WA: Man shoots self while hunting opossum

Washington chicken owner recovering after accidentally shooting self while stalking opossum

August 25, 2009

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) - A northwest Washington man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the leg while hunting an opossum that had been snatching his chickens.

Larry Tenbrink of Mount Vernon was watching TV when he heard his chickens "carrying on" late Sunday. He figured the problem was the opossum that had already killed more than a dozen of his chickens over the past few months.

Tenbrink grabbed his .22 caliber pistol, headed outside and spotted an opossum the size of a large cat wandering his property. But he accidentally pulled the trigger too early, sending a bullet through his lower right thigh.

The 61-year-old handyman told the Skagit Valley Herald on Monday that he's back home after a trip to the hospital. And though the opossum is free for now, he'll be hunting it again. But next time, he says he'll use a trap.

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