The first weekend of Iowa’s most popular hunting season was marred by several accidents. Seven pheasant hunters were accidentally shot during the weekend. All had injuries that were considered relatively minor.
The D-N-R’s Kevin Baskins says it was a typical opening weekend, as inexperienced or excited hunters sometimes take shots they shouldn’t. Baskins says with the dry, warm, windy conditions, it’s hard to get up close to the birds to take a shot so “sometimes people take some wild shots.”
While the D-N-R wants to see no one hurt, Baskins says the seven injuries isn’t too bad, considering how many hunters were out there. He estimates some 150-thousand hunters were in the field this weekend. Baskins says there was one pheasant hunter in Warren County who died on Saturday, but not from a gunshot. The man said he wasn’t feeling well and went back to his car, where he was later found dead of apparent natural causes. His name hasn’t been released.