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14-year-old bear hunter shoots, kills hiker
Associated Press
August 5, 2008

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A 14-year-old bear hunter who shot and killed a hiker was with his 16-year-old brother – not an adult as previously reported, the Skagit County sheriff's office says.

An investigation determined that the boys' grandfather dropped them off in the Sauk Mountain area near Rockport on Saturday morning but was not with them when the shooting occurred, Chief Deputy Will Reichardt said Monday.

The two teens, from Concrete, were on a ledge overlooking the trail when the hiker, 54-year-old Pamela Almli, stopped below to put something into her backpack, he said. The younger boy fired, thinking she was a bear.

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Almli was from the Snohomish County community of Oso, which means "bear" in Spanish. Almli was hiking with a friend.

"All I can say is that it never should have happened," Almli's husband, William, told the Skagit Valley Herald. They have a son and three grandchildren.

"How do you confuse a woman with a bear?" he asked.

Family members said Almli was an avid hiker.

"She lived to be out there," her sister, Gail Blacker, told KOMO-TV. "You couldn't keep her in. She'd go in the snow, rain – it didn't matter."

Bear hunting season opened Saturday for the entire Sauk Mountain area, including trails popular with hikers. The season goes through the end of the year.

The hunter and victim were about 120 yards apart, said Sgt. Bill Heinchk, of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Heinchk said he always tells his hunter safety class: "Once that gun goes off, there is no taking it back; everyone's lives are changed forever."

Skagit County prosecutors were meeting with sheriff's investigators to decide whether to file charges.

this is just another reason why hounds should be allowed. you know for sure what you are shooting at and what the animal is that you are shooting.

Damn shame...Shoulda never happened.

perfect reason why hunters safey education should be mandatory

nmplott, it is in this state, both boys just went through it.

What a shame. I was hunting alone at a younger age than those boys as many of you probably were. Maturity and experience with a RESPONCIBLE adult plays a HUGE factor in when you turn a kid loose with a gun on his own. I don't know these kids ability but obiviously they didn't have the "make sure of your target" and "this isn't a toy" beat into their heads like I'm sure many of us did. Now even if this kid doesn't serve time for it he will have to live with what happened until the day he dies.

Sad state of affairs especially for the family of the Hiker. Unfortunately the day of grandpa taking us hunting on the farm and cutting us loose are long gone and adults need to be more responsible when turning teens loose with firearms in public areas.

Its indeed a tragedy and one those two young men will have to live with and carry with them the rest of their lives. As for the prosecutors punishment, living with this ordeal is punishment alone. I hope this does not become some antis pulpit speech.