A man is recovering after being accidentally shot during a local bird dog event Saturday.
Reports indicate deputies were called to a hunting club at 19081 Barker Road and Memorial Hospital after an individual arrived at the emergency room with gunshot wounds.
The victim indicated he was participating in an event hosted by the National Shoot to Retrieve Field Trial Association when he was accidentally shot by another participant.
The man who shot his friend said he was near a creek bed when his dog flushed a quail.
The victim said he was standing downrange, across the creek bed.
A judge at the event said the victim called “safety” to alert others not to shoot, but the man misunderstood and shot the quail.
According to USCO reports, the victim was embedded with eight bird-shot pellets in his left arm and hand, both legs, stomach and buttocks.
The reports indicate the man was shot with a 20-gauge Benelli Cordoba firearm.
A deputy stated he responded to the emergency room to find the victim “on a hospital bed with his bloodied clothing… next to him.”
However, he stated, “Other than the wounds, (the victim) seemed to be normal.”
The victim said he has been friends with the man who shot him for over twenty years and the two travel to out-of-state hunting events together.
He said he believes the shooting was accidental and “is a risk we take to play the game.”
Deputies ruled the incident an accidental shooting.