Safe Hunting?
Man Dies After Hunting Camp Argument
CODY, Wyo. (AP) - A Cody-area man died after he was shot
during a hunting camp argument over who would kill the first elk,
authorities said.
Marty Buffington, 46, was shot in the knee Thursday and
bled to death, the Park County Sheriff's Office said.
The case remained under investigation and charges could be
filed soon, Sheriff Dave Doyle said.
The shooting occurred in a remote part of the county near
Hoodoo Creek, just east of Yellowstone National Park in the Crandall area.
''There were three men in a hunting camp and they'd been
out hunting and an argument broke out over the elk hunting and who was going
to shoot the first elk,'' Doyle told Casper's KTWO-TV on Friday.
''It progressed through the day and when they got back to
camp, two of the members of the party became involved in a physical
confrontation and from there a shot was fired. One subject was shot in the
knee and it severed an artery.''
Authorities were not notified until Buffington's
companions hiked out of the mountains Friday morning.
The names of the companions were not released.
The body was to be flown to the State Crime Lab in
Cheyenne over the weekend.
Neither drugs nor alcohol were involved in the
altercation, Doyle said.
AP-WS-10-04-03 1936EDT