WESTERN NEW YORK — A pair of hunting negligence came within the past week in western New York, and one of the incidents claimed the life of a woman who was out on a walk with her dogs.
Hazards Of Walking Dogs
43-year-old Rosemary Bilquist was walking her two Labradors near her home when a neighbor, 34-year-old Thomas Jadlowski, thought he saw a deer and fired.
What he thought was a deer was actually Bilquist, and the single bullet ended the woman’s life.
The incident is reported to have happened after dark, which is an illegal time to hunt.
The hunter heard a scream and rushed to Mrs Billquist, calling 911 and applying pressure to her wounds, cops said.
“They tried saving her,” [Her Husband] Jamie told The Buffalo News on Friday.
“It’s horrific, it will be with me for the rest of my life.”
The couple had been together for 17 years after meeting at a mall.
It’s irresponsibility like this that ruin the lives of countless people, and shame gun owners everywhere. Every bullet that leaves your firearm is your responsibility, and there is absolutely no reason that this should have happened.
Our hearts go out to those affected by this avoidable tragedy.
Kill That Truck
In another unrelated incident, a hunter fired at a brown pickup truck after mistaking it for a deer.
Marvin C. Miller, 26, of Middlefield, was hunting near Snake Forest Road in North Harmony around 11:20 a.m. when he thought he spotted a deer, but it turned out to be a brown pickup truck, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. He fired his 7-mm. high-powered scoped rifle at the truck, striking the front fender of the driver’s side. Sheriff Joe Gerace told The Post-Journal Miller was “absolutely irresponsible.”
“Firing this weapon at first blush with no target, it’s absolutely irresponsible,” Gerace said. “It’s very concerning. We should be able to get through a hunting season without tragedy. This kind of thing just shouldn’t happen.”
Luckily, the bullet missed the driver and passenger, but only by a few feet. The bullet did strike the engine compartment and disabled the vehicle.
After realizing that his prized deer was actually a large piece of assembled metal and plastic, he came out of the woods to check on the occupants. He was later arrested and charged with discharging a firearm across a public roadway and second-degree reckless endangerment.
