A woman was shot in the stomach in Wisconsin after a hunter mistook her dog for a deer, according to a Department of Natural Resources official.
The 47-year-old woman was out walking her dog on Monday morning on the second day of the gun-deer season when she wandered onto private property, DNR Hunter Education Administrator Lt Mike Weber said.
Suddenly, she was shot in the abdomen by a 62-year-old disabled hunter.
The hunter told the DNR he had opened fire because he thought her dog was an antlerless deer.
The woman was flown via MedFlight to an area hospital where she is still being treated for the gunshot wound.
Mr Weber said that the man was disabled, with Wisconsin offering opportunities for people with disabilities to hunt from their vehicles.
At a press conference, the DNR official urged hunters to wear blaze orange and fluorescent pink when in the woods so that they are easily noticable to others.
Non-hunters should also consider wearing those highly visible colours as well during gun-deer season, he said.
The incident isn’t the first time an accidental shooting has occurred during this year’s hunting season.
Earlier this month, a man was accidentally shot while hunting in the neighbouring state of Minnesota. Officials said that the man’s hunting partner had been checking to see if his firearm was unloaded, when he accidentally fired a round into the victim’s leg. Luckily, the victim survived.
Meanwhile, two hunters have also died in Iowa since October, including a 53-year-old man who was struck by a single rifle shot while hunting coyotes with friends.
The second victim was a 26-year-old man who was shot in the face by someone in his party while hunting waterfowl in the Bays Branch Wildlife Area.
This comes after a tragic incident in 2020, when a nine-year-old girl and her father were shot dead on New Year’s Day in South Carolina after they were mistaken for deer during a hunting trip.
