ME: Hunter Shot on First Day of Pheasant Hunting Season

Hunter Shot on First Day of Pheasant Hunting Season

10/02/2009

James Morrill, 59, was hunting with friends on Cheabeague Island in Casco Bay when he was struck in the chest with a pellet from a shotgun blast aimed at a pheasant.

A pheasant hunter is recovering after being hit in the chest with a shotgun pellet on the first day of Maine's pheasant hunting season.

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokeswoman Deborah Turcotte says James Morrill, 59, was hunting pheasant with friends when yesterday on Chebeague Island in Casco Bay when the accident occurred.

Turcotte says Morrill had gone into some underbrush with his dog. When a pheasant emerged from the same area, it was shot by Leon Hamilton, 60, of Chebeague Island. One of the pellets from the shotgun blast struck Morrill in the chest.

Hamilton told game wardens he didn't know that Morrill was in the bushes. Morrill was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was treated and released. Turcotte says Morrill is from the Yarmouth area.

The Maine Warden Service is investigating the incident.

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