HAYWARD, Wis. – Even before the deadly shooting rampage began, one of the hunters had taken note of the license number on the back of Chai Vang’s blaze-orange jacket, a detail he scribbled on some dust that covered one of their all-terrain vehicles.

Although the hunters planned to use it as part of a trespassing complaint, the number ultimately helped authorities identify Vang, 36, of St. Paul, Minn., as the suspect in a shooting spree Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin’s north woods.

On the opening weekend of the deer season, the shootings left six hunters dead – five died Sunday and a sixth was pronounced dead on Monday.

The incident also raised fears of increased culture clashes between Hmong and other hunters, tensions that have simmered in Wisconsin and Minnesota for years.

In their first formal account of the incident, authorities said Monday that Vang, who received military training in his homeland of Laos, fired about 20 rounds at the hunters from his semiautomatic SKS military-style rifle, even knocking two from their ATVs as they approached the scene.

Vang had not been charged Monday. He is set to appear before a judge Tuesday for a probable cause hearing.

The six killed were part of a group of more than a dozen hunters staying in lodges on wooded property near the town of Meteor in northwest Wisconsin. The gathering was an annual tradition that marked the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s deer season.

On Sunday afternoon, two or three men from the group spotted a man in their hunting platform atop a tree.

Vang, who was apparently lost and separated from his own hunting party, had wandered onto a 400-acre tract of private land. While the land is clearly marked as private, it is surrounded by public land.

After the hunters told Vang to leave, he descended from the tree. Authorities said he walked about 40 yards away, removed the scope from his rifle and began firing.

Sawyer County Sheriff James Meier said there is evidence that suggests Vang, a naturalized citizen, was “moving around” as he stalked his victims.

“I can only assume by the location of the bodies and the type of woods they were in, that he would have had to be moving around in order to inflict that kind of damage on that many people,” Meier said.

Authorities say they continued to assemble evidence to determine what occurred during the shooting. But gaps remain about what took transpired on the remote land set amid a mature forest, rolling hills and a few streams.

Meier said shots were exchanged between Vang and the other hunters. But it remains unclear whether Vang had been provoked in any way.

“Whether or not words were said, nothing justifies what the response has been here,” said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who attended a news conference here and met with family members of the victims.

The victims were from the Rice Lake, Wis., area, where the mood was both mournful and devastated.

“A lot of hunters’ morale around here is really low,” said Jay Koenig, 40, an avid deer hunter from Rice Lake. “They don’t really feel the joyous time that the hunting season is around here.”

Authorities identified the dead as Robert Crotteau, 42, and his son, Joey, 20; Al Laski, 43; Mark Roidt, 28; and Jessica Willers, 27.

A sixth victim died Monday, but authorities had not released his name. Two additional hunters, including Jessica Willers’ father, Terry Willers, remained hospitalized Monday.

“It’s just surreal,” said Linda Levan, the sister of victim Al Laski. “It’s a tragedy that all these individuals are faced with. It’s pure tragedy.”

Authorities said the first three victims were apparently taken by surprise and the five others were hit as they came to help. They described Vang, who asked a pair of hunters for a ride out of the woods after the alleged shooting, as “extremely calm” when he was arrested without resistance about 5:30 p.m. local time Sunday, roughly five hours after the shootings.

“I just don’t think any of this make sense,” Meier said. “The demeanor makes no sense. The action makes no sense.”

Radio stations in the Twin Cities crackled with callers on Monday who suggested the shootings might stem from cultural differences among Hmong and white hunters.

There were roughly 74,000 Hmong residents in Wisconsin and Minnesota, according to the 2000 census. The two states have been key destinations for the Hmong since the mid-1970s, when churches and social organizations sponsored them after they fled their homeland of Laos.

The Hmong assisted the United States during the Vietnam War era and were persecuted for their actions. Many fled to neighboring Thailand, then waited for a chance to get to the United States.

Hmong communities have continued to grow in St. Paul and Minneapolis, as well as the Wisconsin communities of Eau Claire, Wausau and Green Bay.

Hunting complaints between the two cultures are nothing new. Hmong hunters routinely report harassment at the hands of white hunters, while both Minnesota and Wisconsin have Hmong conservation officers who work to improve the understanding of hunting and fishing regulations among the unique population.

Even before they fled the mountains of Laos, hunting and fishing was an integral but unregulated part of life for many Hmong.

But some of their white counterparts are known to complain that the former refugees, who often can’t read English or their native language, sometimes fail to comply with hunting regulations and wildlife management practices.

Since their arrival, there have been problems reported about Hmong hunters, ranging from hunting without a license to filling car trunks full of dozens more fish than allowed within legal limits.

The Hmong did not even have a written language of their own until the 1950s, so it has often been difficult for them to read about state hunting and fishing regulations.

Hmong hunters, meanwhile, say they are often the targets of harassment from whites, who sometimes suggest they shouldn’t compete for hunting land.

“There are a lot of stories of harassment,” said Lee Pao Xiong of the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University in St. Paul.

Xiong said Hmong leaders gathered in St. Paul Monday to discuss the potential for backlash against their community. The group is planning a news conference Tuesday morning.

“We don’t know what really happened,” Xiong said. “We need to suspend all judgment until there is clear evidence of what happened.”

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Xiong said he was harassed while hunting for squirrels a few years ago in Minnesota. He said a group of teenagers drove up to his camp in two cars and started making harassing comments, including suggesting that they were their to hunt family cats and dogs.

“We’ve gone hunting and been harassed by groups in the woods while hunting legally,” he said. “You can easily feel threatened.”

Mike Bartz, a regional warden for the Wisconsin Department of Resources, said Vang had received a deer hunting license in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. There were no hunting violations on Vang’s record.

Bartz downplayed suggestions that cultural differences may have played a role in the shooting.

“I’m sure there are some tensions there, just like there are between any two groups,” he said. “But this is an individual act.”

Relatives told The Associated Press that Vang was a father of six and had once served with the U.S. Army.

“Maybe something provoked him or something. He is a reasonable person,” said his brother, Sang. “I still don’t believe it. He is one of the nicest persons. I don’t believe he could do that. We are so devastated right now.”

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On Monday, relatives of the victims struggled to cope with their loss.

“We’re still in shock,” said Mark Roidt’s sister, Heather. “It’s hard to comprehend.”

Mark Roidt worked for Burnell Decor in Rice Lake installing wood flooring and hunted with his father every Thanksgiving while growing up in Waterford, Wis., his sister said.

Vang had been arrested once before, on Christmas Eve 2001 in Minneapolis after brandishing a gun and telling his wife he was going to kill her, said Ron Reier, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department.

He was arrested on a felony complaint of domestic assault, Reier said. After being held for at least 36 hours in that incident, Reier said Vang was released after his wife declined to cooperate with authorities.

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