Category Archives: Hunting Accidents

Teen Responsible for Hunting Accident Avoids Criminal Charges

Posted on by
2

http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/4425403-essa-teen-responsible-for-hunting-accident-avoids-criminal-charges/

Alliston Herald

BARRIE – A 16-year-old Essa boy who accidentally shot his father and brother in a hunting accident last year has been discharged of criminal charges following a ruling Thursday at the Barrie courthouse.

In January, the court heard how the teen thought he was shooting a wild animal near their Baxter home Nov. 5

According to the testimony, he mistook the carcass of a deer being pushed by his dad and brother in a wheelbarrow along

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

the train tracks as a bear or a cougar.

The shooting happened at 6 p.m. when it was dark outside.

A slug from a single shotgun blast went through his father’s leg and entered his brother’s hip, requiring surgery.

At the hearing in January, he pleaded guilty to careless use of a firearm.

During the presentencing, the court also heard how the boy had an impeccable record prior to this incident and held top marks at school.

The boy cannot be named under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Judges can issue an absolute discharge if it’s in the person’s best interest and if there is no threat to the public. As such, the teen will not have a criminal record.

‘You Don’t Look Like a Deer’

Posted on by
9

http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/2014/02/you-dont-look-like-a-deer-animal-news/

By Steve Dale,            Tuesday at 8:53 am

'You Don't Look Like a Deer': Animal News
Chris Galentine

Anyone can make a mistake. Clint Galentine was on a nature walk in Florida this past Sunday, February 23, when a hunter apparently mistook him for a deer, shooting him not once but twice with a high-powered rifle.

“I don’t know how he mistakenly thought we were animal[s],” Galentine, 37, told ABC Action News from his hospital bed. Galentine doesn’t even have antlers.

The alleged shooter, Michael Trott, 43, reportedly had all the required hunting and firearm licenses, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials. No charges have been filed against Trott, but the investigation is ongoing, as well as perhaps a suggested eye exam.

Galentine was hit twice in the left side and now has difficulty speaking. One bullet went through his left arm, breaking a bone and possibly causing permanent damage.

“I was in a little in shock,” said Galentine. “I looked around and I was bleeding.”

He says the hunter ran up to him and apologized. Not sure what that apology might have sounded like.

Galentine and his family are pushing for a change to the hunting area and location of hiking paths

You know what they say – “at least he hit something.”

This Day in History: Dick Cheney shoots his friend while hunting

Posted on by
2

http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/this-day-in-history-dick-cheney-shoots-his-friend-in-hunting-accident-46119/

The now famous Dick Cheney hunting incident was February 11, 2006 as the then-Vice President Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington during a quail hunt.

photo donkeyhotey donkeyhotey@wordpress.com

photo donkeyhotey donkeyhotey@wordpress.com

Whittington said, “Accidents do and will happen – and that’s what happened last Friday,” a week later.

The NY Times headline read: Cheney shoots fellow hunter in mishap on a Texas ranch

Here’s the official timeline: Cheney, Whittington and Willeford had first shot birds together in a covey. While Whittington was searching for a downed bird, Cheney, Willeford and an ‘Outrider’ (Guide) walked towards another covey about 100 yards (100 m) away. Whittington approached to within 30 or 40 yards (40 m) of the shooters. A single bird flew up, around and behind Cheney in the direction of Whittington. Cheney shot at the bird and hit Whittington. (Source)

Four years later Whittington reportedly told the Washington Post that he bears no ill will toward Cheney. He calls him “a very capable and honorable man” and adds, “He’s said some very kind things to me.”

But the headlines all read: No apology.

Cheney jokes flooded TV programs.

“Over the weekend while on a hunting trip down in Texas, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a member of his hunting party. He apologized. In fact, he told Brit Hume that he was actually trying to hit Cindy Sheehan.” –Jay Leno

“Dick Cheney and his buddies go down there hunting in Texas, and Dick Cheney guns down a guy. And they’re hunting quail, and the quail disappeared. They vanished. And reports now that they’re hiding in the mountainous area near Pakistan” –David Letterman

“President Bush says he is standing behind the vice president. Way behind him.” –Jay Leno

“Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt … making 78-year-old Harry Whittington the first person shot by a sitting veep since Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, of course, (was) shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington? Mistaken for a bird.” –Jon Stewart (Watch video clip)

Hunting accident sidelines Bassmaster champ

Posted on by
3

Tree stand-related accidents are the No. 1 way hunters suffer injuries during hunting season.

        By              Ed Zieralski Jan. 27, 2014
A tree stand accident knocked Bassmaster Champion Cliff Pace out of this year's Bassmaster Classic.
                A tree stand accident knocked Bassmaster Champion Cliff Pace out of this year’s Bassmaster Classic.                                    
Those who think hunter safety only relates to not pointing any gun, loaded or unloaded, in an unsafe way don’t know the scope of being safe in the field or woods.

Take what happened to Cliff Pace as a prime example of how a hunt can go wrong and not have anything to do with a gun. Pace, of Petal, Miss., is the defending champion of the Bassmaster Classic. He was set to defend that title next month at Lake Guntersville near Birmingham, Ala., but an accident in a tree stand last Friday when he was bow hunting during the late deer season knocked Pace out of the Classic. He broke his leg in two places after slipping while getting out of his stand.

I learned long ago that most of tree stand accidents happen getting in or getting out of the tree. I also learned that if you have a tendency to doze off in the woods when waiting for deer, climbing up into a tree stand isn’t a good idea unless you have a very good safety strap and vest to lock you in.

These are common sense deals, as are most hunter safety issues such as not crossing a fence with a loaded gun, leaning a gun against a vehicle, shooting without clearly identifying a target and background and not keeping a safety on when walking or waiting. But sometimes common sense takes a back seat when a big buck or long-bearded tom approaches.

In California, hunters must take a safety class and then pass a test before getting a hunter safety certificate that is required to get a hunting license. With turkey hunting season two months away, now’s the time to get that hunter safety certificate so you can take advantage of the best season of the year – spring gobbler. …

full story: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/Jan/27/hunting-tree-stands-safety/

Other hunting accidents this month include:

Cullman Times Online  – ‎Jan 27, 2014‎
“This is just a tragic accident, and the young man who did the shooting, who was related to Tucker by marriage, was devastated,” Bartlett said.
WFN: World Fishing Network
U-T San Diego  – ‎Jan 27, 2014‎
Pace, of Petal, Miss., is the defending champion of the Bassmaster Classic. He was set to defend that title next month at Lake Guntersville near Birmingham, Ala.
wreg.com  – ‎Jan 29, 2014‎
But Tuesday, his cousin, 14-year old Trey Wilburn, was shot in a hunting accident. As he and another relative climbed into a deer stand, one of their guns went off, hitting Wilburn.
al.com  – ‎Jan 28, 2014‎
J. Wayne Fears, blaze orange, deer hunting.jpg View full sizeWhile hunting-related fatalities are rare taken in context to how many hours people put in the woods, one is too many considering they are all preventable.
wreg.com  – ‎Jan 28, 2014‎
Relatives say the 11-year-old and his 14-year-old brother went to hunt Tuesday morning in a wooded area behind their home, several miles east of the town of Como in Panola County.
Dallas Morning News
Dallas Morning News  – ‎Jan 20, 2014‎
ELDORADO – Texas singer and songwriter Steven Fromholz has died in a hunting accident when a rifle fell and discharged. The Schleicher County Sheriff’s Office on Monday said the accident happened at the Flying B Ranch near Eldorado, about 40 miles …
Martha’s Vineyard Times
Martha’s Vineyard Times  – ‎Jan 7, 2014‎
Monster shark tourney organizer dead in duck hunting accident. This 2010 photo shows Steve James, president of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club and.
The Northwest Florida Daily News
The Northwest Florida Daily News  – ‎Jan 6, 2014‎
Tolar is the third hunter in the past few months to be injured. Kirkland said a person was seriously injured after they fell from a tree stand during the fall while hunting and broke several vertebrae. A Milton man was killed in late November when he …
New York Daily News
New York Daily News  – ‎Jan 13, 2014‎
An upstate prosecutor is moving to indict a Long Island man who shot and killed a pal in a November hunting accident, the Daily News has learned.
WBTW – Myrtle Beach and Florence SC  – ‎Jan 2, 2014‎
Byers said officials were notified at about 4:30 pm Wednesday, that a father had accidentally shot his 8-year-old son while the pair was deer hunting. Byers said the boy was struck by stray buckshot during the incident and had to undergo surgery …
KKTV 11 News  – ‎Jan 5, 2014‎
The Telluride Daily Planet reports Trenten Tyler Sutherland was shot in the head while hunting coyotes with two companions the night of Dec. 27.
Holmes County Times Advertiser
WJHG-TV  – ‎Jan 21, 2014‎
VERNON The Vernon Community is getting behind teenager who accidentally shot herself in a hunting accident Sunday. Doctors in Pensacola had to amputate part of 16 year old Andrea Wright’s right leg.
WXIA-TV
Post Searchlight  – ‎Jan 8, 2014‎
Matthew Jernigan, 17, was recovered from the Chattahoochee River in Seminole County Tuesday afternoon after he fell into the water while duck hunting with two other teenagers earlier that morning. Jernigan, a junior at Southwest Georgia Academy, Payson …
al.com (blog)  – ‎Jan 4, 2014‎
SUMTER COUNTY, Alabama – A man from the Birmingham area was fatally shot in a hunting accident early Saturday, a Mississippi news station has reported.
CMT.com
CMT.com  – ‎Jan 21, 2014‎
Singer-Songwriter Steve Fromholz Dies at 68 in Hunting Accident. Texan’s Songs Were Recorded by Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Others.
The Providence Journal
CBS Local  – ‎Jan 7, 2014‎
WESTPORT, Mass. (AP) _ Two duck hunters died and a third was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after they fell into the frigid waters of the Westport River when their boat capsized.
MyFoxAL  – ‎Jan 13, 2014‎
The county coroner’s office says 37-year-old Adam Scott Jordan died after another member of his three-person hunting group shot him.
WTVA  – ‎Jan 4, 2014‎
HOUSTON, Miss. (AP) – Authorities in Chickasaw County say a teenage boy was shot in the head when his hunting partner’s rifle accidentally fired.
Holmes County Times Advertiser
wmbb  – ‎Jan 20, 2014

Hunting Accident Victim Shot on Own Property Wasn’t Wearing “Proper Attire”

Posted on by
5

http://www.thewesternnews.com/news/article_97a3020a-8aad-11e3-9335-0019bb2963f4.html

Wagner pleads guilty to hunting accident

Friday, January 31, 2014

Michael Wagner, the 48-year-old Libby man who critically wounded a Littleton, Colo., man while hunting Nov. 16 near Libby Creek Road, pleaded guilty last Thursday in Libby Justice Court.

Shortly after the shooting, Wagner entered a not-guilty plea, but that changed last week as Justice of the Peace Jay Sheffield sentenced Wagner for negligent endangerment in the shooting of John Cleveland, 60, and for unlawful hunting from a public roadway. Both are misdemeanors.

For the negligent endangerment charge, Wagner must pay a fine of $500 and a surcharge of $35. On the unlawful hunting from a public roadway charge, Wagner must pay $200 and a $35 surcharge.

Sheffield also imposed a 365-day jail term on the negligent endangerment charge, all but 20 days of which has been suspended. On the unlawful hunting from a roadway charge, Wagner was sentenced to 180 days, all but 20 days of that sentence also was suspended. According to the court, Wagner will serve the concurrent 20-day sentences on 10 weekends. Also, Wagner will have his hunting, trapping and fishing privileges suspended for five years and upon completion of that suspension, he must complete a remedial hunters-education safety class.

Sheffield also ordered Wagner to pay restitution to Cleveland, who still is recovering from the bullet wound to a thigh. A hearing to determine that restitution is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 1, in Justice Court.

Cleveland is a vocal opponent of the Montanore mine project. He and his family own nearly 1,000 acres in the area of Libby Creek where the shooting occurred during deer season. The proposed Montanore Mine is located near the Cleveland family land holdings.

Online comments have attempted to link Wagner’s shooting of Cleveland as retaliation for his opposition to the Montanore Project, but during a recent interview, Cleveland said he thought the shooting was nothing more than an accident.

The day was Saturday, Nov. 16, and the bucks were in peak rut. For hunters, it figured to be the best weekend of the season to be in the woodlands, but for Cleveland and Wagner, it was arguably the worst day of their lives.

Wagner was hunting that day with his son about 10 miles up Libby Creek Road. He shot at a mule deer from a roadway and pursued the deer onto Cleveland’s property when he fired again at what he thought was the deer but turned out to be Cleveland.

Wagner and his son aided Cleveland and even transported him to a waiting ambulance that took him to St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.

At the time of the shooting, Cleveland was not wearing hunter blaze orange. However, he was not prosecuted for the lack of proper attire.

1383590_10202451372112407_1424997098_n

Wildlife Hunter and Former Mayor Killed By Hunting Trap

Posted on by
6

http://gawker.com/wildlife-hunter-and-former-mayor-killed-by-his-own-anim-1510043777

A local politician and wildlife hunter was shot and killed by a hunting trap in the remote mountains of the Philippines, making him the fourth human victim of the “improvised shotgun traps” now used by hunters in the high-elevation forests 250 miles north of Manila.

UPDATE: The original report doesn’t make clear which hunter set the trap. We have corrected this post to reflect that.

The hunter and former small town mayor, Donald Alubia, was killed by a trap sometime after January 16, the news website InterAksyon.com reports. That’s when Alubia and two companions entered the wilderness. When Alubia did not return to camp, a search began.

After villagers carried his body down from the mountainside, an autopsy revealed four shotgun pellets had struck Alubia at close range. Hypothermia was also a factor, as the hunter was shot and then bled to death in below-freezing temperatures at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet.

At his funeral yesterday in the Mountain Province, his relative Ruth Batane said the new shotgun traps had hurt two local hunters and killed another two, including Donald Alubia. The danger, she said, is in the new practice of adding a loaded shotgun to indigenous traps that have been used here for millennia.

 

Teen who shot friend on hunting trip will not spend time in prison

Posted on by
5

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Teen-who-shot-friend-on-hunting-trip-will-not-spend-time-in-prison-242318871.html

by TERESA WOODARD January 27, 2014

Bonnie Tatera sat in her home Monday evening, visibly shaken from the events of the day and of the last few months.

Near a raging fireplace sat a large picture of her son, Nate Maki, who died in August. He was 18 years old.

“Can you give me just a minute?” she asked as she put her face in her hands for a moment.

Tatera lost her son, and the boy who admits to killing him will spend five years on probation.

Michael Bryce Underwood was 17 at the time of the shooting on his grandfather’s property near Bowie, in Montague County. He pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide Monday. Underwood will spend no time in prison.

It is a plea deal Tatera doesn’t like, and she found the strength to talk about it.

“Honestly, I wish [Underwood] would’ve gotten some time, to actually sit and think about what he had done. Whether it was an accident or not,” she said. “I mean, since day one he’s been out. He’s gotten to be with his family. He hangs out with his friends.”

As terms of his probation, Underwood cannot drink alcohol and must finish high school.

“No, I didn’t agree to it,” Tatera said. “I had no say, actually.”

Underwood must also speak at a gun safety course, which is a condition Tatera did request.

Michael Underwood made a tearful call to 911 after shooting

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Maki in August of 2013.

“We were hunting coyotes,” a tearful Underwood told the dispatcher. “I was calling them. I pulled my gun to the left and I accidentally pulled the trigger. The safety was off and it went off in his head. Nate, Nate please. Nate. Oh my God. Sir, I’m begging you. It’s my best friend.”

That 911 call is the only explanation Tatera has ever heard.

“I don’t know the whole story at all,” she said. “And I believe that’s why it hurts so much.”

She said Underwood didn’t look at her during Monday’s court proceeding.

“I feel that he maybe tried to avoid looking in our direction,” she said. “We didn’t have any eye contact. No words were spoken from him to us.”

Nate Maki was a standout football player at Denton Guyer High School. He was a member of the state champion teams and died as his senior year had just started.

His father, Harold Maki, lives in Wisconsin. He sent an e-mail to the Montague County District Attorney, hoping it would be read aloud during Monday’s hearing.

It wasn’t.

He shared that written statement with News 8’s Jim Douglas, saying communities from Texas to Wisconsin were mourning Nate’s loss.

“It hurts so bad!!!! We’ve heard so many stories of what happened the night of August 31, 2013. I believe Bryce has lied too many times [about] what happened that night. I don’t know if we will ever know the truth!”

The elder Maki also said probation was less than a slap on the wrist.

He and Tatera said every facet of their lives are different. They did not think their pain could get any worse, but both say the outcome of the court proceeding proved them wrong.

Because Underwood hasn’t shown remorse, or said he’s sorry, Tatera said she has not found forgiveness.

“And I can’t right now, I can’t find peace,” she said.

That’s Funny, I Thought ALL Hunting Was Negligent, Careless or Reckless

Posted on by
13

Attica man charged after hunting accident

January 22, 2014

By Erika Platt-Handru – Staff Writer The Advertiser-Tribune

An Attica man has been charged with negligent hunting in connection to an accident that injured another hunter in December.

According to court documents, Donald C. Martin, 64, has been charged with negligent, careless or reckless hunting, a first-degree misdemeanor, for an accident Dec. 3 in which a man was shot in the foot.

According to documents from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Martin had been shooting a coyote that was between him and a companion hunter when a round struck the other man in the foot. The pair had been deer hunting with other hunters when the coyote emerged from the woods.

Martin told law enforcement he believed the round had ricocheted and struck the man. The victim was transported to Mercy Willard Hospital by private vehicle where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

According to ODNR documents, Martin had been properly licensed and permitted for deer hunting.

The ODNR has recommend Tiffin Municipal Court impose a $250 fine and a one-year hunting license revocation. Martin is scheduled to appear next week for an arraignment.

http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/page/content.detail/id/560873/Attica-man-charged-after-hunting-accident.html?nav=5005
574922_10150775941916188_960382052_n

Man shoots friend while hunting for Bigfoot

Posted on by
4

SmalfutOmar Pineda, 21, heard what he thought was ‘barking’ when he turned and shot his unidentified Sasquatch-hunting partner in some woods north of Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, police said. The victim was shot in the back and expected to survive.
Comments (4)
By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Two men were hunting for Bigfoot in rural Oklahoma when one of them accidentally shot the other, police said.

Omar Pineda, 21, was spooked by what he thought was “barking” when he jerked around and shot his pal in a wooded area north of Tulsa on Saturday, Tulsa’s News 6 reported.

The friend, who wasn’t identified, was shot in the back and expected to survive.

EMTs met the pair at a QuikTrip convenience store after the shooting.

Pineda was arrested for reckless conduct with a firearm and obstruction.

His father-in-law, Perry James, and his wife, Lacey Pineda, were also arrested for helping the Sasquatch hunters evade investigation.

Cops said James, 53, tossed Pineda’s gun in a pond on his property, while the 22-year-old Lacey told cops someone else fired at the pair, News 6 reported.

“If (they) had just been factual, upfront and truthful with us and explained that this was truly an accident, as strange as it might sound, we would have went ahead and investigated and probably nobody would have (gone) to jail,” Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton told the station.

He added, “To our knowledge, (there have been) no Bigfoot sightings in Rogers County.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-shoots-friend-hunting-bigfoot-article-1.1505909#ixzz2r12LQhug

Husband Shoots Wife While Hunting Wabbit

Posted on by
9

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/278637/2/Husband-shoots-wife-while-hunting-rabbit

JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) – A 24 year-old woman was shot by her husband while they were hunting in Jamestown Township Saturday.

Ottawa County Sheriff’s deputies say the couple was hunting near 16th Avenue and Bryon Road 3:30 p.m.
Deputies say the husband was attempting to shoot a rabbit, and lost track of his wife.

The woman was taken to the hospital by Aero Med, but is in stable condition. This shooting remains under investigation.

Fudd