October 22, 2010
Third deer hunter killed in Maryland tree stand accident
An Edgewater hunter died today when he fell about 15 feet from his homemade tree stand on the Eastern Shore, the third fatality of the white-tailed deer hunting season.
James Newberry, 77, was hunting on property on Charles Boyle Road in Queen Anne, when his ladder stand became detached from the tree and collapsed, Natural Resources Police reported. He was found at 9:30 a.m. by a hunting companion.
Today was the second day of muzzleloader season.
Last month during the first segment of archery season, two hunters were killed in separate tree stand accidents.
Paul Joseph Kemper Jr., 55, of York, Pa., died on Sept. 15 in Harford County when he fell 25 feet. Four days later, Dennis Arthur Siler, 44, of Port Deposit, died in Cecil County after falling 30 feet from a portable stand. Neither man was wearing a safety harness when he fell.
Nationally, more than 50 percent of all hunting accidents are tree-stand related. Last year, Maryland NRP investigated 12 hunting accidents, six of them involving tree stands. A year earlier, officers were called to 14 hunting accidents, seven involving tree stands.