A hunter from New Hampshire is recovering after he was shot in the back by a dog in a Wright County, Iowa hunting accident on Tuesday afternoon.
DNR Conservation Officer Ken Lonneman says 36 year old William Rancourt was pheasant hunting with three other hunters when he was hit in the back by bird shot pellets from another hunter’s 12-gauge shotgun.
"One of the hunters set his gun down and one of the dogs in the hunting party stepped just right, or wrong, onto the trigger guard of that shotgun."
Rancourt was struck in the back nearly 22 yards away. He went to the hospital in Ft. Dodge and treated and released on Wednesday. "It's only happened twice that I've seen in my 31 years as a conservation officer where a dog was responsible for the accidental discharge of a gun," Lonneman says.
DNR officials remind hunters to unload firearms and be sure the safety mechanism is in place before setting them down.