Marathon City — An 11-year-old boy hunting illegally mistook his father for a turkey and shot him on Sunday, authorities said.

The 42-year-old father was in stable condition after he was wounded in the upper chest with a .22-caliber rifle around 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the Town of Marathon.

That type of rifle is not authorized for hunting turkeys, and 11-year-olds are too young to hunt unless they’re monitored closely by an adult, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources hunting safety administrator Jon King told Wausau television station WAOW-TV.

The boy’s mother was more than 50 feet away at the time and should have been “within arm’s reach,” helping the boy identify his target, for the child to be hunting legally, King said in a telephone interview from Madison.

“It is tough to call it a hunting accident,” King said. “Nobody had a hunting license. Nobody should have been out in the woods that day.”

The man was shot from about 100 yards away on private property. King told the Wausau television station that there’s a good chance citations will be issued.

“Ultimately, the adults in this case are responsible for this young man’s actions,” King said.

The Department of Natural Resources is investigating the shooting as well as two other shootings over the weekend — in Waushara and Douglas counties involving a woodcock hunter and bowhunter.