Hunter Shot While Turkey Hunting - Steuben County

On the morning of May 15, Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Matthew Baker received a call from Steuben County 911 reporting that one adult male had been admitted to Noyes Memorial Hospital in Dansville with a gunshot wound suffered while turkey hunting in the town of Cohocton. ECO Baker drove to the hospital and interviewed the subject, who was lucky to have suffered only minor injuries from a pellet lodged in his middle finger. The man said he and his hunting partner had set up two turkey decoys in a field that morning and returned to separate parts of the field where they could not see each other. The subject attempted to set up a third decoy without notifying his hunting partner. Dressed in camouflage and carrying the decoy in front of him, the man began to move through a hedgerow and out into the field. The hunting partner saw what he thought was a real turkey and fired one shot, striking the subject. New York State Police, ECO Shawn Dussault, K-9 Ski, BECI Investigators Lt. Chris Didion and Inv. Mark Wojtkowiak, and ECO Keith Levanway helped investigate the incident, which involved recreating the scene. DEC would like to remind all hunters to follow the four basic rules of hunter safety when afield.
Turkey decoy recovered from hunting
related shooting incident