PARKERSBURG - Two hunters in Wood and Doddridge counties were injured Monday morning on the opening day of gun deer season in West Virginia, conservation officers said.
The hunter in Wood County was a 14-year-old boy who shot himself in the foot with a rifle, said Lt. R.E. Cool of the District 6 office of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
The boy, whose name was not released, was hunting in the Waverly area early Tuesday morning, Cool said. The bullet from the rifle struck the big toe on the boy's left foot. The child is in stable condition at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, Cool said.
The other accident occurred around 7:45 a.m. Monday near St. Clair Road in southern Doddridge County, Cool said.
Lucas Flannigan, 30, of Salem, W.Va., was shot in the left hip, Cool said.
He was taken by medical helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown where he underwent surgery and is recuperating.
Fact Box
Injuries
Two hunters were injured in Wood and Doddridge counties.
Deer season in West Virginia opened on Monday.
The bullet passed through his body, Cool said.
The shooter was a 37-year-old man from Fairmont whose identity is being withheld pending charges, Cool said. Investigators have been unable to talk to Flannigan, he said.
The two-week gun deer season started Monday and runs through Dec. 4. Wildlife officers have estimated 280,000 hunters are in the woods in West Virginia.
Hoy Murphy, spokesman for the WVDNR, said the hunting accidents in Wood and Doddridge counties were the only incidents reported by 5 p.m. Monday. He believes others will be reported today as conservation officers return to their offices.
"Those are the only reports I've gotten," Murphy said Monday.
