Explain to me again how this happens???
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THOMPSON PASS, ID -- A man hunting elk near Thompson Pass Road was accidentally shot and killed by a member of his own hunting party.
The call came into the Shoshone County Sheriff's department around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
57-year-old James Hinchliff was hunting with two friends a few miles off Thompson Pass highway when he was shot.
The Shoshone County Sheriff's Department reports that a friend thought Hinchliff was an animal. Investigators say a man slipped and fell, then saw a flash of brown he thought might be antlers and fired his gun.
Hincliff was shot once near his rib cage. Authorities say the man who shot Hinchliff was an experienced hunter, adding the pair hunted together for more than 20years.
Hincliff was not wearing any hunter safety clothing such and was instead dressed from head to toe in camouflage, making it extremely difficult for his friend to see him.
In Idaho hunters aren't required to wear hunter orange as they are in many other states, including Washington, when hunting game.
Since 1992, there have been five hunting related deaths in Shoshone County and in each case the victim was not wearing hunter orange.
"I think it's critically important that people get on board with hunter orange and wear it religiously in the hunting season because it really saves lives," Rod Plank with the Shoshone County Sheriff's Department said.