A man was critically injured over the weekend in Vermont when a fellow hunter shot him after he said he mistook him for a bear, state officials said.
The shooting occurred on Saturday on private land in the town of Huntington, according to the Vermont Warden Service.
Game wardens and Vermont State Troopers responded to the area, along with medical personnel, after receiving a 911 call from a third hunter, the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife said in a news release.
The man was reportedly walking to a tree stand in a wooded area off Main Road when he was hit in the abdomen by a single gunshot fired by another hunter, who claimed he mistook the victim for a bear.
The shooting victim was taken to University of Vermont Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday. As of Monday afternoon, the Vermont Warden Service said it was still waiting for the man to be in a condition where they could speak to him about the incident.
At the time of the shooting, the warden service said none of the parties was wearing blaze orange, which is highly encouraged but not required for hunters to wear.
Nicole Meier, who leads hunter safety education in Vermont, told NECN that studies have shown wearing blaze orange makes you seven times more visible to others in the woods.
Meier added that this incident underscores another prime tenet of hunter safety.
"Positively identify your target and what’s beyond it before you take the shot," Meier emphasized.
Meier said cases like this, where a hunter shoots another hunter they do not know, are "very rare." She said for the past 10-15 years, the state has tended to see an average of three accidental shootings while hunting, from 80,000 or so participants in the state. Often those are self-inflicted, Meier noted.
In 2021, there were no such instances, she added.
Warden Asa Sargent said hunters should always use binoculars to identify a target, rather than trying to do so with the scope of their rifle. Sargent told NECN in an interview Monday that it was still dark Saturday morning, when the shooting occurred, which was another problem.
"What I think every hunter should take away from this is the importance of waiting for proper daylight and visibility," Sargent said. "And ensuring that you know exactly what you’re going to, in this case, put your scope on."
For more information on hunter education in Vermont, visit this website: vtfishandwildlife.com/hunt/hunter-education
Wardens did not release the names of the shooter or the victim. They said additional details on the investigation should be released soon.
