Nebraska deer season: Three hunters shot in three days

By Peter Salter

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    LINCOLN, Nebraska (Lincoln Journal Star) — Three Nebraska deer hunters were shot by members of their own hunting parties over the weekend, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission reported.

On Sunday, the last day of Nebraska’s rifle-deer season, a 20-year-old Indianola man was seriously injured — and flown to Bryan’s trauma center in Lincoln — when he was accidentally shot by another hunter in Red Willow County who was following him up an embankment.

On Saturday, a 22-year-old Omaha man hunting along the Platte River southeast of Yutan was taken to CHI Creighton University Bergan Mercy in Omaha with injuries to his hands. An early review of the scene showed he was unintentionally shot by another member of his hunting party, the commission reported.

And on Friday morning, a hunter from Hickman was shot in his arm by another hunter near the Platte River in Buffalo County. He was taken to CHI Good Samaritan in Kearney; though it was a close-range shot, his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.

So far in 2022, the commission has recorded four hunting accidents total. It counted eight in 2021 and five in 2020 — but said hunting accidents are down by more than 70% since the introduction of mandatory hunter education and hunter orange requirements.

The commission encouraged hunters to follow four key safety rules: treat every gun as if it is loaded; always point your muzzle in a safe direction; be sure of your target, what is in front of it and what is beyond it; and keep your finger outside of the trigger guard until ready to shoot.

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