FL: Hog Hunter Shot by Fellow Hunter at Green Swamp West WMA

February 8th, 2011

Hog Hunter Shot by Fellow Hunter at Green Swamp West WMA

A St. Petersburg man hunting wild hogs at the Green Swamp West Wildlife Management Area off State Road 471 was shot by one of his hunting partners on Saturday morning and taken by ambulance to Lakeland Regional with serious injuries.

William Chester Wedemeier, 51, was hunting with friends near Dade City on the western side of the WMA when Stein Eric Berg of Hudson mistook him for wild game and fired a single shot, probably from a rifle although the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission release didn’t indicate a weapon.

Wedemeier, who was shot about 7:45 a.m., is expected to survive.

The FWC’s preliminary report indicated Wedemeier was separated from the group in thick vegetation when he found a group of hogs, shooting and killing one.

While he was kneeling over dressing the hog, he was shot from behind by Berg, 48.

Berg called 911 and did what he could to help Wedemeier.

None of the group were wearing hunter safety orange, although the FWC said it’s not required by law for hog hunting.

This is the second time in about a month a hunter has been shot by another hunter. The last time, a hunter at Guana River WMA in northeast Florida shot a duck hunter and his dog with a shotgun. The hunter survived, but the dog didn’t.

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