Winona Daily News - November 10, 2006
By Jeff Dankert
A 69-year-old Winona businessman was shot in the arm with a
20-gauge slug while deer hunting Thursday morning five miles north
of Rushford, Minn.
A helicopter took David Arnold to Gundersen Lutheran Medical
Center in La Crosse, Wis., where he was preparing for surgery, said
his son, former Winona City Councilman Chris Arnold. “He’s doing
fine. He’s stable,” he said.
The wound was on his right elbow. Doctors said he would not lose
his arm, Chris Arnold said.
Arnold was hunting with friends and family on private property
along County Road 4, according to the Winona County Sheriff’s
office. He and two hunters were driving deer toward two other
hunters.
Thomas John Demarais, a friend of the Arnold family, shot twice
at a deer, and the first slug struck Arnold, who was about 150 yards
away and out of sight, said Deputy Darren Brand.
The hunters called for help at 9:51 a.m. Rescuers found Arnold
conscious, Sheriff Dave Brand said.
Chris Arnold said his father was wearing blaze orange clothing.
Dave Arnold co-founded EMD, Winona’s largest employer before it
sold out to Benchmark Electronics in 1996. He is the father-in-law
of school board member-elect Stacey Mounce Arnold.
2005 HUNTING ACCIDENTS
MINNESOTA
Of 24 Minnesota hunting accidents in 2005, 15 involved one hunter
shooting another. The three fatalities involved large-bore rifles
while deer hunting. The most common factor involved a victim out of
sight of the shooter. Nine accidents were self-inflicted.
Hunting accidents have steadily dropped in Minnesota, down from
about 40 a year in the mid-1990s to 16 in 2004 and 24 last year.
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin had 33 firearms hunting accidents last year and four
deaths.
DEER DRIVES REQUIRE CAUTION
On Sunday, a hunter was shot in the leg by his daughter during a
four-person deer drive near Climax, Minn.
Last year, a man hunting in Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge was
shot in the knee while retrieving a deer for his daughter. In the
Red Wing area, a man in a deer drive took a 12-gauge slug to the
forehead after it passed through a deer and ricocheted off the
ground. He survived.
Deer hunters should plan who will shoot and when. Each hunter in
a drive party should have a predetermined zone of fire and know the
whereabouts of others. Wear blaze orange.
Sources: Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Natural
Resources, Associated Press
Reporter Jeff Dankert can be reached at (507) 453-3513 or
jdankert@winonadailynews.com
