October 16, 2011
By Archie Ingersoll, JournalGazette.net
Two men were seriously injured Saturday in separate accidents
involving elevated deer stands in northeast Indiana, the state
Department of Natural Resources said.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., Jamie Jones was hunting for deer from a
tree stand in woods near a home 12 miles east of Warsaw.
As he stood on the platform, the wind broke off the top of
another tree nearby. The treetop, about 6 inches in diameter, fell
and hit him on the head before it landed on the ground.
Jones, 34, managed to hold onto his tree to keep from falling.
He called for help, and other hunters came and got him out of the
tree.
First responders were dispatched to the scene near East Kyle
Road.
Suffering from a head injury, Jones was flown by helicopter to
Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.
The other accident happened a little before 4 p.m. as Marvin
Rickman, 83, was working on his tree stand near Waymire Road, south
of Angola.
While Rickman, of Pleasant Lake, was getting out of the stand, he
lost his footing and fell 17 feet to the ground.
His wife was sitting in a truck close by and heard him call for
help. She found him injured on the ground below the stand.
Paramedics and firefighters treated Rickman for chest and pelvic
injuries at the scene. He was then flown to Parkview.
Conditions were not available for either man, both of whom were
still in the emergency room late Saturday.
State conservation officers are investigating both accidents.
Indiana’s early bow-hunting season for deer started Oct. 1 and
will end Nov.
27. The gun season for deer runs from Nov. 12 to Nov. 27.
