At least 2 hunters shot during opening weekend of deer season
At least two hunters in Minnesota were shot during the opening weekend for deer season.
Man shot in the abdomen
Robert Schlieman, a 36-year-old from Detroit Lakes, took a gunshot to his abdomen shortly after noon Saturday, the Swift County Sheriff's Office says.
He was with a group in an area north of Holloway when a deer ran between him and the other hunters, according to the sheriff's office. One of the party members thought the deer was far enough away and began shooting – but a slug struck Schlieman in the left side of his abdomen.
He was airlifted to St. Cloud Hospital and is in stable condition. The incident is being investigated.
"When hunting with others in a group, safety is the number one priority," Swift County Sheriff John Holtz said in the release.
Man shot in the leg
A Meeker County commissioner was shot in the leg Sunday afternoon.
Dale Verner Fenrich, of Litchfield, was in rural Litchfield Township at the time, according to an email news release sent by KLFD AM 1410. The 58-year-old was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
The Meeker and Wright county sheriff's offices are investigating, but the shooting appears to be accidental, the news release says.
Hunting injuries, fatalities
There were just five hunting incidents recorded by the DNR in 2014, according to the agency's statistics page. There were two fatalities that year.
It wad the first time since 1986 the number of incidents recorded was in the single digits. Here's a look at the past decade.
We've reached out to the DNR for more data on this past weekend.
