October 4, 2011
From BangorDailyNews.com
WESTON, Maine — A Danforth man suffered serious injuries in a
bird hunting accident Tuesday morning in Weston.
John Shaw, 35, suffered severe damage to his left leg when the
shotgun being held by his uncle and hunting partner, Douglass
Conklin, discharged unexpectedly shortly after 11 a.m., according to
Travis Barrett, spokesman for the Maine Warden Service.
Barrett said the two men were hunting ruffed grouse.
Conklin, 59, of Wingdale, N.Y, was in the passenger seat of a
pickup truck the men were riding in when the two spotted a bird on a
dirt logging road, Barrett said. Conklin reportedly got out of the
truck to load his 20-gauge shotgun but as he was doing so, the
firearm fired the shell in the chamber and injured Shaw, who was
still sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle.
There was extensive damage to Shaw’s left knee at close range,
according to Lt. Tom Ward of the Maine Warden Service.
“The big thing here is muzzle control,” Ward said. “This wouldn’t
have happened if [Conklin] practiced safe muzzle control.”
Shaw initially was taken to nearby Danforth Health Center before
being transported to Houlton Regional Hospital. From there, Shaw
later was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he
was listed in serious but stable condition early Tuesday evening and
was awaiting surgery on his leg.
Sgt. Dave Craven and Sgt. Dan Menard of the Maine Warden Service
are leading a team of nine game wardens and one member of the Maine
State Police in an investigation that is still under way.
No charges have been filed in connection with the accident,
Barrett said.
Additional details were not immediately available.
