Ever since Adam Nason allegedly fired the shot that wardens say killed his friend and hunting companion, 21-year-old Jimmy Griffin, one question has been asked over and over and over.

Oddly, the most commonly asked question in Maine’s first hunter fatality since 2001 hasn’t been “How?”

How could a hunter make such a costly mistake?

It has been “When?”

Now we know the official answer to the question everybody’s been asking: The shot that killed Griffin was fired at “approximately 5 p.m.,” according to Maine Game Wardens.

Why does this matter?

Because the shot was allegedly fired after 4:44 p.m. on Nov. 8, so Nason could be found guilty of violating state law by hunting more than 30 minutes after sunset.

And if the shot had been fired earlier? Like at about 4:43 p.m.?

That’s the part many people simply didn’t want to consider.

Misidentifying a target and shooting a fellow hunter during “legal” shooting hours may have proven to some that giving us Maine hunters an extra 15 minutes of legal shooting time was a bad idea.

And it might have illustrated the fact that in many cases, there just isn’t enough light during those final minutes for a hunter to properly identify his target.

Whether the shot was fired at a legal time or not.

There is a larger lesson – one that most hunters already grasp perfectly – to be learned here.

If it’s too dark to properly identify your target, it’s too late to shoot. Period.

Sadly, it has taken a tragic mistake and an unnecessary tragedy for us to resume talking about the stark reality of hunter safety.

Hunter safety – not bagging a deer – ought to be our utmost concern … and sometimes it’s not.

If Griffin is eventually proven to have been shot at a time when hunting was not permissible,it becomes easier for hunters to dismiss the incident as the tragic result of an unlawful act.

And that’s unfortunate.

On a cloudy day in the deep woods, “too late” occurs a lot sooner than it does in the middle of a hayfield covered with a thick layer of light-reflecting snow.

No matter what the law book says.

We all know that, and to be accurate, state laws do make a hunter’s target identification responsibility very clear.

But as light wanes, and as a deer (or what we assume is a deer) begins snapping twigs in the trees a hundred yards away from us, our safety lessons seem to become more difficult to remember.

As that deer stealthy sneaks forward – crack-crack-pause -some of us may decide that we can see perfectly … or good enough.

And as the deer finally steps out of the thicket … and we find our “prey” is wearing a barely discernable blaze-orange vest and carrying a rifle … we realize something … if we’re lucky.

The law book tells you what you can do. It doesn’t tell you what you ought to do.

And it can’t hope to tell you everything you need to know so that you – and everyone else in the woods – remains safe.

Many hunters choose to unload their rifle and hike to the truck – with a headlamp blazing, at times – as soon as their level of target certainty slips from “absolute” to “I think …”

For me, that level of certainty never seems to happen at the end of legal shooting. Usually, I’m on my way out of the woods 15 minutes or more before legal shooting ends.

Has that fact cost me a look at a few deer? Probably. Is it one reason that I’ve yet to bag a buck? Perhaps.

But it’s something I can live with. And it’s my decision.

As it turns out, many other hunters are doing the same thing. Some are old-timers. Others are relative novices like me.

And some are veteran game wardens with years and years of hunting experience under their belts.

Wdn. Maj. Greg Sanborn – the No. 2-ranking officer in the Maine Warden Service – used to be an avid bowhunter. In those days, he says he’d remain in his tree stand until “the clock ticked the magic time.”

Nowadays, most of his hunting is done with a rifle. And he says that changes everything.

“During rifle season, I plan to be back to my vehicle before the legal time expires, but that’s just a personal choice I make when I’m hunting with my family.” he says. “If the same principles are applied that people learn in hunter safety, which is, No. 1, be sure of your target, there would be no problems.”

True enough.

But as the recent incident in Levant seems to show, “problems” do crop up, albeit rarely.

And when there are “problems” involving loaded firearms, the result is never good.

We all could learn something from Sanborn. For him – and for most of us – the hunt is more than a meat-gathering experience. Much more.

“I’m hunting with family members, and the idea is to have an enjoyable day out in the field,” he said.

For Sanborn, and many like him, that means taking extra steps to make sure they – and their fellow hunters – remain safe.

No matter what the law book says.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.