A FEMALE protester has been shot in the face on the opening day of the 2011 duck shooting season in western Victoria this morning.
Activist Julia Symons of Melburne suffered pellet injuries to her face, teeth and hand in a accidental shooting at Lake Buloke, 12km east of Donald in Victoria’s west.
Witnesses say Ms Symons, aged in her 20s, was waist-deep in water when she was shot by the hunter, believed to be aiming at a low-flying bird.
Ms Symons was conscious when she was carried from the water by fellow protesters of a duck rescue group.
They said she still had pellets lodged in her face, and one of her teeth had been shot out.
She was taken to Horsham Hosptial where she is in a stable condition.
Sweet mother of Jesus… Stupid is indeed international. OK, you don’t like Duck Hunting and oppose it actively but, why would you go in and stand in front of a bunch of people armed with shotguns? Narcissistic need to be the hero or some stuff like that?
Oy!
Truth is truly stranger than fiction.
And people will still claim birdshot is okay for home defense.
Reminds me of the nut case protester that laid down across the tracks in front of a train and got both legs cut off…. thought the train could stop in time.
Tee-hehehe
That was supposed to include this GIF: http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/1271203/duck-hunt-dog-o.gif
Maybe it’s different in Australia, but do the protestors not know that duck hunters have done more for duck populations than all the anti-hunting protestors combined?
If my recollection is correct, duck populations in the US were dangerously low, but duck hunters led conservation efforts that restored them to thriving healthy populations.
I guess “facts” aren’t relevant if your means of attaining a sense of smug superiority are hiding in wetlands (with a whistle?) and ruining people’s day of hunting to “save” a duck or two.
I also note she’s not wearing any safety orange. I don’t claim to know Australian law regarding high-visibility clothing while hunting — although, I guess she wasn’t technically hunting — but it seems to me that if you plan to go wading in the marsh during duck season you ought to dress appropriately.
Yes, I just made a “did you see what she was wearing!?” argument…
Bonus points if the woman on the left(the one wearing a neon orange vest) IS a hunter.
“Seriously, you stood in front of the gun and expected not to get shot? Here, let’s get you to a hospital…”
Adam Baldwin pointed out on twitter, the best way to preserve an endangered species is to turn it into livestock.
You are correct. Ducks Unlimited started back in 1937 convincing farm owners to set aside small patches of land for wetlands so the ducks could have a place to land and it grew amazingly after that.
Ever seen anyone shot with it at twenty feet? I have. He bled a whole lot more. What you got is always better than what you wish you had
Check out DUCKS UNLIMITED.
I’m willing to bet part of her plan was for an “accident” to happen and one of the protesters to be injured by a hunter: voila!
I dunno, David. I think they were counting on harassing the duck hunters out of shooting. I don’t think she was planning such an “accident”, because it could have too easily turned fatal. But just wait: the idiots will make hay of this, and the Australian gov’t will prove its idiocy, and come down on the hunters.
Well, stupid should hurt!
Puts a new spin on “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi”, don’t it?
Did no one explain to her that it’s “NOT” ok to walk in front of a loaded gun. It’s only in the movies that you step in front of a gun to prevent someone from shooting, ask a LEO how effective that tactic is.