Most hunters would be well-served by spending a lot more time practicing their basic marksmanship. Wisconsin Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) might be better served if he stops being too efficient.

Kleefisch said Monday he was hunting Sunday in Waukesha County when he killed the tom as well as a nearby jake with pellets from the same shot.

He said he didn’t mean to shoot the jake but called a warden because he lacked a tag for the second bird. He was told he would be cited since he was warned several years ago about being sure of his target when he dropped three geese with one shot.

Hunters, like any shooter, have a responsibility to be aware of their target and what is beyond it, including other animals.

In this instance, Kleefisch shot into a rafter of turkeys and took a tom (adult male) and a jake (younger male) that was behind the tom. He’d previously shot into a skein of geese and knocked out three, an incident that earned him a warning from Wisconsin game wardens.

It’s a good thing he didn’t shoot into a group of crows.

It would be awful to murder a murder.