3 hunters dead in Kentucky and Iowa after separate shootings deemed accidental

Three hunters died in separate incidents in Kentucky and Iowa in what authorities have deemed accidental shooting deaths.

The recent deaths, all separate from each other, occurred as some states open their firearm hunting seasons this month.

In the Kentucky shootings, two hunters died over the weekend in Gerrard County, a rural county around 40 miles south of Lexington.

Garrard County Sheriff Willie Skeens told local media the two men were identified as 77-year-old Russell Stillwell of Indiana, who died Saturday, and 26-year-old Benjamin Brogle, Jr. of Gerrard County, who died Sunday.

Skeens told Fox 56 both men were walking when they slipped and accidentally shot themselves, something Skeens said he had never seen in 30 years of law enforcement.

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An Illinois man died the same weekend after he was shot in the face by someone in his hunting party in Iowa, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources told multiple outlets.

The state agency said Saturday that Seth Egelhoff, 26, of Chesterfield, Illinois, was shot in the face while hunting waterfowl at the Bays Branch Wildlife Area in Guthrie County, around 66 miles west of Des Moines. Emergency responders rushed to the scene with a helicopter, but lifesaving measures were unsuccessful and Egelhoff was pronounced dead shortly after leaving the scene.

Conservation Officer Jeremy King said the shooting appeared to be accidental, the Associated Press reported, and the Guthrie County Sheriff's Office and Iowa State Patrol are helping assisting in the investigation.

Iowa hunter shot, dies after hunting coyotes on private land

Egelhoff's death comes after Mark Arends, 53, of Alden, Iowa died Oct. 8 while hunting coyotes on private land around 80 miles north of Des Moines.

According to investigators, he was struck by a single shot after his group of hunters separated by several hundred yards. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The incident still remains under investigation.

In separate incidents, 2 Minnesota hunters shot by children

In October, two Minnesota hunters were both shot by children in separate incidents during the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources youth deer hunting season.

A 45-year-old man was shot by his 12-year-old daughter in Becker Township in the first incident on Oct. 22. Fox 9 reported Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott said the girl was hunting, shot a deer and then "accidentally fired a second shot that hit her father in the leg."

First responders helped the man out of the deer stand. A family member put a makeshift tourniquet on his leg, and he was taken to a hospital for treatment. The severity of his injuries or current condition was not made public.

In the second incident on the same day in Helga Township, north of Becker Township, where a 50-year-old man had taken a 10-year-old juvenile hunting. According to the Hubbard County Sheriff's Office, the juvenile squeezed the trigger while trying to unload the rifle, striking him and going through both of his buttocks.

He was transported to a nearby hospital, then airlifted to a hospital in Fargo, North Dakota.