Hunting guide hospitalized in ATV crash

The owner of a shooting and hunting preserve in western Whitman County was in serious condition at a Spokane hospital today after being injured in an all-terrain-vehicle accident. Jerry Townsend, of the LaCrosse area, was airlifted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center on Saturday night following the accident. He was reported in serious condition there on Monday. The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office reported that two of Townsend’s clients discovered him unconscious next to an ATV at the preserve shortly before 8 p.m. on Saturday. The clients were returning to their lodging at the Pheasant Valley Shooting Preserve and Sporting Clays when they found Townsend lying on the ground unconscious. The ATV had rolled on a private road. The clients loaded Townsend into another vehicle and drove to a place where they could get cellular telephone service and then called for help. Deputies said that Townsend was not wearing a helmet. According to the Pheasant Valley web site, Townsend operates on 1,500 acres of prime hunting habitat with heavy cover and open pasture. The preserve extends along three miles of the Palouse River. Pheasant and chukar are hunted in fall and winter at the preserve.