ROCKPORT — Opinions come at all hours of the night — especially on Internet forums.

Hundreds of grieving, angry or just opinionated writers are ferociously posting around the clock on forums throughout the Northwest over the Aug. 2 fatal shooting of Pamela Almli on Sauk Mountain at the hand of a 14-year-old hunter who mistook her for a bear. The Oso woman was shot in the head as she leaned down to put a coat in a backpack.

Whether it’s hunters, hikers, mothers or just interested readers, forums are filling up with posters’ thoughts on the shooting and what should be done about it. What started as a community tragedy has become a national debate.

“I believe serving jail time for a tragic accident would simply create a criminal where there is now a child who reacted when his adrenaline was fired up and he thought he was doing what he went out there for — hunting a bear,” wrote a user with the screenname “noodles” on goskagit.com, Skagit Valley Publishing Co.’s Web site.

Some blame the 54-year-old victim for not wearing bright enough clothing on a hiking trail. Others say a teen shouldn’t have a gun in the first place, or at least not be allowed to hunt without an adult present. Still others say the hiking and hunting areas are too close together.

Almli’s death has generated more posts than any other forum in goskagit.com’s year-old history. Other hiking, hunting or wilderness forums are also seeing a flurry of comments ranging from forgiveness to strict prosecution of the young shooter. Some offer words of comfort; others condemn the teen, his 16-year-old brother who was with him or the grandfather who dropped the boys off at the mountain to hunt without an adult.

“In a society where we have laws to prohibit a 14-year-old from having sex with certain people,” wrote “dj-defkawn” on goskagit.com, “and also laws to prohibit things like the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to minors, it just seems a little crazy that in our state a 14-year-old can go off into the woods and shoot something with a deadly weapon.”

The conversation is continuing at other Web sites.

The subject on http://nwhikers.net has generated nearly 1,000 comments and three times that many views.

One writer, “Malachai Constant,” took parts of the investigation into his own hands and posted his results:

“I did an experiment and paced out 120 yards from my front porch. I live on a steep hill that put it at one of my neighbor’s garage. At that distance not only can I distinguish the species of animal, I can also identify a person … I can tell whose dog it is as well as whether it is a dog, cat, coyote or bear, all of which I have seen from here. This is without binoculars or a scope of any kind. I am not some eagle eye either just a middle aged guy with glasses.”

According to the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, the boy was using a scope that magnifies by three times when he took the fatal shot.

The shooting inspired Concrete resident “Skagit Hiker” to write her first-ever blog post, at 4:06 a.m. Thursday morning, disclosing that she couldn’t sleep.

“To say (the trail) is popular is understating,” the Concrete woman wrote on http://nwhiker.net. “It is where I take folks from out of town; where I steer visitors looking for a hike; where we judge the snow level; carried babies up; slept in the lookout before it was removed; worked on the trail; encouraged young hikers to the ‘summit’; sunset gourmet picnics; marveled at hang-gliders. I never once have seen a bear up there, a few times I have met hunters on the trail. So many great memories, now I will always feel some sadness when I look up there.”

Most of all though, she says, she feels empathy for the shooter’s mother because she has a son the same age.

One of the most harsh forum discussions is on Archery Talk. Writers point at the hunter, who they said broke the cardinal shooting rule of not identifying his target before he pulled the trigger.

In other forums, some sympathize with the young shooter, saying it was an accident that he will have to live with for the rest of his life, which is punishment enough.

Some say he shouldn’t face criminal charges. Others say he should.

Forum users on Hunting Washington offer their condolences, and a possible memorial fund, to Almli. But the Web site’s home page also voices hunters’ worries about how this shooting might affect their sport.

“It is very important that all hunters have their opinions on these matters heard before it is too late,” the site says. “There has been a growing concern among hunters in our online community with regards to these potential broad (hunting and gun regulation) changes.”

Already, politicians have made noise about changes, and that has some people applauding and others worrying.

Others are more worried about more immediate implications, like whether to go hiking this weekend.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office have had a flood of public comments and calls.

“A lot of people are wondering if it is safe to go outdoors,” Fish and Wildlife Capt. Bill Hebner said. The shooting is such a rare occurrence, he said, “if I had something to do this weekend, I’d go out and do it.”

Will Reichardt, chief criminal deputy for the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, has received numerous e-mails from people wanting to offer their opinions about the shooting and what should be done.

“I think just because of the tragic nature of it,” he said. “People are just having a tough time wondering how this could happen, why did it happen, what could prevent it from happening again? And all those questions are causing people to talk about it.”

As people talk, the Concrete teen and his family wait as the Skagit County prosecutor considers whether to file charges and if so, what they should be. Investigators have not had direct contact with the boy since the day of the shooting.

“He was very emotional, subdued at times — somber,” Reichardt said. “He cried. It was a traumatic event for him.”

Reichardt said the hunter’s brother had a similar reaction.

“Their emotions were what you would expect of a young man involved with something like this,” he said.

• Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .

RELATED ARTICLES

Young bear hunter kills hiker by mistake

Accidental shooting draws statewide attention

Teen hunters were alone at time of shooting

Woman who was shot on trail loved hiking