Shooting at Reelfoot

Have any of you seen this - https://www.gameandfishmag.com/edit...ters-dead-at-famed-waterfowl-lake/387934
For those that hunt public, stay civil. Two lives taken, a bunched ruined and many impacted.

Awful. Would like to know what really happened.

Prayers sent

Not official. Mentioned on the Refuge Tennessee forum.

Last word on shooting - David Vowell went to the duck blind where the 2 young men and guide were hunting. David opened fire. Crabtree, the guide, hit David in the back of the head with his gun. Crabtree then took the two young men to shore. One died instantly from a shot to the face. The other young man lived until they were on land but passed away while waiting on ambulance. So, I M pretty certain David Vowell probably fell into the lake and his waders filled . They are now searching the lake.

https://www.refugeforums.com/threads/bad-news-at-reelfoot.1070019/

Dang. Any given day...

There are a lot of ideas/theories/what ifs about this deal. Super sad and ridiculous is confirmed from my point of view. I guess some guys on the refuge forum know this lake well and hunted out of the blind in question and even know the shooter. 70 year old shooter. Kind of shocked at that.

Sad deal. Over some birds. Completely unnecessary and avoidable. I’d much rather make some new acquaintances than end up arguing, in a fight or get shot.



Not surprising to me. The worst confrontation I had was with a man in his late 60’s or early 70’s. I was setup and he came along about 30 min later. He immediately went into a tirade about me being in his spot. I invited him and his grandson to hunt with me. He started cussing me. After some debate, I conceded the spot because his 10 yr old grandson had to stand there and watch his grandfather act like a child that didn’t get his way. I looked his grandson in the eye, apologized to him on behalf of the way his grandfather was acting and explained to him that’s not the way a real sportsman behaves. The old man didn’t have another word to say.

Prayers forever one.

Over a stupid duck. SMH

https://www.fieldandstream.com/stor..._9fZKpwNnE4LJzmJQSXeSGkcVfalt7VZiILE-wls

I read the article above....my first thought was, if the lake is notoriously that bad and over-crowded, I would not waste my time. There are many lakes around here that are that way and just aren't worth the hassle. Go find someplace else, or spring for guides/leases. JMO.

Reelfoot has a storied history in american waterfowl hunting rivaled by few. If you lived in the area and your family had been hunting it for generations possibly even the same blind for generations.... You'd likely feel different.

That said it's not on my destination list.

Yeah....you may be right about that. I wonder how these murders will change people's opinion regardless of family history.

I don't have a link, but there's a tad more info out. Quick search pulls it up.
I hope they find the old man, I'd like to hear his side of the incident.
But considering he hasn't been found yet, it probably was murder if he's still alive.

something is just weird about this story...albeit a tragedy....something just stinks.... "4 can keep a secret if 3 are dead"

Yeah we'll never know what happened. But I'd sure like to have heard the other side crappy deal for sure.

Good Lord that is screwed up.

https://wreg.com/news/search-suspen...r-tells-investigators-what-he-witnessed/

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That story just doesn't add up to me. I hope Vowell is found to provide his side.

One of the other forums had a post that mentioned the two had shot at Vowell's son on a previous hunt, but gave no source for that info so who knows. These blind and hunting spot fights no matter where they are often seem to have a different story from each side with what really happened falling somewhere in the middle.

There is definitely more to the story, or a completely different story out there. None of what that guy describes makes any sense. That would be the most random murder in the history of random murders.

Agree with the statement made above. 4 people can keep a secret if 3 of them are dead.

I saw something that Vowell hunts that blind or one close by and they had shot his swing birds. There's no telling.

To me the story seems slightly fishy bc the only survivor is the only one we have. He might of let out some important details to cover for him and his friends.

Update with the survivor's story

https://www.wbbjtv.com/2021/01/27/new-details-emerge-in-reelfoot-lake-double-homicide-investigation/

That's the info I was talking about. Story seems a little off.

Thats the same story as the original.

I do agree, something seems a little off about it. Why didnt the 3rd guy use his weapon to protect hisself? Lots of "why's" and only 1 person walked out of the place.

Either way, its a sad deal for the young men involved. You never go out to a duck blind expecting something like that.

Maybe the 3rd guys instincts are not to shoot another human. Apparently he weaponized his gun on the shooter's noggin and knocked him out of the boat. Then his intention was to save his friends life. Tragic story, we may never know what really happened.

The most unbelievable statement the survivor made was that he was allowing the guy to hunt with them. Don't think that ever happens. Some reports I've seen said the survivor was a guide, some don't mention it, so not sure what is true, but find it highly unbelievable that they were allowing a guy in the blind them unless they were all already friends, which doesn't seem to be the case.

I hunted some public land about 25 years ago in Arkansas for a couple of seasons when I was in college. Even back then, it wasn't a friendly environment in the least. Have duck hunted some public land here in Central Texas since but don't think I've ever seen another duck hunter on the water so can't compare the environment here, but duck hunting was a blood sport for those boys in Arkansas, and it didn't have to be duck blood. We stayed out of the fights, but we sure as hell saw some. Some yelling, some driving through decoys, some setting up on top of people, lots of swing shooting and sky blasting, and even a fist fight or two. Sounds like Reelfoot is about the same way.

Have to say that i have not had but a couple negative encounters duck hunting. I've had more instances when hunting alone, that i was invited to hunt with others.
Once, on a very public hunting area, I arrived at one of the more remote launches at the same time a party of three arrived. After some introductions and shared coffee, we agreed that there was one "on the X location" that we both were wanting to hunt. We agreed that the best strategy was to hunt together.
A great hunt with new friends.
The way it should be.
Unfortunate that you have had such bad experiences.

Guy shows up and shoots two guys in your blind, and you are the only one left.

Not a whole lot of choice, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course I wasn't there.

good for you, always best to take the high road

Reports show Vowell was found dead in the lake.

And apparently all the Facebook detectives think the witness killed all 3 of them. Smh this story is wild.

The old man is going to tell his story without talking. This may or may not get interesting. Still ridiculous however it turns out

Posts on the Refuge Forums thread claim shooter had early onset dementia. If true, that explains a lot.

I’m gonna call out a sorry MOFO because my buddy and I almost got into a shootout with him over a stupid blind on Public Water. POS named “Santos” in Arroyo City that hunts Rattlesnake Cove. Shortly after my friend and I started hunting on a duck blind in Public Water, this retard came over very irate and drunk screaming that it was his blind. Me being pretty mellow and rational, I said “no problem, we’ll move out and go to another empty blind”. Then he started cursing and had his hand on his shotgun. My friend with his finger on the trigger, I had to intervene. He said there were two game wardens across the cove, I said “good go get them”.

When the Federal Conservation Officers came, they said “take our Blind, it fits 20 hunters, by our boat”. I said thank you and can you please educate this idiot on proper sportsmanship.

That’s the first time since Iraq that I shouldered my firearm in fear for my life.

Stuff like this and roadrage are real.

Nevermind the “How to diffuse and de-escalate” course I took in the Army, some jackasses are just itching for a fight.

Heard they found the old mans body.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...o-duck-hunters/ar-BB1dghvr?ocid=msedgntp

https://www.outdoorlife.com/story/d...ivMAUmrLDE6yW8rdLhkM59OLmboF31Ge5vF8pjWc

Story from the survivor. What a nightmare

Really strange. Sounds like David Vowell's brain just got some wires crossed and did not know what he was doing, some kinda mental illness.

Would be my guess too. Sad story

Sad sad story. I believe Mr. Crabtree. Something happened that morning and we will never know why it happened the way it did.

A normal thinking rational person cannot grasp why things like this happen, or why those that do things like this do them.

I doubt even the guy who murdered the hunters even knew himself.

We just cannot wrap a reason around it.

Absolutely terrible

That’s a really weird story, it just seems off but we will never know the truth other than some guys died. It’s sad to see this happen but cross wired minds never have a rational thought.

Strange

so sad, you just never know, I worry about my wife and daughters and grand children and great grandchildren every day, one of my g g d's is being bullied at school because she has a lazy eye, guess it's a good thing I can't travel, if you know what I mean

I think Crabtree is telling the truth. I have no reason to doubt him. What we don't know is why David V shot people, seems like Crabtree does not even know. I would like to hear more interview from Crabtree.

Delusions, aggression, and loss of control are not unheard of during the middle stages of dementia/alzheimers. The shooter having had prior disagreements with the other blind, having depression issues in the last year and if he did have dementia setting it. It may have just been the perfect storm moment losing control of his own mind that morning. 34 years in the fire service, I have encountered many horrible "why on earth would someone do that" tragedies. Nothing surprises me.

That’s where I’m at, no reason not to believe the guy. Nightmare of a day.

Interesting to find out he was being treated for depression. Wonder what drugs they were giving him? That's been a common theme among many of the major shootings in the past 10 years. Having seen what dementia can do to a person - add in the depression/meds - makes for a very sad and very difficult to story for the the victims or Vowell's family to ever come to terms with and understand.

Part of the truth. I bet there's some facts missing in there.
Story still seems a little fishy

I fully intended on seeing a boss shells endorsement above this post

Crazy story. For a guy who just shot someone to try to do it again minutes later, this time while traveling to get help for the first guy, is insane....but I guess he was. He may have thought he had Alzheimer's but it was never diagnosed and family and friends weren't convinced. And I've heard of craziness from depression and the meds they put you one, but you have to think there was some earlier incident or sign that someone could point to. Most things like this where someone snaps, people see some sign of it coming, or at least in retrospect they do. Seems to be nothing here at all.

We may all know the story now, but only one person will ever know if it's completely true. If true, it's one of the wildest things I've ever heard.

I've been in blinds or on hunts with folks I don't know before and it's a weird feeling sometimes. Gonna be even weirder now.

I know after reading the article that it's customary to hunt with other groups out there, but I would also assume if you're in the blind drawing our grandfathered in that you're a relatively experienced hunter. On the flip side, a lot of places I hunt there is daily jackassery that I don't want any part of. I've also witnessed an accidental discharge or two and that's an eye opener. I like talking to folks I don't know so that's not it, but I do not hunt with them. I'm the last guy inviting somebody to hunt with me that's trying to setup next to me. Some folks would criticize saying that I'm not doing my part to further the sport, but I'm out when there are guns involved. The only folks I'll hunt with that I don't know are friends of friends that know what they're doing. And, I've gone with a couple of them and ended up looking down a barrel cuz they weren't careful... last time for them.

Crazy stuff that day.

I’ve seen grown men that were friends come to blows over a duck. Stupid.

don't forget about sitka.

The story seemed too complex not to be verifiable by the authorities. The location of each individuals dna etc. no way that was not looked at with 3 deaths. Some folks are just a walking theory looking for a conspiracy.