Virginia man dies after bear shot in tree falls on him

[erronis]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/17/virginia-man-dies-bear-fall
Poor bear!

Lester C Harvey, 58, rushed to two different hospitals after being struck by fallen animal in unusual accident

A Virginia man has died after a bear in a tree shot by one of his hunting partners fell on him, state wildlife officials said.

The bizarre, accidental death occurred 9 December in Lunenburg county, which is between Richmond and Danville, Virginia’s department of wildlife resources said in a statement.

A hunting group was following the bear when it ran up the tree, the department said. As the group retreated from the tree, a hunter shot the bear. The animal fell on to another hunter who was standing about 10ft (3 metres) from the bottom of the tree.

The department identified the man as Lester C Harvey, 58, of Phenix, Virginia. A member of the group rendered first aid before Harvey was rushed to two different hospitals. He died from his injuries on Friday, the wildlife department stated.

An obituary for Harvey, a married father of five with eight grandchildren, said he was a self-employed contractor and avid outdoorsman.

Similar incidents have occurred in recent years.

In 2018, a man in Alaska was critically injured after his hunting partner shot a bear on a ridge. The animal tumbled down a slope into the man, who was also struck by rocks dislodged by the bear.

Another man was injured in 2019 after his hunting partner shot a bear in a tree in North Carolina. The bear fell out of the tree and began biting the hunter. The man and the animal then tumbled off a cliff. The hunter was taken to a hospital, while the bear was later found dead.

[Attilatheblond]

1. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems likely we should stop teaching BIBLE in school and return to basic science.

[EarnestPutz]

37. Yeah, like gravity and stuff.

[Attilatheblond]

38. That, and maybe basic geometry with a side order of simple physics.

[TheBlackAdder]

57. Lesson to all. Watch out when you shoot a drizzly bear.

[Disaffected]

2. "Avid outdoorsman" Don't you like the euphanisms they have for

asshole animal killers? But hey, all they were doing was "harvesting" a bear...

[maxsolomon]

5. Black bear hunting is pretty widespread in the US & Canada.

I don't get it, because bear meat is supposed to be pretty nasty - its a predator. Hunters mainly make sausage out of it.

At least they're eating what they kill. Timber companies hire professional hunters to kill bears in the spring - after they come out of hibernation, they strip bark off trees to get at the sap because they're starving. Out on the Olympic Peninsula a decade back, one of the hunters got their arm ripped off by the bear they shot.

[Disaffected]

12. Unfortunately it is (widespread).

As for eating the proceeds, I wonder how much is actually consumed? I expect it's damned little, especially for bear meat, and it is mainly an excuse for the real motivation which is "recreational" hunting.

Now, there is justification for killing a bear that has attacked people or livestock but that is an entirely different thing IMO.

I once asked an "avid" moose hunter if he enjoyed hiking around in the great outdoors so much, why he don't just shoot his prey with a camera. He sputtered for a few seconds and blurted out that yes it is "a thrill to see a moose fall". It seems to be the chase and the kill that turns on many (most?) animal hunters, especially of the "big game hunter" variety.

[TNNurse]

40. I have read about problems with parasites

in bear meat.

[Traildogbob]

16. You have to wrap it

In Bacon!🤔
As I would drive Wildlife/Forest Management Students out to forests for lab exercises, I had to listen to non stop Hunter recipes of how they prepare their “Harvest” of the season.
Every damn one was wrapped in bacon.
I would always say, much to their dislike, why kill the wild animals, why not just buy some bacon?
Gotta suck for em, now that bacon is too expensive and they gotta eat that wild meat without the wrapped in flavor requirement.
Should I feel bad for this idjut that got some Karma?

[NickB79]

49. I've eaten black bear and it's pretty good

Black bears are 90% herbivore.

[Basso8vb]

3. If a bear falls in the woods...

[2naSalit]

7. ...

[madinmaryland]

32. It may land on the pope trying to take a 💩 in the woods.

[brush]

53. Heehee. I knew there was a joke in there somewhere.

[Vegan4life]

4. I grieve for the innocent bear.

As for the hunter, well, karma is a lovely thing.

[erronis]

6. Karma can be a bitch!

[sop]

36. Yeah, I'm having a hard time feeling much sympathy for the guy.

[Borogove]

51. As a fellow vegan, my sentiments exactly.

[Turbineguy]

8. The hunter was taken to two hospitals

was he cut in half?

Asking for a friend.

[SergeStorms]

9. So unfortunate......

I wish the bear had lived but still killed the bloodthirsty asshole who shot it.

Still, it's an unusual score: Hunter 1, Bear 1. It usually doesn't end that way.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. I was going to say it was a Pyrrhic Victory, but the bear fell on another member of the party.

Not the person who shot him.

[Ping Tung]

11. Will the bear decorate the cave walls with human body parts?

[BannonsLiver]

13. Absolutely glorious

[North Shore Chicago]

14. These incidents

are upsetting. Every man or woman who want to hunt should contemplate joining the services. One can carry around a gun all day.....eazy peazy.

[Intractable]

47. A lot of those hunters would not pass the physical exams for police or army.

Many would also not be able to handle the authority and discipline that service entails.

They just want to shoot guns, act macho, and kill things.

[RussBLib]

15. Very poetic

...don't believe in karma. If it does exist, it can be the slowest shit in the world.

[Xavier Breath]

17. Are we certain RFK Jr. isn't involved in yet another bear accident staging?

[malaise]

18. Karma says the bear's relatives

That is all

[flvegan]

19. I feel bad for the bear.

At least that one "avid outdoorsman" will never "hunt" again.

[H2O Man]

20. Recommended.

Good news, except about the death of the bear. They are wonderful beings.

[doc03]

21. I won't celebrate a person's death. Bear hunting

is a legal and necessary activity. But it is kind of dumb to stand under bear in a tree and shoot it. People celebrate the death of human killed by another human. And celebrate the death of a human killed while legalaly hunting. Really!

[VGNonly]

22. How is it necessary?

Not trying to be snarky.

[doc03]

23. I am not going to argue about that but the

DNR must think it is necessary to keep down the bear population. Someone killed that wild or domestic animal most people consume each day.

[onethatcares]

26. Oh, oh, oh, call on me

I think it's because those bears are upsetting the natural element of over development and have to be controlled or next thing you know they'll be eating out of dumpsters and falling on avid outdoorsmen in places called "Bear Den Hollow" and "Bear Tree Lane"

Something gotta be done about that nuciance wildlife for sure.

BTW, if the avid outdoorsman would have understood a bit of geometry he could have saved himself the hassle of dieing but math, what good is it?

[NickB79]

50. Black bears were preyed up on by wolves, cougars and Native Americans in centuries past

They maintained the populations. Now, no wolves or cougars mean black bear numbers are steadily rising beyond carrying capacity, leaving only human hunting left as a control.

[Crunchy Frog]

61. There are too many bears. But somehow there are not too many humans.

[choie]

34. It's necessary to kill a bear that's in the tree?

Why?

[struggle4progress]

24. "You go stand under that bear while I shoot it"

[SocialDemocrat61]

25. There's an old saying

Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you. Sounds like both are true here.

[maxrandb]

27. "Hold muh' Beer"!!!

[Blues Heron]

28. Please respect the gravity of the situation before posting snarky responses!

[pamdb]

29. I have absolutely NO sympathy. Except for the bear.

Idiots. I only feel bad for the bear.

[ZonkerHarris]

30. Shooting a treed animal. How fucking manly for those cowards. Glad one's dead.

Yeah, I said it.
Wish the one who shot the bear died too.

[Disaffected]

43. And what are the odds the bear was treed by

hunting dogs?? I would say pretty high.

[ZonkerHarris]

45. yup. They are scum.

[JanMichael]

63. Maybe the shooter will be inconsolable?

[struggle4progress]

66. I Saw A Jolly Hunter (Charles Causley)

I saw a jolly hunter
With a jolly gun
Walking in the country
In the jolly sun.

In the jolly meadow
Sat a jolly hare.
Saw the jolly hunter.
Took jolly care.

Hunter jolly eager-
Sight of jolly prey.
Forgot gun pointing
Wrong jolly way.

Jolly hunter jolly head
Over heels gone.
Jolly old safety catch
Not jolly on.

Bang went the jolly gun.
Hunter jolly dead.
Jolly hare got clean away.
Jolly good, I said.

https://allpoetry.com/I-Saw-A-Jolly-Hunter

[Vinca]

31. Shame about the bear.

[choie]

33. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Only have this to say: poor bear.

[twodogsbarking]

35. The pain must have been unbearable.

[Bumbles]

39. Sometimes unintended consequences are unbearable.

[JoseBalow]

41. Arrogance

[Prairie Gates]

42. The bear aimed

[twodogsbarking]

44. Condolences.

[VGNonly]

46. Support the right

to arm bears!

[Iggo]

48. Go Bears!

[happybird]

52. My first thought:

“Instant karma's gonna get you
Going to knock you on the head
You gonna break your body, darling
Pretty soon you're going to be dead”

[flamingdem]

54. If he killed a mother bear

what happens to her cubs.

Fuck him. Fuck hunting. Leave bears alone!

[Hassler]

55. Darwin Award winner

[LudwigPastorius]

56. He died doing what he loved.

Getting close to nature.

[JI7]

58. Why are they hunting bears ?

Are they eating the ones they kill ? Or is there a larger population of them where hunting controls the population ?

[DFW]

59. To make a slight variation on an ages-old rhetorical question.....

Does a bear shot in the woods……get a chance at revenge?

In this case, apparently the answer is yes, if only posthumously.

[Crunchy Frog]

60. This one has me absolutely filled with grief...

For the bear.

I hope the DU scolds will be satisfied with this.

[Newland56]

62. Wow

I’ll be at this funeral today.
If anyone is curious as to why DJT was elected look no further than a lot of these comments to see why middle America has turned away from the Democratic Party.
Yes, they eat the meat as did humans from the time they started walking on two legs. Same with native Americans today.
“You do something that humans have done forever, you do something bears do all the time. You do something cougars, dolphins, killer whales, wolves, dogs, cats, eagles, seagulls, sharks, snakes, etc etc do all the time. I don’t like it when you do it so I hope you suffer terribly and celebrate your demise and only wish more of your family witnessed your demise.”
Yup
Cream of the crop of human decency on full display here.
What terrible people

[Crunchy Frog]

64. Lol.

[Newland56]

65. Yup

Yes, this was my family.
I’ll be mourning with them.
They come from a place where if there was meat on the table it was from hunting.
They made clothes from potato sacks.
You’re an awesome person
Hope you don’t ever lose a friend or family member due to driving those awful cars that are killing the earth.