Man Who Shot Cow For Coyote Charged

A Michigan man, Richard Buckner, who supposedly mistook a 1,400-pound pregnant cow for a coyote, has been charged with a misdemeanor and that’s all. Get this! This guy says he thought he was shooting at a coyote. Okay, so the guy screws up, not that there is any excuse for not identifying your target, and kills a woman’s cow and unborn calf. They are trying to determine value, I assume so Buckner can pay restitution.

End of story right? Not quite. Some may think this guy was an idiot to mistake a cow for a coyote and I would agree. But now you have to ask who’s the bigger idiot? The guy who shot the cow or the people who can’t see this guys got a problem?

According to the Traverse City Record-Eagle, the woman who owned the cow said it’s time to accept what happened and move on.

“I certainly thought there would have been additional charges … but that is up to the prosecutor to decide what’s most offensive and what’s most appropriate,” Mosher said. “We don’t hold any grudges against (Buckner). We live in a small community and I guess we just have to accept some of the things that happen in a small community and move on.”

Has anyone thought that maybe Buckner has a few loose screws? Look, people. This guy didn’t just screw up and mistake a cow for a coyote. Read what this same article says about what actually happened.

The cream-and-white cow had wandered away from a neighboring farm when Buckner allegedly fired on the animal, but the cow didn’t die with the initial shot.

Buckner allegedly shot the animal twice more and chained it to his vehicle.

Mosher’s father witnessed Buckner dragging the cow behind his truck and alerted authorities.

This guy must have been so surprised when he found out he had shot a cow instead of a coyote, that he finished the cow off with two more shots, chained it to his truck and headed for home. I wonder if he gutted it out? Is this the actions of a person who screwed up and didn’t identify the target? For God’s sake! It wasn’t even coyote hunting season!

Then the sheriff says this.

“I think they probably should have looked at a (Department of Natural Resources) charge, also. This guy wasn’t being a responsible hunter,” Heckman said.

This guy is no hunter. He wasn’t hunting. He was out to kill something and shouldn’t be looked at as a hunter. Can’t anybody see this guy is probably a danger to others?

The county prosecutor says the charge is sufficient.

“I am not in the habit of justifying my decisions to the newspaper when the police want additional charges,” he said. “The charge is enough to address the situation.”

Wow! I just hope next month we don’t hear about this guy shooting a person thinking it was groundhog.

Tom Remington