Payback...

Hunter thought he killed a deer until it stood up and attacked, Arkansas officials say

BY DAWSON WHITE

A hunter in Arkansas is dead after officials say the deer he thought he killed stood up and attacked him on Tuesday.

Thomas Alexander, 66, was hunting near Yellville when he shot a buck. Yellville is about 100 miles east of Fayetteville.

When Alexander walked up to the deer to ensure it was dead, the animal stood up and attacked, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens told the outlet.

“He apparently went over to the buck and it got up and attacked him,” Stephens told News.

Alexander managed to call his wife and was rushed to an area hospital after an airlift attempt was halted because Alexander had stopped breathing.

Alexander died at the hospital. He had a number of puncture wounds on his body, but Stephens says he doesn’t know if the wounds proved fatal or something else, like a heart attack, is to blame, according to the outlet.

“It’s my understanding there’s not going to be an autopsy, so we may never know what actually happened,”.

Alexander was hunting with a muzzleloader.

A muzzleloader is a single-shot, front-loading firearm that requires hunters to get closer to their targets than a traditional hunting rifle, according to Realtree. Muzzleloaders are popular with hunters who enjoy the challenge of having only a single shot to hit their targets.

“So far this season, we have had one accident in Arkansas that occurred while dove hunting, and three falls from deer stands. This goring is the first fatality this season,” he told the outlet.

Last season, however, Stephens said three fatal accidents were reported, all while deer hunting.

“One was from a fall from a deer stand, one was a victim that was mistaken for a deer, and the other was self-inflicted during muzzleloader season,” Stephens told the outlet.

(I edited this story because it was so poorly written...)