Who shot Thumper?

I'm a rodeo girl and a hunter, so when my dad's cousin told us this story my jaw almost hit the floor.

"Somewhere between Guthrie
and Abilene, a small caliber
bullet exploded through a trailer
traveling south on Highway 83
and landed in the brain of Garrett
Nokes' rodeo calf-roping horse."

It bothers me that some of the commenters state that there's a lot of hog hunting in the area, but the tone suggests that this is just a natural result of that. I can't speak for other hunters, but I was taught from the very first day I picked up a gun that you never shoot at anything if you can't tell what's behind it. If you can't be certain that your shot isn't going to hit someone's cow or some innocent hiker, you do not shoot.

I know Garrett. He married into the family, and I high school rodeoed with him. This loss is more than just money to Garrett. To lose a horse that you really click with is devastating. When you consistently compete on the same horse you form a real bond with them. It hurts when you lose a horse like that. Add that to the fact that a well trained horse of that caliber can cost in excess of $50,000 dollars.

The scariest part, like Garrett said when telling this story to family members, is if he'd been going any slower the bullet could have come through the cab and killed one of the guys traveling with him, or even Garrett himself.