What is the test for negligence in a hunting accident?

Cook v. Lewis [1951] 1 S.C.R. 830 is a well known case of negligence in which during the course of a hunting trip the plaintiff was injured. The circumstances were that two hunters shot at essentially the same time and the plaintiff was struck by shot from one or the other or both. The central issue was whether or not the plaintiff had met the onus cast upon him and whether or not the onus then shifted to the defendants.

Cartwright, J. in considering the issue wrote at p. 839: . . . While it is true that the plaintiff expressly pleaded negligence on the part of the defendants he also pleaded that he was shot by them and in my opinion the action under the old form of pleading would properly have been one of trespass and not of case. In my view, the cases collected and discussed by Denman J. in Stanley v. Powell (1), established the rule (which is subject to an exception in the case of highway accidents with which we are not concerned in the case at bar) that where a plaintiff is injured by force applied directly to him by the defendant his case is made by proving this fact and the onus falls upon the defendant to prove "that such trespass was utterly without his fault." In my opinion Stanley v. Powell rightly decides that the defendant in such an action is entitled ot judgment if he satisfies the onus of establishing the absence of both intention and negligence on his part.