Karin Czulik / KING5.com

Sauk Mountain has gorgeous views of the Skagit Valley and is very popular with hikers.

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - The Skagit County prosecutor has filed a first-degree manslaughter charge against the 14-year-old bear hunter accused of fatally shooting a hiker.

The charge against Tyler J. Kales of Concrete, Wash., was filed Friday in Skagit County Juvenile Court. If convicted, he could be jailed until the age of 21.

On Aug. 2, 54-year-old Pamela Almli was shot and killed on a popular hiking trail north of Seattle. She was the first nonhunter killed by a hunter in the state in more than 25 years.

Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said the teen failed to follow guidelines in the state's hunting safety manual, including being sure of a target and what lies beyond it.

While hunting on Sauk Mountain, Kales and his 16-year-old brother saw what they thought was a bear from more than 100 yards away, according to charging papers. Visibility was limited by heavy fog.

Kales told sheriff's Deputy Theresa Luvera that he watched the target through his rifle scope for a few minutes, the charging papers said.

He told his brother, "It's a bear, it's a bear," and "I've got my cross hairs on it." He shot one time with a Tikka .270 rifle at "the bear" and saw it disappear.

The charging papers note that the Washington state hunters guide states a hunter should never use a telescopic site to identify a target. Hunters are supposed to use binoculars first, then the rifle scope.

After Kales fired, the teens went to find the bear, but they found instead a person lying on the ground, court documents said. They ran to the parking area to get help from a relative who was sitting in his vehicle. He drove partway down the mountain to get a cell signal and called his wife and asked her to report the shooting.

Kales' lawyer, Roy Howson of Mount Vernon, told the Skagit Valley Herald he had not seen the official charging documents Friday afternoon and that the boy's family did not want to comment. When The Associated Press called his office, the woman who answered the phone said Howson had left for a two-week vacation.

"They're having a very, very hard time, and they feel for what the Almlis are going through and are going through their own pain," Howson told the Herald. "From everybody's viewpoint, it's really a tragedy, and the young man's family is really broken up."

The boy's next court appearance is set for Sept. 3.