Lets start a fund for the family of the hunting accident

[Christopher Quast]

Lets start a fund for this very unfortunate family that this terrible thing happened to while a father was trying to introduce his young son to the great outdoors. And now this tradgedy OMG I can't even begin to imagine what this poor guy is going through right now. Can someone help me get this thing off the ground?

[Wanderer]

I didn't hear about anything current. What are the details?

[JigginIsLife]

i did google search about it, a young boy 14 was shot by a member of his hunting party. they were north of mil lacs lake. i think this is the one he is referring to but not 100% sure becuae its the only one kstp had on thier site and tere was no date on it and i couldnt find one either.

[Nate McVey]

Dad accidentally shoots, kills son while hunting

Last update: April 20, 2008 - 12:15 AM

A 9-year-old boy was shot and killed by his father late Saturday afternoon in a Sibley County hunting accident 3 miles northwest of Belle Plaine.

The boy and his father were turkey hunting near County Road 6 in Faxon Township, about 3 miles from Hwy. 25, said Sibley County Sheriff Bruce Ponath. The father called for help from his cell phone, and the Belle Plaine fire department and ambulance service responded along with the Sibley County sheriff's office, Ponath said. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ponath declined to release the names of the boy or his father or give further details about the accident Saturday night but said the two were the only members of the hunting party.

Very sad situation....my thoughts and prayers are with this family.

[Sandmannd]

I couldn't imagine that ever happening. I don't know how I could live with myself if anything happened to my child. My thoughts are with the family.

[tealitup]

You want to start a fund? No problem - we have to find out the father/son's name, where they are from and I can call a local bank to start a fund if you would like.

[Sandmannd]

Here's the story from KSTP if you haven't seen it: Belle Plaine man accidentally shoots son while hunting

My question is if you take your son out that young, why aren't you with him at all times. This is a tragic story and I can't imagine what he must be going through and it's a horrible accident. I'm not blaming him at all, it's just horrible for him and that family. Just please be careful when taking anyone out hunting with you. I hate seeing stories like this.

[BeerHunter]

I am blaming the father for this one. I was sick while reading and hearing this story. From everything I haev read and heard, the father had told his 8 year old or 9 year old, different in some stories, to stay while he tried to sneak up on the birds.

Why, if you are taking your kid hunting, are you having him sit back and not having him right next to you?

I take my 7 year old cousin out duck hunting and squirrel hunting. He holds an unloaded gun the entire time, and I correct every mistake he may make along with teaching him what he needs know about gun safety.

Any way, How is this not the FATHERS fault. The stories all state, " He mistook his son for a turkey"

For everyone who has gone spring turkey hunting and have not, You cant just shoot any bird. It has to have a visible beard. If you are 25 yards away from a little boy, Where is the beard that he has to see before he shoots. I am sorry if this makes others mad, but there is no way in the world, unless the child was wearing a tom decoy that was very realistic that there should have ever been a shot made.

I feel terrible for the father because he will have to live with this mistake for the rest of his life, But this should be an eye opener to all the hunters that shoot first and identify second.

Thats my 2 cents.

[brittman]

Similar discussion on Turkey Hunting Thread.

In my son's hunter safety class, the deputies and warden consistently said there are no accidents in hunting.

Again, this can not be undone, but if this tragedy can be prevented from repeating itself .... another family can avoid this suffering.

[ChompChomp_YANK]

I can't understand this myself either, we are talking about a 12ga. shot gun shooting at a turkey under 40 yards how can you mistake a child for a turkey at that distance and second the beard issue !! visable beard !!! I am with you beerhunter this ones completly on the father. I can't believe what he is going through right now. IDENTIFY, LINE OF FIRE, THEN SHOOT

[jlm]

What a terrible event. My thoughts and prayers are with the family. It only takes a moment in time to change everything that we are or ever will be, take time to make the right decision!

[morelnmusky]

So sad my thoughts and prayers are for this man and his family.

[mrklean]

I agree, nothing more horrible could happen. But really how could you mistake your son as a turkey? He must have done the one thing we are told not to do from gun safety and everytime we go hunt. DONT SHOOT WHAT YOU DONT SEE AND WANT TO SHOOT. That is the only way i could see him doing this shooting at a noise that he thought was a turkey i just dont know. It is so sad this young man lost his life so young. My prayers go to the family.

[ATM]

I feel they should prosecute him for his sons death and for not having a license to hunt turkeys. He made alot of poor decisions that he needs to take responsibility for. My prayers do go out to the family. Adam

[1runhotshot]

The story I heard was the boy "may have" been carrying their decoy at the time as life like as those dang things look now a days.... Just a bummer all the way around.

[saddie]

ATM

I hope you are never put in this position someday. We never know what is going to happen. We have all made mistakes and in the heat of the hunt we dont know what may happen. If you have time read my post in the turkey hunting section maybe it will open your eyes a little. At least he was a father who spent time with his kids. Please dont take offense to this just be careful what you say. No punishment can compare with what he will live with forever. Michelle

[Shack]

I was going over to donate money at Well Fargo bank for a fund for the family during lunch. I was not able to make it; I will do it after work.

All we are hearing is what the media would like us to hear. We all make mistakes and pay for them in one way or another. I would personally (not that it matters or anyone would care), not like to see the father have to go threw anything further than he all ready has. At worst a small infraction for not having the correct hunting license for turkey, but I would think that is far. I know, I know he broke the law, but just think about the price he is paying right now.

Just think the little boy’s name was Hunter, he was bringing his boy hunting and something tragic happened.

Is it any of our business anyways, no! Will this situation or outcome of this situation effect any of us, probably not? So I figure why condemn a fellow hunter and cast stones at him, before all of the actual facts are brought forward. For that matter I hope I never have to hear about this again, but with our top notch news media, I am sure I will.

[sparcebag]

saddie its truely a sad story!However this fella violated a prime hunting rule(MAKE SURE OF THE TARGET)He'll probably never hunt again suffering such tragedy! I think he should be ticketed for all violations occured and have all hunting rights revoked for life,He is not a safe hunter and should NOT be endangering others who are safety minded in the field.

[ATM]

Saddie, I read your post in the turkey hunting section and it is a well written post. I do agree that there is no punishment that could compare to losing a child. I have a 3 year old son and another one the way and cant wait to teach them how to hunt and fish. I almost lost that ability in a car accident this year that left me paralyzed from the waist down for 6 mnths i am still fighting to have the ability to teach them about the out doors. I am a firearms instructor and one of my biggest fears is having an incident at work with one of my students. All we can do is take all necassary precautions for safety and not allow these things to occur. While i agree no punishment can compare to losing a child maybe something like telling his story to a hunters safety course for communtiy service could be punishment for the violations and would help others see how important and final decisions made in the field are. Adam

[Sandmannd]

I think he has and will continue to suffer for the rest of his life. Nothing will ever bring Hunter back and to know that you made the ultimate mistake and lost your child is more than any punishment ever. He may talk at some hunter saftey courses, but I doubt that would be for a while if ever. You can't make him talk about this as punishment, that would be hidious for anyone to go through.

I had stated in the turkey section that I felt some anger towards the Dad for not following some basic safety. That being said, I feel much more sadness for him for loosing his child in this tragedy. It should have been provented, but it wasn't and that is the deffenition of "Accident".

[kwiggy]

Any way you look at this it is a tragedy. Yes... he was illegally hunting. Yes... he made a poor shooting decision. To those people who want to punish the father I want to ask this question... "If you are driving 60 mph in a 55 zone and crash and kill somebody, should you go to jail or be severely punished.?" I am not trying to equate the offenses, but let's be real... this poor guy took his own son's life. He didn't wake up that morning ever thinking he was capable of such a thing, but this was the result. This thread should be printed off and read to all firearms safety classes because it is a terrible tragedy. No it is not an accident as stated earlier, but an accident can still be a tragedy. This is a lesson for all of us and I hope we can all learn something from it. I love enjoying the outdoors with my family and I could never imagine going through something like this. My prayers are with the family and I pray to god it never happens to me or you.

[saddie]

Well said Kwiggy

[tacklejunkie]

ok, back to the original question...were can one donate?

[Thorn]

The father won a lottery draw to hunt Turkey's.

Given that, he thought he was 100% legit. DNR reports even state many people make the same mistake thinking that's all is needed.

I'm not defending the tradgedy, just the small enfraction of license violation. He never had any priors.

I would implore you all to make a donation to

Hunt of a Lifetime Organization in the boys honor.

It's a geat way to give a whish to critically ill children who wish to go on a hunt.

Here's a link..... http://www.huntofalifetime.org/articles_more.sht... - 34k

I'm sure the family would appreciate that too.

And most of all, hats off to Goldtip for his generous consideration to do something good.

I just found this over at the Turkey forum too.....

You can go to any Well Fargo and donate to (and please do) the

HUNTER RUSSELL KLASEUS MEMORIAL FUND

This site is grand!

[Tom7227]

Hunter who killed son had beer, pot in his system

Belle Plaine father shot and killed son with alcohol and marijuana in his system.

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

Last update: May 5, 2008 - 4:08 PM

The Belle Plaine man who fatally shot his 8-year-old son in the chest last month while turkey hunting had alcohol and marijuana in his system at the time, according to a felony second-degree manslaughter charge filed today.

Anthony Klaseus, 39, is also charged with felony reckless discharge of a firearm and two misdemeanor charges, trespassing and hunting turkeys without a license, according to Sibley County court documents.

According to the charges:

Klaseus told authorities that he told his son, Hunter, to stay put as he circled a field to approach turkeys about 5 p.m. April 19 in a field east of Crahan Lane near County Road 6 in Sibley County.

"Then I heard something snap or break near me, and a large figure rose up," he told authorities. "I thought it was a turkey, and I shot and it went down. I thought I shot the turkey. Then my son jumped back up screaming and then fell back down."

Klaseus and paramedics performed CPR on Hunter, but he died at the scene.

Klaseus blew a breath test at the scene that registered a blood-alcohol concentration of .06 percent, the charges said. A urine test later showed that he also had marijuana in his system, although the exact concentration won't be known for a few weeks.

At the scene, authorities found two 12-packs of beer, three six-packs of beer, an empty 24-pack of beer and a marijuana pipe in Klaseus' truck, the charges show. The packs of beer contained empty and full cans.