A man who was shot in his torso during the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s gun deer hunting season is recovering from his injuries. As of 5 p.m. Monday, authorities say they have identified the shooter in the Washburn County incident.
Around 11 a.m. Sunday, a man who was hunting in Washburn County’s town of Minong was leaving his deer stand and walking on the ground. He saw two other hunters nearby, then heard a shot and realized he had been hit, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
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The man fell to the ground, but was able to call 911. He was treated for his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery, said Mark Little, a DNR recreation warden based in Spooner. The DNR on Sunday put out a call for members of the public to share any information they had about the incident, including the identity of the shooter.
“We really need to know what happened here and to put these pieces together just to bring closure to the incident and to the family,” Little said.
Little noted the injured hunter left his blaze orange cap in the woods to mark the spot for his stand so he could return later. Because he wasn’t wearing his hat, the person who shot him may not have seen him and may not have realized they’d hit someone.
“We do have true accidents out there,” Little said. “We also have cases where enforcement action is needed to be taken. It just depends on how we piece all of this together and what happened.”
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The land where the man was shot is bordered by E. Sleepy Eye Road, Nancy Lake Road and CCC Road.
According to a Monday afternoon press release, the DNR will continue to investigate the incident. The shooter’s name was not released.
Also on opening weekend, hunters in Oneida and Marathon counties shot themselves in the foot in separate incidents. In Fond du Lac County, a hunter shot at a running deer and instead hit a 19-year-old woman in her left hand. And on Saturday, a man died of natural causes while hunting in Lincoln County.
Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer hunting season ends Dec. 1.
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