cow?

with what, his hands? could this guy be any more bizarre?

[silverweb]

14. Maybe his trailer hitch?

[Donnachaidh]

11. they didn't say how much *liquid courage* was imbibed before the shooting

Booze is usually a big factor in this sort of shooting *mistake*. :eyes:

[LeftishBrit]

16. Sounds like he was emulating the hero of Tom Lehrer's 'Hunting Song'!

The Hunting Song
Almost every day during the hunting season you see at least one item in the newspapers about somebody who has shot somebody else, under the impression that he was a deer with a red hat, perhaps. Maybe a large flesh-colored squirrel. At any rate, it seems to me that this marks an encouraging new trend in the field of blood sports, and deserves a new type of hunting song which I present herewith.

I always will remember,
'Twas a year ago November,
I went out to hunt some deer
On a morning bright and clear.
I went and shot the maximum the game laws would allow:
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.

I was in no mood to trifle,
I took down my trusty rifle
And went out to stalk my prey.
What a haul I made that day!
I tied them to my fender, and I drove them home somehow:
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.

The law was very firm, it
Took away my permit,
The worst punishment I ever endured.
It turned out there was a reason,
Cows were out of season,
And one of the hunters wasn't insured.

People ask me how I do it,
And I say "There's nothin' to it,
You just stand there lookin' cute,
And when something moves, you shoot!"
And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now:
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a pure-bred Guernsey cow.