MN: 4 hurt in Minnesota hunting accidents

November 8, 2010

4 hurt in Minnesota hunting accidents

The opening of the firearms season for deer hunting was marked by injuries to two teens and two adults.

At least four people have been injured in hunting accidents in Minnesota since the firearms season for deer hunting opened Saturday.

Two of the injuries came in separate hunting accidents in west-central Minnesota's Otter Tail County.

A 16-year-old boy from Richville, Minn., was resting his rifle muzzle on his boot when he heard a deer and grabbed the gun about 4:30 p.m. Saturday near Richville. The rifle went off, and he was shot in the left foot. The unidentified boy was taken to a hospital in Fargo, N.D.

A 24-year-old woman from Henning, Minn., was hurt when the wooden floor of her deer stand collapsed east of Perham around 3 p.m. Saturday. Melissa Johnson fell about 5 feet, injuring her legs. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Perham, Minn.

About 2 p.m. Saturday, a Bloomington teenager was injured near the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, also in the western part of the state. Douglas Gess told investigators he was loading his shotgun when the gun accidentally discharged, according to the Big Stone County Sheriff's Office. The slug traveled through the pickup box into the cab of the truck, where it struck his son, Jesse Gess, 16.

He was taken to the Ortonville Hospital. Neither the Sheriff's Office nor the hospital would release information on his injuries or condition Sunday.

The accident happened shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday, about a mile south of the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge headquarters.

Early on opening day, a man shot himself in the wrist while hunting near Barnesville, in northwestern Minnesota's Clay County.

Kim Haggen, 52, was hunting northeast of Barnesville when he tripped and fell, according to Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist. His gun discharged because its safety was off. His hometown and condition were not released.

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