Category Archives: Hunting Accidents

The Rest of the Story: Jay Leggett Dies After Killing Deer

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http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/showbiz/jay-leggett-death/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Comedian Jay Leggett dies after killing deer

By Alan Duke, CNN

updated 8:25 PM EST, Mon November 25, 2013

(CNN) — Comedian Jay Leggett, who produced a documentary about the joys of deer hunting, died of natural causes at the end of a deer hunt Saturday.

Leggett, 50, collapsed and died next to his all-terrain vehicle at the end of a hunt on the first day of gun deer season in his native Tomahawk, Wisconsin, according to Lincoln County sheriff’s spokesman Mike Caylor. A deer that Leggett had killed was strapped to the ATV.

Leggett’s 2011 film “To the Hunt: Deer Season in Tomahawk, Wisconsin” documented deer camp life and “the fun, family and fraternity of the hunt,” according to promotional materials.

“The victim had returned to the cabin from his deer stand on an ATV,” the sheriff’s statement said. “When he got off the machine he collapsed and was found unresponsive by family members who immediately started CPR.” […to no avail.]

First him, then Brian Griffin--what's the world coming to?

First him, then Brian Griffin–what’s the world coming to?

Too Much Hunt: Actor and Wisconsin native died Saturday after day of hunting

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Jay Leggett is seen giving an interview at the 2010 premiere of his documentary “To the Hunt” in Tomahawk.

Journal Sentinel files

Jay Leggett is seen giving an interview at the 2010 premiere  of his documentary “To the Hunt” in Tomahawk.

Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/grant-county-hunter-accidently-shoots-himself-in-hand-b99149535z1-233220591.html#ixzz2lgQdr8DW Follow us: @JournalSentinel on Twitter

By Kevin Crowe of the Journal Sentinel

A Hollywood actor and comedian known in his native Wisconsin for his love of hunting died Saturday after participating in the first day of the state’s gun deer season in Lincoln County.

Jay Leggett, 50, collapsed and died Saturday afternoon, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Authorities also reported six people had been injured in hunting accidents around the state as of Sunday afternoon, double the number of injuries reported last year on opening weekend.

“It’s been high this year,” said John King, a conservation warden with the state Department of Natural Resources.

Leggett, a native of Tomahawk who lived in Los Angeles, co-wrote and acted in the 2004 film “Employee of the Month” starring Matt Dillon and Christina Applegate, appeared in the TV series “In Living Color” and “NYPD Blue,” and produced his own documentary about Wisconsin deer hunting culture, “To the Hunt.”

Emergency crews responded to a call shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday and found family members trying to revive Leggett in a cabin in the town of Tomahawk.

The Lincoln County coroner pronounced him dead at the scene.

Also on Saturday, a stray bullet struck a man while he sat at his kitchen table in Monroe County, the DNR said. The bullet traveled through a window and the back of the man’s chair before hitting him.

The man suffered some bruising, and the bullet broke the skin before falling to the floor.

The DNR is still investigating the incident and has not been able to identify a shooter.

A 52-year-old man was shot Sunday in the back of the leg while hunting in a stand in the Sheboygan County town of Lyndon. Cascade Fire Department members transported the man out of the hunting area using a 6×6 vehicle, the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department said.

The Cascade man was then taken to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton. His injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

The other four injuries reported by the DNR involved hunters accidentally shooting themselves.

The DNR reported selling more than 615,000 gun deer licenses for this year’s season.

‘Favorite place on earth’

Leggett left Wisconsin decades ago to pursue a career as an actor and comedian, but he said in a 2010 Journal Sentinel interview he never lost his love of Lincoln County.

“It’s my favorite place on earth,” Leggett said at the time, during a trip to Tomahawk for the premiere of “To the Hunt.”

He shared a remote hunting camp with his family and friends on 360 acres in western Lincoln County, the article noted.

He had missed only two opening days since he was 12, once as a high school senior to participate in a state theater competition, the other time when he was directing a play in London.

Leggett told the Journal Sentinel his experience at the camp, known as Newwood Club, moved him to embark on a project to document the camps.

“Most people in America have no idea this exists,” he said.

 

Young German shepherd shot dead on opening day of hunting season

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Believe it or not, there’s been another dog shot by a hunter! This one must have been mistaken for a deer…

http://www.examiner.com/article/young-german-shepherd-shot-dead-on-opening-day-of-hunting-season

11/21/2013

A family in Grant, Mich., is mourning the loss of their young German shepherd who was shot and killed on the opening day of hunting season, reported Wednesday’s Detroit Free Press.

According to the one-year-old dog’s guardian, Morghan Nelson, the shooting took place on the family’s rural property, where hunting is not allowed.

The dog, named “Vera,” had been let out in the early evening to go to the bathroom; shortly thereafter, a shot rang out and Vera did not return.

Family and friends searched into the night and again the next day for the missing dog; eventually, her body was discovered in a creek, not far from home.

Whoever shot the young dog removed her collar and walked away.

The family is grieving over the loss of their companion – the dog was a friend and playmate to Nelson’s young son, and an integral part of the entire family.

Nelson stated:

“
“She slept with me in my bed. She loved popcorn, she was a big part of our family.””

The cruel incident has been reported to the Michigan State Police and the family is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the person behind the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call 231-873-2171

This is a deer--not a dog. If you look close, you can see the difference. Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

This is a deer–not a dog. If you look close, you can see the difference. Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

“This is What Happened” when Montana Wolf Hunter Shot a Dog

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UPDATE on Shooting of dog near Lolo. In his own words, this is the account of the tragedy posted on Facebook by Layne Spence, owner of the dog:

“What is on my mind is the tragedy that has taken place and the miss quotes from the media and the Sheriffs dept. So I am setting the record straight. This is what happened….

I went crosscountry skiing up at Lee Creek campground where I have gone in the past. Knowing it was hunting season I put the bright lights that are on all three of my dogs collars.

After skiing for about 200-300 yards I here “tat”, my dog in front of me, his rear leg is blown off. I scream “no,no,no,stop stop” and as I near my dog who was 15 yards in front of me I hear “tat,tat,tat,tat.”

I look up and there is the “hunter” and I screamed “what have you done?” Screaming hysterically, the man says ” I thought it was a wolf.”

I said “You just killed my dog, you killed one of my kids.”

I started screaming “noooooo.” He started to say something like “can I do something,” not I am sorry.

I said “Do you know what a wolf looks like? You killed my dog.”

The man took off, I just screamed “noooooooo” and tried to put him back together but his leg was torn off and yes 15 yards in front of me and yes he was shot with an ASSAULT rifle, I know I have seen them it was either an AR 15 or AR 14. It was all black had a sound supressor and that was why no big BOOM BOOM semi automatic.

I know guns, I don’t have any but I have shot them before, and yes I have hunted both Bow and Rifle. It is the irresponsible hunters who think they can shoot any animal they see if they are in the woods.

The MT Fish and Wildlife said they couldn’t press any charges because it wasn’t a game animal on the road, it was a domestic animal. What???? Bullshit, So I left my skiis and poles there, put my Little Dave’s bloody and broken body on my shoulder and hiked out to also get my other dogs to safety.

So no charges, I call the police dept who gives me examples of people getting hurt because of the public outcry and are afraid of vigilante violence. But the truth is still one of our rights and so is freedom of speech. I don’t want this guy to get hurt , but something needs to be done…I am heart truly heart broken, everything I do is for my dogs, from where I live, to what I drive, and what I do is predicated on the lives of my dogs…Thank you to everyone who has wished myself and my other dogs Frank and Rex well…Layne”

Layne Spence's Malamutes Rex and Frank sit waiting and watching over Little Dave, front, who was killed by a hunter with an assault rifle

Layne Spence’s Malamutes Rex and Frank sit waiting and watching over Little Dave, front, who was killed by a hunter with an assault rifle

Hunting Is a Destructive Preoccupation

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Not that it’s all that unusual considering the destructive nature of the so-called “sport,” but hunters seem to be chalking up a lot of cases of mistaken identity lately. A prime example: over the weekend in Montana, a hunter mistook someone’s dog for a wolf and shot it to death with his assault rifle, 20 yards from the dog’s guardian who yelled frantically for the shooter to stop.

Meanwhile today’s NY Daily News tells us of a “Long Island firefighter killed when mistaken for deer by friend in hunting tragedy” Their article reports:

A beloved Long Island firefighter was killed in an upstate hunting accident after a buddy mistook him for a deer, sources told the Daily News on Monday.

Charles Bruce, 52, was on an annual hunting trip with friends from the Malverne Fire Department when the tragedy unfolded about 10:20 a.m. Saturday in rural Westford, about 11 miles east of Cooperstown, law enforcement sources said.

“Unfortunately, it was a high-powered rifle. He was dead before he hit the ground,” Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl told The News.

“Charlie had a bad back, so he went back to his room to rest. And when he came back out, one guy saw a tree move and fired,” said a close friend of the victim’s who asked to remain anonymous.

The shooter was an active Malverne firefighter who moved on to a nonfirefighting role with the Department and is “destroyed” over the incident…

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

The shooter was “destroyed” emotionally; at the same time, his hunting partner, as well as the deer they shoot, are all destroyed literally.

Clearly, hunting is a pretty destructive preoccupation.

I don’t care how many hunter safety courses they attend, when it comes right down to the heat of the moment, trigger itch all too often takes the place of cool resolve or good judgment. Completely lost are notions of ethics or accuracy, not to mention target identification.

Update: Sheriff’s office: Shooting of dog near Lolo Pass wasn’t criminal

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90823_Pred_ATACShttp://missoulian.com/news/local/sheriff-s-office-shooting-of-dog-near-lolo-pass-wasn/article_cbe9343c-5081-11e3-9f2f-001a4bcf887a.html

The hunter who shot a Missoula man’s dog on the assumption it was a wolf near Lee Creek campground on Sunday committed a tragedy but probably not a crime, according to county and state law enforcement officials.

“If we have any more information, if the guy comes forward, it will be investigated further,” Missoula County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Paige Pavalone said Monday. “This is an awful accident. But if it doesn’t fit into a state statute that we can enforce, it’s very difficult to investigate. We’re more than willing to help this person. We want to figure out what happened.”

But beyond taking the initial report from dog owner Layne Spence about the shooting, the sheriff’s office did not see evidence of a crime to be investigated, Pavalone said. The report was passed on to the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the U.S. Forest Service, whose law enforcement agents reached the same conclusion Monday.

That’s because, according to the statement Spence gave to law enforcement, the shooter tried to apologize after mistaking the brown-and-white malamute dog for a wolf. Spence told the deputy that he told the man to leave him alone and the man left.

That conversation, according to Pavalone, made it extremely difficult to show criminal intent on the part of the shooter. Without criminal intent, the accidental shooting of a domesticated dog is not a crime. It could trigger a civil lawsuit over the loss of personal property, but the sheriff’s office does not investigate civil disputes.

Spence reported the killing of his dog, Little Dave, to the sheriff’s office Sunday afternoon. Spence told a deputy he was cross-country skiing on a road above the Lee Creek campground with his three malamute dogs when a hunter shot one of them on the road. According to the deputy’s report, Spence said Little Dave was wearing a collar with a light when it was shot about 20 yards in front of him.

“The hunter resumed fire and shot approximately four more times, killing the dog,” Pavalone quoted from Spence’s statement. The deputy confirmed the dog was wearing a lighted collar and was shot at least twice, in the neck and rear leg.

Spence told the deputy the hunter approached him and said he thought the dog was a wolf, according to the report. He said the hunter asked if there was anything he could do, but Spence said he was so distraught he told the man to leave. Spence told the deputy the hunter did not make any threatening gestures toward

On Monday, FWP Warden Capt. Joe Jaquith said his agency is strictly limited to crimes involving game animals. Because the dog was a domesticated pet, it would not fall under a game warden’s jurisdiction. And even though it was allegedly shot while standing in a forest road, and hunters may not shoot game animals on a road, that law doesn’t apply to domesticated pets.

Spence told the deputy the man was wearing camouflage with a hunter orange vest, and was pulling an orange sled. He told the deputy the man had a black rifle that appeared to be semiautomatic, but “didn’t believe it was an assault rifle,” Pavalone said, quoting the report. Spence had earlier told the Missoulian the shooter was carrying “an assault weapon.”

Spence could not be reached for comment on Monday. A phone number he previously gave the Missoulian was reported out of service or disconnected.

Wolf hunting is legal in Montana for any qualified hunter with an over-the-counter license. There is no rule prohibiting the use of military-style rifles in hunting, as long as they are legal for civilian ownership.

The U.S. Forest Service maintains the Lee Creek campground for non-motorized winter use. Lolo National Forest recreation manager Al Hilshey said the area is popular with cross-country skiers who like to bring their dogs.

Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com

Gotta love this comment”crowe – 3 hours ago
“Let me see if I understand this correctly: It’s not criminal to “mis-shoot” something? Not even a fine or license suspension?

And, it is the responsibility of those NOT HUNTING to avoid getting shot, not the people who are licensed by the state to hunt? However, wouldn’t an expert hunter and outdoorsman be able to recognize what it is they are hunting? “Sorry ma’am, but your horse should’ve been wearing a vest. I thought you were riding an elk.”

So, to take this a step further, how are wolves supposed to recognize commercial livestock from say, wild animals open for hunting, if we, the superior species, can’t do it?”

Missoula man says wolf hunter shot, killed pet malamute

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http://missoulian.com/news/local/missoula-man-says-wolf-hunter-shot-killed-pet-malamute/article_56b74a38-5003-11e3-9610-0019bb2963f4.html

by Betsey Cohen

A Missoula man is heartbroken and angry after a day of cross-country skiing with his malamute dogs near Lolo Pass turned into his worst nightmare Sunday afternoon.

Layne Spence was skiing with his three dogs on a quiet logging road in Lee Creek when, according to Spence, a rifle shot echoed through the air.

Then, Spence saw his 2-year-old brown and white dog, “Little Dave,” fall down with a shot to a leg.

About 15 yards away from him and his dogs, Spence saw a man in camouflage holding an assault weapon.

“I started screaming ‘Stop, stop,’ and the man kept shooting,” said Spence, 48, and who is often seen walking his dogs around Missoula’s river front. “And he kept shooting.”

“My dog is lying there, dead and I shouted ‘What are you doing?’ and the guy said, ‘I thought it was a wolf.’ ”

After the man allegedly shot Spence’s dog six times, he took off without another word, leaving Spence to deal with the tragedy of his dead dog.

Spence abandoned his skiing gear to carry Little Dave out, and to get his other two malamutes, Frank and Rex, to the safety of his truck.

When he got back to Missoula, Spence filed a report with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department.

“This doesn’t have to happen,” said an obviously distraught Spence. “Not every big dog is a wolf. These are pets, they all had their collars and lights on, they were all with me the entire time.

“People need to know what a wolf looks like before they start shooting,” he said. “And I was standing right there.

“What if I had a child on a sled, what would have happened if a bullet ricocheted?”

“There are other people who use the woods besides hunters this time of year.”

The incident remains under investigation by the Missoula Sheriff’s Department.

Anyone who has information about the shooting is asked to call Crimestoppers at721-4444.

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Hunters drive off Lewis County cliff, woman dies

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[That’s funny, I didn’t know there were any 2,000′ cliffs in Doty.]

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/11/hunters-drive-off-lewis-county-cliff-woman-dies/

by Nick Provenza

DOTY, Lewis County (AP) — The Pacific County sheriff’s office says a couple who were hunting drove their truck off a logging road and it fell about 2,000 feet down a cliff into a ravine.

Deputy Pat Matlock says the woman driving died at the scene Tuesday and a man in the passenger’s seat suffered critical injuries and was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The Chronicle reports another couple hunting with the pair hadJohnLennonInstantKarmaFrench7InchSingleCover to drive to a location with cell phone reception to call for help.

The accident occurred on Weyerhaeuser land near the western edge of Lewis County, so Pacific deputies responded along with the Washington State Patrol and Raymond Fire Department.

Deer-hunting season comes with self-inflicted hazards

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By Michael Aubry ,Ottawa Sun

First posted: Saturday, November 16, 2013

Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

A viciously amputated finger.

A bullet-sized hole to the shoulder.

These potentially fatal accidents are just some of the examples that have already plagued this year’s deer-hunting season.

A peaceful romp through the woods can easily prove deadly — and punctuated by shrill cries for help — after just a moment of inattention.

“It’s important to have proper respect for a firearm, it’s a lethal force and a dangerous weapon,” said Steven Aubry, district enforcement supervisor with the Ministry of Natural Resources.

“Any incident can be deadly. Hunting should be a safe and enjoyable pastime.”

Ontario Provincial Police are probing six accidental shootings in southern and eastern Ontario this year so far.

A 75-year-old man shot himself while hunting in North Glengarry Township Thursday.

Later that same day, a 23-year-old was shot in a hunting accident in North Grenville.

Earlier last week, a 59-year-old man was shot in an accident just outside Smiths Falls. But they likely won’t be the last.

There have been an average of 10 serious hunting incidents every year for the past 20 years, including last year when 22-year-old Andrew Winnicki was killed in a freak accident bird hunting in Osgoode.

Aubry said these rare slip-ups are almost always linked to the four cardinal rules of hunting — and those who break them.

Every hunter should assume their gun is loaded at all times.

That means maintaining control of their muzzle, keeping their finger off the trigger until they’re ready to shoot, and never point at something they don’t intend to kill.

“Hunters have to understand that when you point a loaded firearm at something, you’re prepared to destroy it, so gun control is so important,” he said

More: http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/11/16/deer-hunting-season-comes-with-self-inflicted-hazards

Hunter Does a Commendable Thing: Chooses Death

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By now you’ve probably heard about the hunter from Indiana who ended up permanently paralyzed and on a ventilator after falling from a tree. While it’s always good news to know there’s one less armed animal-killer out there trying to gun-down the innocent, this is a case of an injured hunter—rendered essentially harmless to anyone but himself and his caregivers—choosing to do the right thing.

The miracles of modern medicine include morphine and other drugs that can spare a person from the unbearable pain which often accompanies such an injury. Yet, just as not every illness can be cured, there is a limit to how much spinal damage can be reversed. At times, the most humane resolution is to allow a suffering individual to peacefully pass, or even gently hasten the passing.

Despite the national obsession with health care these days, people rarely hear a word about the choices available to patients, or the fact that one can always refuse life-prolonging treatment (as long as they’re still able to communicate, or have previously expressed your wishes in writing). Kudos to the family of the hunter who must have known his wishes well enough to ask to bring him out of it and allow him to tell the staff at the hospital that he was definitely not interested in marking time in a rehab facility, hooked up to a ventilator.

For all its marvels, modern medicine is in a big way responsible for the rapidly worsening human overpopulation crisis. I don’t know if his decision was based in part on selflessness, but if more people were to choose no to be when by all intents and purposes they really aren’t alive anymore, the human population might start to level off and eventually not be quite such a burden on the planet.

I had an unwelcome opportunity to end the suffering of a mortally wounded band-tailed pigeon (a wild, forest-dwelling bird, native to the Western North America) who showed up at my birdfeeder with her lower bill shot completely off (probably by a dumbass neighbor kid who liked to shoot at everything that moved with his 22). The pigeon was unable to ever feed herself again, so I’m not sure if she returned to this familiar territory to somehow assuage her nagging hunger, or if she was hoping I could do something to help.

Like the paralyzed hunter whose only hope of living was via a feeding tube, there was no way this poor pigeon had any real chance of long term survival without some kind of major heroics. Since medical science has yet to invent a bionic bill for lowly birds, all I could do was shoot the poor thing to instantly put an end to her misery.

Band-tailed pigeon photo©Jim Robertson

Band-tailed pigeon photo©Jim Robertson