Hunter Shot By Dog in Buttocks
A hunting accident in Utah has left a man with 27 wounds on his buttocks after his dog stepped on a shotgun earlier this week.
“[The dog] did something to make the gun discharge,” said Brigham City Deputy Kevin Potter, reported KSL.com. “I don’t know if the safety device was on. It’s not impossible the dog could have taken it off safety.”
The 46-year-old victim was hunting duck around the north end of the Great Salt Lake near a bird refuge, about 10 miles from Brigham City.
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The 12-guage shotgun was laid on the bow of a canoe-like boat in a shallow marsh area when the hunter got out of the boat to either collect or set up decoys.
According to Deputy Potter, the dog jumped from inside the boat to the bow and accidentally stepped on the gun after the man got out. The gun fired, and struck the man in the buttocks.
Once emergency crews took the victim to the hospital, 27 pellets of birdshot were removed from the wound. Potter said the gun was fired from approximately 10 feet away.
Potter noted that although the hunting scene place took place near a bird refuge, it was legal. He did not have information about which type of dog was involved in the accident.
Hunting seasons vary from state to state based on licenses and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but it often takes place while temperatures fall below that which a particular breed of animal is required to maintain a normal body temperature.
Many states opened their deer shotgun season on Saturday where thousands of hunters took to the woods with their gear.
According to the website for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the most recent report indicates that 12.5 million people, ages 16 and older, participated in hunting a variety of animals in 2006. An estimated 10.7 million hunters pursued big game such as deer and elk, while 4.8 hunted small game such as squirrels or rabbits.
