ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Posted on Wednesday, November 23, 2005
CROSSETT - A Crossett man was killed Monday afternoon in a
deer-hunting accident in Ashley County - the first fatal accidental
shooting of the hunting season, according to an Arkansas Game and Fish
Commission official.
Clyde Thomas Watt, 68, died about 3:45 p. m., after he was shot by
Eugene
Watt, his nephew, as the two were hunting at a deer camp near
Ashley County Road 289, said Keith Stephens, a spokesman for the
commission.
The two were in a party of four hunting deer with dogs. They were
waiting for the dogs to run a deer out of a pine thicket, Stephens
said.
Stephens said Eugene Watt fired across a county road, which is a
hunting violation. A few moments later, Clyde Watt stepped out of the
woods and said he had been shot, the spokesman said.
The shooting appears to have been accidental, according to a news
release from the Ashley County sheriff 's office.
A sheriff's investigator and a game warden will submit their
findings to the prosecuting attorney's office for review, according to
the release.
"This kind of accident is very unfortunate and we are all saddened
by the loss of Mr. Watt," Sheriff James Robinson stated in the
release. "My heart goes out to his family."
In Union County on Nov. 14, a man was injured in a hunting accident
between
Lawson and Urbana, east of El Dorado. Joe Mangum of Old Strong
Highway was walking by a gas line when he saw a deer and fired a
rifle, striking Roger
Dale Mc-Dougald of Lawson, who was in a hunting stand. McDougald
survived.
Hunting accidents are a tragedy that happen every year, Stephens
said.
In fiscal 2005, which ended June 30, the state recorded three
hunting fatalities, compared with four for the same time period in
2004, he said.
"Just make sure of your target, because you can't pull that bullet
back," Stephens said.
Copyright © 2001-2004 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
