CARTHAGE — A Carthage man was involved in a Thanksgiving day hunting accident in the Oneida County town of Whitestown.
According to Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol, Darwin Cooley, 50, Carthage, at around 9:30 a.m. Thursday was hunting with his brother-in-law Travis Dam. 42, Whitesboro, in an area north of the village of Whitesboro when Mr. Cooley shot at a deer that ran between the two of them and the bullet grazed the side of Mr. Dam’s head.
Mr. Dam was able to walk to his four-wheeler and drive out on his own and was transported by Central Oneida County Ambulance, to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Utica, then transferred to Upstate Medical University, Syracuse. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, according to a Sheriff’s Department release.
Sheriff’s investigators and state Environmental Conservation Police are investigating the incident. No charges have been filed and the investigation is continuing.
A man shot and killed his hunting partner Thursday morning in Breckinridge County, according to Kentucky State Police said.
Christopher B. Stone, 43, of Irvington, was deer hunting with Nicholas Lee Ford, 39, of Brandenburg when Stone fired his rifle into an overgrown field surrounded by woods off JE Haynes Road in Irvington, according to police.
Ford was shot in the back, according to police. He was taken to Breckinridge Memorial Hospital, where he died, police said.
A hunter in western New York fatally shot a 43-year-old woman after he mistook her for a deer, authorities said.
Rosemary Billquist was taking her dogs for a walk in her hometown of Sherman near the Pennsylvania border on Wednesday when she was shot once by Thomas Jadlowski.
Jadlowski heard her scream and called 911. He stayed with Billquist until emergency personnel arrived.
Billquist was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital in Pennsylvania.
“They tried saving her,” husband Jamie Billquist told the Buffalo News on Friday. “It was just too bad…. It’s horrific. It will be with me the rest of my life.”
“This is a horrific incident,” Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace told the newspaper. “….This destroyed two lives.”
The shooting occurred at around 5:30 p.m., about 40 minutes after sunset, when officials say it’s illegal to hunt.
Jamie Billquist was told about the shooting after he heard his dogs barking and saw an ambulance, according to the newspaper. He went with his wife to the hospital.
“She was always out to help somebody,” he told the Buffalo News. “She never wanted credit and was always quiet about it. She’s just an angel. An angel for sure.”
Jadlowski has not been charged, but the investigation is ongoing.
“Hunters have to understand there are other people using trails, using parks in areas where we as sportsmen hunt,” Dale Dunkelberger of the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s hunter education program told the Buffalo News.
“In this case, it appears from what I gathered this was after sunset, and he shouldn’t have been out there hunting after sunset. You’re done. That’s the law.”
A moose hunter was transported to hospital after sustaining a shotgun wound Tuesday evening along the New Harbour Barrens.
According to Bay Roberts RCMP, it was a single shot resulting from an accident. Members of the Spaniard’s Bay fire department removed the injured hunter from the woods before he was taken to hospital.
According to police, the hunter was alert and conscious as he was transported to hospital.
GRAND ISLE, Vt. (WCAX) Authorities say two hunters were accidentally shot in separate incidents on the opening weekend of rifle season. Neither was seriously injured.
Saturday in Eden, police say 20-year-old Dakota Arnold shot his friend 19-year-old Cody Jones in the calf by mistake.
Then Sunday in Grand Isle, police say a bullet from 59-year-old Frankie Bullis’ rifle hit 61-year-old Randall Glover in the foot. It is believed that the bullet ricocheted in that incident after being fired from approximately 350 yards away. Both Jones and Glover suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
James Francis, of Fairfield, bagged a 167 pound, 8-point buck in Swanton Saturday morning. He told us how he and his brother stay safe when they are hunting together.
“Make sure you wear bright clothing so that other people know that you’re there, and always identify your target before you shoot. We know where each other is at all times, no surprises,” Francis said.
Wardens and Vermont State Police were unavailable for an interview Sunday regarding the accidental shootings. There are hunting safety tips on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website, they say the four basic rules of safe hunting include: treat every gun as if it is loaded, point your gun in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, and be sure of your target and what’s behind it.
Alyssa Scott, 15, died after being fatally shot in a hunting accident on Monday, authorities said.
(COURTESY OF OAK GROVE HIGH SCHOOL)
A 15-year-old Alabama girl was fatally shot in a hunting accident Monday, authorities said.
Alyssa Scott, an Oak Grove High School sophomore, was with an adult family friend on a youth hunt when the shooting occurred in Jefferson County, WIAT-TV reported.
The teen was climbing down a tree as the two of them prepared to leave. The friend passed Alyssa a rifle which accidentally discharged, striking and wounding the teen, according to the station.
Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies received a call of about the shooting after 5 p.m. and found Alyssa with a gunshot wound at the scene. She was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Oak Grove High School Principal Pam Dennis described Alyssa as a “great young lady.”
“She was a big member of the band,” Dennis told Al.com. “Positive, fun-loving supportive student,”
“She lived life to the fullest. She always put others before herself,” the principal continued. “She was happy all of the time. She loved to make people laugh.”
An investigation indicated the shooting was an accident.
Posted: Nov 10, 2017 3:37 PM PSTUpdated: Nov 10, 2017 3:39 PM PST
PALO (KWWL) –
An Iowa man is recovering after falling at least 20 ft. from a tree stand while hunting.
Jeff Pavek of Palo broke his neck, back, fractured his skull and sternum and suffered from a collapsed lung from the fall.
He says it’s amazing he is not paralyzed or dead.
“That strap let go around the tree, it was a cable, and I must have went backwards I don’t remember any of that though,” Pavek told us from his hospital room at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinic.
Pavek’s girlfriend Lori Vandooren-Long started to worry when he didn’t come home so she called his best friend Ron.
The two went out to the hunting site where they made the terrifying discovery.
“He probably laid there for like an hour and 45 minutes and we found him face down,” says Vandooren-Long.
“I told him to turn me over, thank God he didn’t I would have been parialyzed,” says Pavek.
He tells us several of his vertebrates were crushed.
I really realize how close death was and it’s very sad because you just never know,” says Pavek.
“We needed him around for awhile longer,” Vandooren-Long says.
Pavek hopes sharing his story will help other hunters be safe.
“I really strongly recommended when you’re in a tree please wear a vest, a vest for safety. It could have prevented a lot of this,” he tells us.
Pavek believes he is lucky to be alive.
“Real close to being paralyzed or death, so I had both of them and I’m gonna beat them both,” he says.
A Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/75wrs8-jeffs-medical-fund account has been created to help with medical expenses.
Pavek is the third person in Iowa to fall from a tree stand in the last two weeks. .
A man from Dubuque fell on November 4th while hunting near Garber.
The next day a man from Adair was found lying at the base of his tree stand.
MARSHALL — Of the thousands of Minnesota deer hunters who took to the great outdoors for the opening firearms season this past weekend, very few were injured. However, two of those who suffered injuries occurred in southwest Minnesota.
This past Saturday, the North Memorial Ambulance in Marshall responded to a call from the Minneota area regarding a male individual who had fallen out of a tree stand, while the Tracy Ambulance Service responded to a call about a hunter accidentally being shot in Redwood County.
“We had a hunting party shooting and then we also had an accident where somebody fell out of a tree stand,” area conservation officer Matt Loftness said. “That’s two accidents within a couple of hours on opening Saturday morning. It’s a really important reminder for people to be safe.”
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports that tree-stand accidents are the leading cause of injury to hunters, with as many as 1 in 3 people who hunt from an elevated stand suffering a serious injury as a result of a fall at some point in their lifetime.
“Safety is so important,” said Eric Buffington, who works as a sales representative for Borch’s Sporting Goods in Marshall. “People should wear a harness when they’re in a tree stand. There’s times when you doze off and catch yourself, so anytime I step foot into a tree stand, I wear a harness.”
Two weeks ago, avid Minnesota hunter Philip Martinson broke his back after falling out of his deer stand while getting ready for the season opener. According to media reports, Martinson fractured the L1 vertebra in his lower back when he fell, though he still somehow managed to crawl 20 feet to his truck and drive himself home despite the agonizing pain.
Martinson wasn’t paralyzed, but another hunter — 32-year-old Timothy Bowers — wasn’t as fortunate. Paralyzed after falling from his tree stand in November 2013, Bowers, a newlywed and father-to-be from Indiana, chose to take himself off of life support rather than spend the rest of his life connected to a breathing machine, unable to hunt or even walk ever again, according to several media reports. Bowers died later the same evening.
“All the tree stands sold now come with a harness,” Buffington said. “I think it’s the law — or it should be — for hunters to wear a harness when they’re in a tree stand. I wear a harness every time I’m in the tree stand. I also let someone know when I plan to be back.”
For decades, the Treestand Manufacturers Association (TMA) — a nonprofit trade association — has worked to promote better hunter safety through improved tree stand designs and by including a full-body harness with every TMA-certified tree stand they sell. As a result, more than 18.5 million hunter have been provided with a fall restraint system along with their tree stand purchase. The organization also prides itself on educating hunters about the dangers and how to properly use the harness.
The state DNR website offers information regarding safety guidelines, recovery from a fall, the 3 point rule and different types of tree stands in addition to instructions about safety harnesses. There are also links to a hunter safety course and more about TMA stands.
Experts do recommend wearing a harness every single time a person climbs a tree because a lot of things can go wrong from 12-20 feet up — even for the most experienced hunters.
The Minneota man who fell from a tree stand on the opening day of deer season on Saturday received significant injuries.
Manager Dan DeSmet said North Memorial Ambulance was dispatched to the Minneota location early Saturday morning. The individual was transported to Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, but DeSmet was unable to comment further because of privacy laws.
The accidental shooting took place partway between Milroy and Tracy. Investigators say a hunter shooting at a deer hit another hunter beyond the deer. The wounded individual was struck in the leg and was taken to the Sanford Tracy Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Loftness shared that safety needs to be the No. 1 priority when it comes to hunting.
“That’s one of the biggest things we teach in our safety classes,” he said. “You have to know what your target is and beyond. When you’re shooting, you have to make sure you’re clear, whether it’s another deer or a human.”
The injured deer hunter is said to be recovering. Authorities say everyone in the party wore the appropriate blaze orange clothing as required by law. No one was arrested and no charges are pending, they said.
“The accidental shooting this weekend was just into Redwood County,” Loftness said. “Tracy responded to that. Sometimes people don’t realize how crucial the first responders, ambulance crews and law enforcement are. But whether it’s a shot in the side or in the leg, it could be close to arteries so you’re talking about a dangerous situation.”
Loftness, who said he was dealing with phone calls at the time of the shooting, added that Tracy Ambulance was well prepared for the possibility of a hunting accident, though everyone hopes it never really happens.
“They actually trained on that,” he said. “They did training for a mock hunter injury.”
With firearm season continuing into the weekend and beyond, area officials are hoping for safe and successful hunts.
“Hopefully we don’t have any more accidents this weekend,” Loftness said.
SOUTH PARIS, Maine — A week ago, a composed but somber Beverly Spofford shared intimate details about her granddaughter, celebrating the life authorities say was cut short by a deer hunter.
On Wednesday, as that hunter, Robert R. Trundy, 38, of Hebron, made his first court appearance and was charged with manslaughter in the death of Karen Wrentzel, 34, of Hebron, Spofford’s demeanor had changed.
“I am just very, very angry,” Spofford said.
Wrentzel, who underwent surgery to treat cervical cancer in September, had moved into her grandmother’s Hebron mobile home a day before her own death on Oct. 28 in order to heal and help Spofford through the winter.
Spofford said reading an account of the affidavit filed on Tuesday afternoon changed everything. In that document, Maine Game Warden Anthony Gray alleged that Trundy told him he heard someone scream after he fired the shot, and that he hadn’t rendered aid after shooting Wrentzel.
“Robert stated, after he fired his rifle, what he shot at screamed, and he thought to himself deer don’t do that,” Gray states in the affidavit. “Instead of rendering aid to Karen, Robert called his father by phone and told him he, Robert, thought he just shot someone.”
Spofford said reading the affidavit was devastating.
“He heard her scream. He heard her scream,” Spofford said. “And he knew he’d hurt somebody, but he couldn’t go down and call 911 or go down and say, ‘I’m sorry’? Or whatever? I just don’t know.”
When asked by a reporter what went through her head when she saw Trundy enter the courtroom, she struggled to find an answer.
“He took away my granddaughter,” Spofford said before bursting into tears.
Trundy entered no plea and gave single-word answers when questioned by Superior Court Justice Lance Walker at Oxford County Courthouse.
His defense attorney, Scott Lynch, cautioned that affidavits tell only one side in a court case.
“I will provide more information about that as the case goes on, but I’ve been involved with this case for all of 12 hours, so it will take me a bit of time to get up to speed with that,” he said.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Trundy’s place of business said he would not comment about the case.
The shooting took place on the residents-only opening day of deer hunting season. Wrentzel was not wearing hunter orange clothing — there is no requirement for nonhunters to do so — and was digging for gemstones on a 15-acre parcel that her grandmother had given her.
Wrentzel’s mother, Debbie Morin of Lewiston, said reading about the warden’s allegations in the affidavit was difficult because she and other family members learned details they hadn’t known. Among those allegations: That Trundy never called for help, and no help was summoned until his father, Ralph Trundy, arrived on the scene minutes later.
“There certainly was [surprising information in the affidavit],” Morin said. “That he didn’t call 911. That he did nothing to help her at the end.”
Morin urged media outlets to stop referring to Wrentzel’s death as a “hunting accident.”
“This is not an accidental shooting. He deliberately pulled the trigger,” Morin said.
Jon Spofford, Wrentzel’s uncle, was visibly upset as he walked down the courthouse steps.
“[Reading the affidavit] changed things considerably. In my opinion that was a total disregard for human life,” he said. “If you’re coming onto my property to kill something, and if you mess up, do the right thing. That’s all. Do the right thing, and make an attempt.”
Wrentzel’s brother, Jeremy Wrentzel of Auburn, said he was growing frustrated with some who have begun criticizing his sister for her clothing choices.
“Just because it’s fall and it’s hunting season, the woods do not belong to the hunters. It’s not a person’s responsibility to wear orange or not go into the woods,” he said. “ It’s the hunter’s responsibility not to fire at something unless they know what they’re firing at.”
The hunter was gored to death by a stag (file photo) AFP/Getty Images
A hunter has died after he “was charged and pierced by a deer which stabbed him with his antlers”.
Regis Levasseur had cornered the animal in France’s Compiegne forest, about 50 miles north-east of Paris.
Police said 62-year-old had been acting as a beater, who help to flush out and corner prey, during the hunt. He was unarmed.
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“Normally the animal would flee, but this time he decided to charge,” Guy Harlé, president of the local hunters’ federation told The Local. “It came after him.
“The antlers of the stag are like many knives piercing you, there is nothing you can do. This tragic accident reminds us that we do not play with a wild animal. There is an inherent risk with hunting.”
Mr Levasseur had reportedly been due to get married in the next few months.
“For him, hunting was more than a hobby; it was his life,” said Mr Harlé.
Footage of a cornered stag, later shot dead at close range by hunters in Lacroix-Saint-Ouen, caused uproar in France (Fondation 30 Millions d’Amis)
The killing came days after French hunters with hounds sparked uproar by shooting dead an exhausted stag at close range after cornering it in the garden of a house on the edge of Compiegne forest.
The hunters reportedly fed the animal’s carcass to their dogs after killing it in the village of Lacroix-Saint-Ouen.
Footage of the cornered stag, filmed by anti-hunt activists, prompted France’s environment minister Nicolas Hulot to criticise hunting with hounds as “a practice from another century”.
Exposing the Big Game 