A northwest Iowa man died Sunday in a hunting-related accident in Clay County.
Iowa DNR Conservation Officer Joe Yarkosky says 47-year-old Kirk Struve of Granville was shot while sitting in his truck. “It’s absolutely a tragic accident…it’s a very unfortunate event,” Yarkosky said. The incident was reported shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday near Royal.
Struve was hunting coyotes with a large group of people and it’s believed the round that struck him was fired by one of the members of his hunting party. Yarkosky is using the incident to remind other hunters to “always treat the gun as if it’s loaded” and stay away from the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.
“Always keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction and always know what your target is – what’s beyond your target and what’s in between your target,” Yarkosky said. “Know your surroundings. That would include other members of your hunting party. Know where their location is too.”
This is the first hunting-related fatality of the year in Iowa. The only hunting-related death in 2018 happened last month (December 9th) in south-central Iowa’s Marion County.