By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
A Sharon Springs man was
shot Tuesday _ in the town
of Middlefield _ by another
hunter who mistook him for a
deer, according to the Otsego
County sheriff.
Walter O. Rouse Jr., 37,
was being treated
in the intensive
care unit
at Mary Imogene
Bassett Hospital
on Tuesday
night, but
the gunshot
wounds to his
arm and abdomen
are not believed
to be life threatening,
Sheriff Richard Devlin said.
“They expect him to pull
through,” Devlin said.
Rouse was among a group
of hunters on state
land that bordered private
property when he
became separated from them
and strayed onto posted land
on Roscoe Jones Road owned
by Lawrence C. Delaney, 68, of
Cooperstown, according to a
media release from deputies.
Rouse stopped to take a
break in a wooded area at
about 10:30 a.m. while waiting
for his group to catch up when
he was shot accidentally by
Delaney, deputies said.
Delaney was in a hunting
blind on the ground about
300 feet from Rouse when he
fired one round from a .30-30
rifle.
The bullet struck Rouse
through his upper left arm
and entered his abdomen,
deputies said.
No charges have yet been
filed against Delaney.
“We’re consulting with the
district attorney. He’ll review
the case and make a determination
at that point,” Devlin
said.
Rouse was wearing camouflage
without any blaze orange,
Devlin said.
The state Department of
Environmental Conservation
recommends that deer hunters
wear blaze orange while
deer hunting during firearms
season.
Hunters who wear blaze
orange are 16 times less likely
to be injured in a visibility-related
mishap and 23 times less
likely to be killed, according
to the DEC.
Rouse’s fellow hunters, an
off-duty deputy and emergency
units from the Middlefield,
Cherry Valley and Cooperstown
fire departments helped
treat the wounded man at the
scene, Devlin said.
Medical staff at Bassett said
Rouse was extremely lucky his
injuries weren’t worse, Devlin
said.
The sheriff’s incident reconstruction
team processed
and mapped the scene, Devlin
said.
DEC police also responded.
The shooting remains under
investigation.
