Hunter shoots himself to death in Okayama

Monday 16th February, 11:06 AM JST

OKAYAMA —

A 45-year-old hunter was found dead in Okayama Prefecture on Sunday afternoon, apparently having shot himself accidentally, police said Monday.

Kazumasa Sasaki was found dead near a pond in Tamano City at 2:35 p.m. by a passerby. Police speculated that he may have tripped and the hunting gun discharged. He had a bullet in the chest. Sasaki came to the area alone in the morning to hunt ducks, according to police.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 33 Total Comments Show All

GW at 05:53 PM JST - 16th February

as others have hinted the gun clearly was a shot gun, I see hunters in the fall going after ducks or male pheasant, this hunter clearly made some stupid mistakes, he aint the only one. A couple weeks while out walking the dog while passing a house a guy had been cleaning his shot gun & left it sitting on a chair outside & nobody around, there are some pretty daft people everywhere
cleo at 06:05 PM JST - 16th February

Small caliber rifles for fowl are sporting for adept marksmen

Crack shot with fire power vs feathers. What's 'sporting' about that?

you don't have to pick all those darned pellets out of the bird

I bet the duck has a stronger adjective to describe the pellets. darned hardly cuts it.
borscht at 08:02 PM JST - 16th February

What's 'sporting' about that?

You've obviously never tried to hit a flying duck with any kind of weapon. Of course, shooting a clay pigeon vs the real thing is as sporting and, as this story shows, safer.
cleo at 08:06 PM JST - 16th February

You've obviously never tried to hit a flying duck with any kind of weapon.

Goes without saying. Can't imagine why I would want to.... Clay pigeon shooting is harmless, but, as far as I can see, pointless. At least if you shoot a card or tin man at the fairground, you get a prize....
GW at 08:09 PM JST - 16th February

ah but shoot a duck & you get a nice dinner!
sharky1 at 09:08 PM JST - 16th February

Suppose he felt a bit gamey. Sad story though. And for those of you who never shot a duck on the water, I guess you don't know that rifles only puts a hole in the bird, and then they fly away, unless you get a head shot. Can't tell you how many duck have flown off with my arrows.
nandakandamanda at 10:36 PM JST - 16th February

Just checked a J news site and the 'bullet in the chest' should probably be translated as 'he had shot in his chest'.
cleo at 11:30 PM JST - 16th February

ah but shoot a duck & you get a nice dinner!

Not if you're a vegetarian, you don't. You just get a bloody feathery holey mess that has to be buried.

Can't tell you how many duck have flown off with my arrows.

You've lost count of how many birds you've left wounded and probably facing a slow death? Don't you think it's time you stopped your 'sport'? At least until you've practised some more and are a better shot.
OssanAmerica at 04:06 AM JST - 17th February

I really think that rabid anti-hunting rants are off topic. Even after the word "rifle" has been corrected to "hunting gun"; most likekly a shotgun, the use of the word "bullet" really makes no sense at all. We all know a shotgun doesn't fire bulets, it fires pellets and for bird hunting small ones. So one "pellet" in his chest makes no sense not to mention that even small bird shot from a 12g will create a golfball sized hole in your chest if fired at close range. And it can't be a slug because, well, after you hit a bird with a slug what's left besides feathers and scattered organic matter?
Surely a better understandable version of this story exists somewhere.
cleo at 09:41 AM JST - 17th February

I really think that rabid anti-hunting rants are off topic

So do I. However a post pointing out the fact that half-shooting birds and letting them fly off with an arrow embedded in them to die slowly somewhere else is neither hunting nor sporting, is not. It's an example of irresponsible use of a hunting weapon. So is the death of this clumsy duck hunter, tripping about carrying a loaded firearm with no thought to safety. We're lucky it was the man with the gun that got shot, and not some innocent strolling by the pond enjoying the wildlife.

it can't be a slug because, well, after you hit a bird with a slug what's left besides feathers and scattered organic matter?

What if he wasn't hunting for the table but simply got his jollies from watching birds explode?
Midnightpromise at 01:54 PM JST - 17th February

Duck hunting is indeed dispicable, I prefer to eat the ducks that donated their bodies to the local market..........
badchili at 12:37 AM JST - 18th February

"However a post pointing out the fact that half-shooting birds and letting them fly off with an arrow embedded in them to die slowly somewhere else is neither hunting nor sporting, is not. It's an example of irresponsible use of a hunting weapon. So is the death of this clumsy duck hunter, tripping about carrying a loaded firearm with no thought to safety."

Umm, What does this have to do with this guy shooting himself ? This is "another" clearly off topic post from the master of such... Cleo. Hmmm.
cleo at 01:35 AM JST - 18th February

badchili -

Is that you, 3times?

Sorry if you're confused, but which bit of 'irresponsible use of a hunting weapon' do you not understand?

One intrepid hunter is wandering around leaving arrows in birds, the other could well have left a bullet in an innocent passer-by. Added to which, Ossan tells us that hunters don't use slugs, so the bullet in the chest is a mystery. Maybe our intrepid hunter wasn't an intrepid hunter trying to feed his family at all, but simply someone who enjoyed shooting things. And wasn't very good at it.
Nessie at 07:46 PM JST - 18th February

Thanks, Nanda. Shot with shot.
nandakandamanda at 10:58 AM JST - 19th February

LOL @ Nessie :8)

The original Japanese word was 'Tama'. This word is a broad Japanese word to cover single slugs/bullets from a rifle, or collective shot/pellets, or even single pellets/shot from a shotgun. I.e. The guy received 'Tama' in the chest.

The translator is not aware of the different types of guns that are available, and indeed the original Japanese article/word does not specify. Japanese readers do not particularly care either, as they have little knowledge about guns, and certainly far less than most people in the West, more especially the USA.

This process of lack of differentiation can be observed in Britain recently where police marksmen will be called out over sighting of an air-rifle for example, because a member of the public has reported a 'gun'.

The fact is that he accidently discharged a shotgun, and received singly or collectively 'shot' (UK usage) or pellets (US usage) in the chest.