PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) - A hunter from Farmington Hills, Mich., is in the hospital after being shot in Barry County on Thursday, Nov. 19. It happened around 10 a.m. when the man and two others were hunting on 50-acres in Prairieville Township.
58-year-old Dale Francis Smith was hit in the chest.
Smith was conscious and alert when taken away by ambulance to Borgess hospital in Southwest Michigan for treatment. Smith suffered a chest wound from a 12-gauge shot gun. According to Prairieville Township police, the 51-year-old man from Barry County was also hunting and took a shot at a deer when he accidentally missed and struck Smith.
Prairieville Township police said they're maintaining this as a crime scene until they can get further information from the hospital and victim.
"He did yell out for help. The word was heard. A nearby house called 911 and we had to be taken back by four-wheel drive vehicles because of the muddy road and so forth. (A very) muddy driveway," said Prairieville Township police chief Larry Gentry.
The gunman was reportedly shooting from his property, adjacent to the hunting lot.
"Hunters, of course, with firearms, are required to wear hunters orange so that a fellow hunter can identify another target and what is beyond his target," Doug VanderWoude, co-owner of Silver Bullet Firearms in Wyoming, Mich., told WZZM 13 News.
"Of course you need to obey all the safety rules. No alcohol with firearms. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot."
Silver Bullet Firearms also recommends to always keep your firearm unloaded until you get to your stand, especially if you're hunting out of a tree stand.
Smith is expected to be released from Borgess hospital on Friday, Nov. 20.
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