One element ignored in this story: in SEA, the Hmong worked very closely with U.S. Special Forces and they were superb jungle fighters, feared by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. Obviously, the accused gunman is too young to have served in Vietnam, but I'm sure he was schooled by Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War. Otherwise, how could a single shooter get the drop on six heavily-armed hunters that (presumably) were decent shots themselves?
He was a sharpshooter in the National Guard.
Actually, my understanding is that only one was armed. The rest of the victims were unarmed.
The shootings took place around noon. Unless "driving" deer from a swamp or such where they have gone to ground, most Wisconsin deer hunting is done from stands at dawn or dusk. Most hunters take a break for a noon lunch and many return to a permanent camp or shack for this. It is considered good etiquette to unload you rifle and case it when not actually hunting. Thus the one person returning to the camp was still armed while everyone else had stored their firearms as a safety precaution. When the call came for help, they responded thinking an accident had occurred. The result was innocents running into a slaughter.
My general sense of this is that Vang had been ejected from this land several times in previous years and he may have been seeking vengeance. There is also anecdotal evidence which links him to a similar shooting in 2001. It may prove to be that Mr. Vang was hunting hunters rather than deer.
It would be interesting if the DNR could back check their records to see how many tags this "avid" hunter has filled since he began hunting in Wisconsin. It would also be interesting to see who logged the tag numbers just preceding or following his since there have been consistent reports that he hunts with two other Hmong men. That could explain how he got the "drop" on eight other hunters.
Regards,
GtG