Turkey hunters survive close call

About six inches separated one turkey hunter from a possible shooting April 16 in a northeast Arkansas pasture.

Cpl. Ryan Nast, an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officer in Batesville, received a phone call from a hunter whose son had nearly been shot by someone illegally using a rifle to try to kill a turkey.

The man and his son were on the edge of a cow pasture with decoys set 25 yards in front of them. according to Nast. About 6:30 a.m., a silver pickup drove slowly down the farm road near them and stopped about 150 yards away. The driver fired a rifle at the decoys with a .30-06 rifle. The bullet went through the fan of the decoy, which was directly in line with the hunters at the edge of the field.

"The juvenile said the bullet hit the ground so close to him that dirt from its impact sprayed over his left shoulder and chest," Nast said.

The two hunters immediately started shouting and waving their arms to try and prevent any more rounds from being fired. They recognized the pickup and called the stop poaching hotline to report the incident.

After visiting the site where the incident occurred, Nast and fellow wildlife officer Cpl. Ron Davidson drove to the suspect's house.

"When I approached the suspect, he already knew why I was there," Nast said. "He started to get choked up about the incident. He said he didn't know anyone else would be on the property and really thought the decoy was a real turkey."

Nast said the incident clearly illustrates why some hunting regulations are in place. Turkey hunters wear camouflage from head-to-toe and settle down within 30 to 40 yards of a lifelike decoy. They're trying to fool the sharp eyes of a turkey to get it within shotgun range, so fooling a hunter from 100 yards is not too difficult.

Turkeys may only be hunted in Arkansas with archery equipment and shotguns 10 gauge and smaller using size 2 and smaller shot. The restriction on modern rifles and muzzle-loading rifles is in place specifically to prevent incidents such as this.

The firearm used was seized as evidence, and the suspect was cited for hunter endangerment, hunting from a moving, motorized land vehicle and firearms restrictions for wild turkey.

Sports on 04/26/2016

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