Teen shot in leg while hunting near Belle Fourche
November 16, 2010
BELLE FOURCHE — Levi Grubb, 14, is being treated for a close-range gunshot
wound to his left leg after a hunting accident Sunday morning east of Belle
Fourche.
According to South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Wildlife Conservation Officer
Bill Eastman, Grubb had just filled his doe tag and loaded the deer in the
back of his father’s pickup. Grubb was sitting on the passenger side of the
pickup, when a loaded .243 rifle, which was resting on the back of the seat,
fell onto the seat and discharged. The bullet struck the Belle Fourche High
School freshman just below the knee of his left leg, Eastman said.
“Considering the accident, the injuries are significant and certainly could
have been worse,” Eastman said. “It didn’t shatter the bone so, they can
repair it. It hit one artery in the leg, and there is some nerve and muscle
damage. The prognosis looks very positive.”
A landowner assisted the Grubbs in driving for help. They met the Butte
County Ambulance, which took Levi to Spearfish Regional Hospital and later
to Rapid City Regional Hospital.
Grubb is listed in fair condition at Regional Hospital.
Eastman said the matter was an accident and no charges are being levied.
The accident occurred on private land in the Arpan area east of Orman Dam
about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the second day of rifle deer season. Eastman said a
number of hunters are working southern Butte County where whitetail deer are
more plentiful. The northern reaches of the county are depleted of mule deer
because of two harsh winters the past two seasons.