A man from Illinois died while hunting in Iowa this weekend, marking the second fatal hunting accident to occur in the state in the past month.
Seth Egelhoff, 26, of Chesterfield, Ill., was hunting waterfowl in the Bays Branch Wildlife Area, west of Des Moines, when he was shot in the face by a member of his own hunting party, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said.
A 911 call came in around 1 p.m. on Saturday and emergency medical responders rushed to the scene of the shooting. Egelhoff was airlifted to a hospital but died en route “shortly after leaving the scene,” the department said.
Conservation Officer Jeremy King said the shooting appeared to be accidental. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol are helping in the investigation.
In a phone interview with the Kansas City Star, King said that Egelhoff was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with steel birdshot.
According to the preliminary investigation, “the fatal shot was delivered accidentally by a member of his own hunting party while trying to harvest a duck,” King said.
“We have no evidence to believe there was any malicious or ill intent by any member of the hunting party,” he added.
The fatal hunting accident comes one month after an Iowa man was shot dead while hunting coyotes with his friends.
Mark Arends, 53, of Alden, Iowa was struck by a single rifle shot and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital, according to a news release from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
“We stress the importance of identifying your target before taking a shot,” said Captain Matt Bruner, with the department’s Law Enforcement Bureau. “The same can be said about the importance of the hunting plan, especially at night, and following that plan when in the field.”
— with a file from The Associated Press
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