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Man Dies
Following
Huntly
Hunting
Accident
By SHARON KILPATRICK
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Rappahannock suffered its first hunting fatality in seven years last week when John Kearns Jr., 46, of Riverton was shot while hunting at a farm off Route 637 near Huntly.
The bullet was apparently fired by his son, Anthony Kearns, 29, of Front Royal who was also part of the hunting party.
The shooting occurred last Monday evening right at dusk, according to Game Warden James Bankston, and Mr. Kearns was not wearing blaze orange, he added.
The Flint Hill and Chester Gap rescue squads were called to the scene and worked on Mr. Kearns before transporting him to Warren Memorial Hospital, Mr. Bankston said.
He added that Mr. Kearns was in very bad shape when he was placed in the ambulance. The bullet had passed through Mr. Kearns’s body, Mr. Bankston said
Mr. Kearns was pronounced dead at the hospital. Mr. Bankston said Mr. Kearns had a history of heart problems and an investigation into the incident is continuing.
“The ‘only comment I have is wear blaze orange and be sure of your target,” Mr. Bankston said after a day spent investigating the accident.
Mr. Bankston said hunting fatalities have dropped “subtantially” in the state since blaze orange was mandated for deer hunting. “This makes a believer of you,” he said.
He said until the recent shooting incident most of the hunting accidents he has had to investigate have involved hunters falling out of tree stands.
Hunters aren’t being careful enough in securing the tree stands or finding themselves a secure position on the stand, he said.
The county’s last fatal hunting J accident occurred in December 1986.
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