Category Archives: Hunting Accidents

The Most Common Hunting Accident

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As one FB friend commented: Climbing a tall ladder to a tiny rickety platform while drunk is never going to end well…

http://wane.com/2014/11/11/tree-stand-falls-most-common-hunting-accident/

Tree stand falls most-common hunting accident

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — At least eight Indiana hunters have fallenimagesQB1DEJIT from elevated stands since the archery deer hunting season opened Oct. 1, in what state wildlife officials say is typically the most common hunting accident.

One such accident happened Sunday in western Indiana’s Vigo County. Dave Archer, 60, of Rosedale fell about 20 feet from his hunting stand, state conservation Officer Max Winchell said. Archer was able to use a cellphone to call for help and was taken to an Indianapolis hospital in critical condition, the Tribune-Star reported.

Winchell said Archer fell asleep, leading to the fall.

“This is a common accident,” Winchell said. “Accidents involving tree stands are the No. 1 hunting accident.”

About 100 tree-stand falls have been reported to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources over the past five years, out of some 180 hunting accidents, agency spokesman Phil Bloom said.

Most of those who fell from tree stands were not wearing any form of fall prevention device, which could have prevented serious injury, Bloom said. The agency recommends hunters wear a full-body harness, which is attached to the tree as soon as they being to climb and prevents them from falling from a slip or after falling asleep.

Indiana’s firearm deer hunting season starts Friday and ends Nov. 30, while the archery season continues until Jan. 4. Muzzleloader season runs from Dec. 6 until Dec. 21.
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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com

Wyoming hunter dies from accidental shooting

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http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming-hunter-dies-from-accidental-shooting/article_e827d2fb-7ca7-52c4-add2-4e1665ea2135.html

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2014-11-10T12:00:00Z Wyoming hunter dies from accidental shooting missoulian.com
2 hours ago

CODY, Wyo. (AP) — A Cody man has died from an accidental gunshot wound to both legs.

Authorities say 39-year-old Bruce Ellyson was hunting with some friends east of the Clearwater Campground in the Shoshone National Forest on Sunday when the accident occurred.

The Park County Sheriff’s Office says Ellyson and his companions had just finished their hunt and were preparing to leave when a rifle leaning against a vehicle fell over and fired.

Ellyson was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Billings, Mont., where he died from his injuries.

Oregon Woman Killed by Her Father in Hunting Accident

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http://www.kpic.com/news/local/One-confirmed-dead-in-hunting-accident-near-Myrtle-Creek-281010012.html

Sheriff IDs woman killed in hunting accident

 By News Staff  Oct 30, 2014

MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. – A 20-year-old woman died when her father accidentally shot her while the two hunted near Clarks Branch Road Thursday, about 10 miles north of Myrtle Creek, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff identified the victim as 20-year-old Rachel Frerichs of Roseburg.
She was hunting with her father Don Frerichs, 49, when she suffered a gunshot wound just before 11 a.m. Thursday.
Lifesaving efforts by the father and first responders were not successful. pronounced dead at the scene.

The Douglas County Major Crimes Team is continuing their investigation into the incident.

Hunting Accident Kills One

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http://www.wlos.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/hunting-accident-kills-one-17818.shtml#.VCRewGd0y1s

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. — One man is dead after a hunting accident in Transylvania County on Thursday night.

Deputies say a friend of George Harley Case Jr., 58, reportedly mistook Case for a deer while the two were hunting together and shot and killed him with a crossbow.

It happened near Lyda Creek Road. When first responders arrived around 7:45, Case, of Pisgah Forest, was dead.

According to hunting regulations, hunters are not required to wear blaze orange during archery deer season. Deer hunting season for archers opened last Saturday. This is the first incident that’s been reported so far in the mountains.

“They weren’t doing anything wrong, they didn’t have orange on, but in North Carolina during bow season you don’t have to wear orange. That’s just during the gun and rifle season,” Capt. Kevin Creasman with Transylvania Co. Sheriff’s Dept. said.

The two men had been hunting for a couple of hours on private property about a mile into the woods when the incident happened.

Hunting officials say said both men were experienced hunters. The incident is under investigation, but right now no charges have been filed. According to deputies, the shooting was an accident.

The name of the man who shot the arrow has not been released. North Carolina Wildlife is also taking a look at this case, and could possibly bring charges against that hunter.

An autopsy is scheduled for Friday in Winston-Salem.

Wisconsin boy shoots father while hunting illegally

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/sheriff-wisconsin-boy-shoots-father-while-hunting-b99356343z1-275988771.html

By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel

Sept. 22, 2014

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.

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It Looks Like Hunting Accident Season is Here Again

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Hunting accident or crime?

Springfield News-Leader  – ‎2 hours ago‎
“This is based very closely to a real case where the wife’s boyfriend thought the best way to get rid of the husband was by shooting him and making it look like a hunting accident,” said Rod Slings, an Iowa-based instructor. He was part of last week’s …

Woman shot, killed in hunting accident in Pickens County Saturday

AL.com  – ‎Sep 15, 2014‎
ALICEVILLE, Ala. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials in western Alabama say they’ve investigating the death of a woman who was shot during a hunting trip. Pickens County Sheriff David Abston tells the Tuscaloosa News 29-year-old Heather Garner was killed when …
Pickens County woman killed in Saturday hunting accidentTuscaloosa News (subscription) (blog)
Community mourns woman killed in hunting accidentWIAT 42
See realtime coverage »
fox13now.com

Police: Man accidentally shoots, kills brother in hunting accident

fox13now.com  – ‎Sep 15, 2014‎
RICH COUNTY, Utah – A 49-year-old man is dead after his brother shot him during a hunting accident Saturday afternoon in Rich County, according to the Rich County Sheriff’s Office.
Rich County man shoots, kills brother in hunting accidentSalt Lake Tribune
Man dies in hunting accident in northern UtahCT Post
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Chiawana HS QB Seriously Injured in Hunting Accident

KVEW  – ‎Sep 16, 2014‎
Chiawana High School Quarterback Mac Graff suffers a serious back injury in a hunting accident over the weekend. According to the Chiawana Sports Facebook page, Graff fell and hurt his back.
Chiawana quarterback may not walk after accidentKEPR 19

Hunting accident kills one near Little Creek Reservoir

KSL.com  – ‎Sep 15, 2014‎
LITTLE CREEK RESERVOIR – A 49-year-old man was shot and killed in a hunting accident Saturday afternoon, police said. Police received a call around 6:30 p.m.
Deseret News

Man killed in apparent hunting accident

Deseret News  – ‎Sep 15, 2014‎
Limited information about the shooting was released Monday by the Rich County Sheriff’s Office pending an investigation.

Alabama Woman Killed in Hunting Accident

WTOK  – ‎Sep 16, 2014‎
Sheriff’s officials in Pickens County say they’re investigating the death of a woman who was shot during a hunting trip.
WBIR-TV

10-year-old Knoxville boy injured in hunting accident

WBIR-TV  – ‎Sep 2, 2014‎
A Knoxville boy was injured in a hunting accident Monday evening. According to TWRA, the 10-year-old was dove hunting at the Buffalo Springs Wildlife Management Area in Grainger County when he accidentally shot himself in the foot.
Youth Hunter Injured In Hunting Accident In Grainger CountyThe Chattanoogan
10-year-old Knoxville hunter shoots self in footKnoxville News Sentinel
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Boy shot in Dinwiddie hunting accident OK

Richmond Times-Dispatch  – ‎Sep 2, 2014‎
DINWIDDIE —A 10-year-old who was accidentally sprayed with shotgun pellets in Dinwiddie County during the first day of dove hunting season has been treated and released from a local hospital. The boy, who wasn’t identified, was struck two times in the …

Boy injured in Dinwiddie hunting accident

Progress Index  – ‎Sep 2, 2014‎
The boy, who is from Dinwiddie, was taken to Southside Regional Medical Center for treatment, and was released yesterday. Dinwiddie sheriff’s deputies and EMS responded to the scene, and DGIF continues to investigate.
10-year-old recovering after Va. hunting accidentBluefield Daily Telegraph
10 Year Old Hurt In Hunting AccidentWRIC
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Man in serious condition after hunting accident

Gadsden Times  – ‎Sep 2, 2014‎
One man is in serious condition at UAB Hospital after a hunting accident in the Lakeshore Drive area of Rainbow City, Rainbow City Police Capt.

Man dies after being shot by brother in hunting accident in northern Utah

Greenfield Daily Reporter  – ‎Sep 15, 2014‎
SALT LAKE CITY – Northern Utah authorities say a 49-year-old man was fatally shot in a hunting accident over the weekend. KSL-TV reports (http://bit.

Man wounded by arrow in hunting accident

The Columbian  – ‎Sep 2, 2014‎
While the Volcano Rescue Team began hiking out to the injured hunter, it became obvious that the rugged terrain about 14 miles northeast of Mount St. Helens in Skamania County would make it difficult to get the man out of the area and into an ambulance …
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New York Times

Reflections on a Shooting Range Death, From One Who Knows

New York Times  – ‎Aug 30, 2014‎
WHEN I was 12 years old, I killed a younger brother in a hunting accident near our home in upstate New York. I returned to that memory this week, when I read about what happened to the young New Jersey girl who lost control of a submachine gun at a …

After fatal gun accidents, children can find comfort in poetry

PBS NewsHour  – ‎Sep 5, 2014‎
JEFFREY BROWN: When he was 12 years ago old, Gregory Orr accidentally killed his younger brother in a hunting accident near their home in Upstate New York.
Making others less aloneCommonweal (blog)
See realtime coverage »
Standard-Examiner

Brother Shoots Brother to Death in Hunting Accident

Knrs  – ‎Sep 15, 2014‎
NORTHERN UTAH AUTHORITIES SAY, A 49-YEAR-OLD MAN WAS FATALLY SHOT — BY HIS BROTHER — IN A WEEKEND HUNTING ACCIDENT. THE RICH COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT REPORTS, THE TWO BROTHERS WERE HUNTING …
Sheriff: Hunter ‘distraught’ after killing brotherBeaumont Enterprise
See realtime coverage »

Man shot dead in hunting accident

The Local.se  – ‎Sep 1, 2014‎
Police were on the scene on Monday morning after a man in his mid-twenties was shot during an elk-hunting trip in Västerbotten.

Fatal instructor shooting a ‘freak accident‘ and ‘sheer stupidity,’ gun range …

The Express-Times – lehighvalleylive.com  – ‎Sep 3, 2014‎
“It wasn’t education,” Cramsey said of the fatal accident. “It was sheer stupidity.” Gun violence prevention advocate Shira Goodman, of CeaseFire PA, said she hopes the sad incident can start a conversation about children at gun ranges.

Roadblock set to benefit hunting accident victim

Gadsden Times  – ‎Sep 4, 2014‎
The friends of Cody Kuechle, a Rainbow City man injured in a Labor Day hunting accident, plan to raise money Saturday to offset expenses related to his hospitalization.

Jury to decide if deadly Jeffersonville shooting was homicide or accident

WLKY Louisville  – ‎30 minutes ago‎

Roadblocks to Raise Funds for Victims of Hunting

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An Alabama paper, the Gadsden Times, reported the other day that a goose hunter was critically wounded by friendly fire. Apparently the victim and his buddy were both carrying loaded shotguns when his buddy slipped and hit him point blank in the side. 

They followed that article up with news that there would be a roadblock set up to collect donations to help offset the victim’s hospital costs.

My first reaction mirrored that of a Facebook friend who succinctly commented, “Un-fucking-believable.” The nerve of stopping everyone on the highway to ask that they fund a hunter’s recovery from a hunting accident! 

Then the thought came to me: two can play at that game.

I propose we set up road-blocks—everywhere there is hunting going on—to collect funds for the wildlife victims of hunting. Whenever a goose is winged by a shotgun blast, a deer is crippled by an arrow, a bear escapes on three legs from a shoulder wound or an animal is found struggling in a trap, hunters would have to pay for their rehabilitation and return to the wild. 

I guarantee if hunters had to put their money where their mouths are, it would cut down on the prolonged animal suffering inherent in the sport of hunting.

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Bowhunter accidentally stabs himself with arrow

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[Not exactly “fair chase.” When a hunter gets hurt, they can count on helicopter ride out to the safety of a cozy hospital bed. Not so with the animals, whose very survival is at stake in this so-called “game.”]
 
Hunter accidentally stabs self with arrow near Mount St. Helens
 
By Associated Press Published: Sep 3, 2014

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) – A bow hunter accidentally stabbed himself with an arrow while hiking in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest about 14 miles northeast of Mount St. Helens.

The Columbian reports the man was walking through rough terrain Tuesday when an arrow fell out of his quiver and it somehow pierced a calf muscle.

The Volcano Rescue Team says rescuers began hiking to the injured man, but because of the remote forest location a helicopter was dispatched to airlift him to a hospital.

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Hunter Mistakes Car For Wild Boar And Kills Driver

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http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the_World/2014-08-06/51554/Hunter_Mistakes_Car_For_Wild_Boar_And_Kills_Driver#.U_jITDYBI3E.facebook

06. 08. 14.

A short-sighted hunter who shot a car driver dead and wounded his passenger after bizarrely mistaking them for wild pigs is facing 5 years in jail.

Zbigniew Kowalski, 60, from the town of Leczyca in central Poland, had been out hunting in a nearby forest when he spotted the car containing victims Lukasz Nowakowski, 21, who survived, and Josef Kuchar, 23, who later died.

Mistaking the car for a wild boar he had let off a volley of shots, hitting Kuchar in the neck and Nowakowski in the chest.

Prosecutor Krzystof Kopania said: “The two men were wounded, but the driver Josef Kuchar, who later died, managed to drive them both to his home where his parents immediately called an ambulance.

“But by the time he got to hospital it was too late.

“We identified the hunter, he was immediately detained and he confirmed that he had mistakenly shot at the car. He realised his mistake when the ‘wild boar’ started its engine and drove off, but because whoever had driven off had clearly been alive he assumed he had missed the vehicle.”

Kowalsk later said he had not called police as a result and had carried on hunting. It was only when police cars turned up that and he was questioned by officers did he realise he had indeed hit somebody in the car.

Police confirmed that he will now be charged with manslaughter.

Fudd

Hunter pleads not guilty to starting massive California wildfire

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/13/us-usa-california-fire-idUSKBN0GD01O20140813

(Reuters) – A California hunter pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges that he started a massive wildfire on the edge of Yosemite National Park last summer after building an illegal campfire.

Keith Matthew Emerald, 32, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Fresno almost exactly a year after prosecutors say he sparked the Rim Fire, which scorched 260,000 acres on public and private land in and near the park.

Emerald, who lives near the area burned by the fire, is charged with setting timber afire, leaving a fire unattended, violating campfire restrictions and giving a false statement to a government agency. He is expected to be released from custody after his $60,000 bail is posted.

Federal prosecutors say Emerald built a fire in the remote dry brush of Stanislaus National Forest, where temporary campfire restrictions were in effect because of drought, while on a bow-and-arrow hunting trip last August.

Embers from the campfire reached parched branches overhead and sparked the devastating wildfire named after the Rim of the World lookout spot nearby.

The flames scorched 402 square miles, destroyed nearly 100 structures and cost more than $127 million.

“The Rim Fire was one of the largest in California history and caused tremendous economic and environmental harm,” said Scott Harris, a U.S. Forest Service special agent in charge of the area where the Rim Fire took place. “While those harms cannot be undone, today we have brought criminal charges relating to the cause of that fire.”

Rescuers airlifted Emerald from the burning forest about an hour after the wildfire began, according to court documents. Emerald initially told investigators that he did not set fire to anything during his trip.

Federal prosecutors say that Emerald lit a campfire and then lied about it to investigators. If convicted of all four counts, he faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and $510,000 in fines. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 14.

Emerald’s attorneys were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Jennifer Chaussee from San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Eric Walsh)