June 1, 2010
Turkey hunter shot in Montour
DANVILLE — A turkey hunter was shot Monday on Montour Ridge, said Montour County District Attorney Robert W. Buehner Jr.
Buehner could not identify the man nor the exact time of the shooting.
The hunter was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville for treatment. His condition is unknown.
Buehner said the man was calling for turkey when he was shot. “There is a person the police are interested in talking to,” he added.
As of 6 p.m., no arrests had been made, Buehner said.
“As I speak, several individuals have come forward and are being questioned by Pennsylvania Game Commission officers, Mahoning Township police and Danville police,” he said.
Buehner said that one hunter shooting another is a violation of game law.
There is also a jurisdictional question having to do with the exact location of the shooting.
“It apparently happened very close to the Valley Township and Mahoning Township lines,” Buehner noted. “That would affect who leads the investigation.”
Information from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, in Harrisburg, was unavailable because the office was closed for Memorial Day.
One month ago, on May 2, hunter Michael Hobbins, of New Berlin, was critically injured after being shot by a Mifflinburg man early on the first day of spring turkey hunting season.
Hobbins was shot and blinded by Leroy Allen Miller, another shotgun-wielding hunter. Turkey hunters are allowed to use only shotguns.
They were hunting separately on state game land in Limestone Township, just outside New Berlin.
Miller, who was on probation because of a prior drug conviction, was charged with a felony firearms charge because — as a term of his probation — he was not allowed to use any firearm.
Besides the firearms violation, Miller was charged with shooting at or causing injury to another person, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of $2,500 fine and six months in jail.
He was also cited with failing to properly display his hunting license, a summary violation that comes with a $25 fine.