In a sequel to our pickup of CNN’s Monday article “Why you shouldn’t try to shoot down a suspected drone,” quoting experts on why shooting down unmanned aircraft, some that can weigh hundreds of pounds, could pose a lethal hazard, WTVR reports why you also shouldn’t try to shoot down a bear.
Or if you do, at least make sure your hunting buddies are standing far enough away from the tree the bear is trying to hide in. Otherwise the dead/dying bear could fall down and crush him, and he could linger in the hospital for about four days before finally dying of his injuries from the bear.
Anyway that’s apparently what happened to 58 year-old Lester C Harvey Jr, of Phenix, Virginia who state Department of Wildlife Resources say was standing about 10 feet away from the tree when the shot black bear tumbled down from the upper branches during the group hunt. Intriguingly, a parsing of what little quotations from VDWR investigators are included in the article leaves open a possibility that it was Harvey himself who shot the bear from directly underneath and didn’t get out of the way fast enough. Whatever happened, it’s easy enough to extrapolate the lesson here to government officials’ pleas to not try to shoot down drones, even if you think they’re from Iran or Venezuela: You and/or your drone-hunting buddies might not get out of your falling quarry’s way fast enough.