Sunday November 20, 2005 3:46 AM
AP Photo WIMG501
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
BLACK EARTH, Wis. (AP) - A hunter was fatally shot by a colleague,
and a juvenile accidentally shot himself Saturday as Wisconsin's deer
hunting season opened amid racial tensions stemming from last year's
deadly attack on a group of hunters.
On the second day of the 2004 season, a Hmong immigrant killed six
white hunters after he was caught trespassing in privately owned
woods. He was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison.
Law enforcement officials worried tensions between Hmong immigrants
and whites could lead to more conflicts during this year's nine-day
gun deer hunting season.
But as of Saturday afternoon, Tim Zeigle, chief sheriff's deputy in
Sawyer County, where the six were killed last year, said ``it's going
wonderful.''
``It's been very, very quiet,'' he said.
The season started with favorable hunting conditions around the
state, said Bob Manwell, a spokesman for the Department of Natural
Resources.
Snow helped hunters spot deer, and the cold but not freezing
temperatures allowed hunters to stay out longer without fear of their
meat spoiling, he said.
In the northwest corner of the state, though, a 66-year-old man was
accidentally shot and killed by someone in his hunting party near Webb
Lake, Manwell said. A juvenile hunter in Grant County, in southwestern
Wisconsin, accidentally shot himself, but not fatally, he said.
Manwell had no further information on either shooting Saturday.
According to state officials, more than 631,000 people received
licenses to hunt the estimated 1.5 million white-tailed deer that roam
Wisconsin's forests and fields. Saturday and Sunday are typically the
busiest days of the season.
At Black Earth Meats, about 20 miles west of Madison, Mike Roder
beamed as he held the 11-point antlers from one of the largest bucks
he's killed in 30 years - a prize that will soon be mounted on his
wall.
``It was an excellent day,'' said Roder, 46, who said he shot three
deer in 30 minutes on a friend's property near Fennimore. ``I knew it
was going to be a good year.''
