Hunter Mistakes Partner For Turkey, Shoots Him

A turkey hunter was shot in his head, chest and an arm on opening day of the gobbler season in Walla Walla County.

Wildlife agent Mike Byerlee of Walla Walla said that the hunter, Dennis Coleman of Walla Walla, was shot by his hunting partner, Jim Brown, also of Walla Walla.

Byerlee said that Brown had shot at a gobbler Saturday evening, thought he had hit the bird and started down a hill to try to find the turkey.

“He heard Coleman gobbling and thought his partner was a turkey,” Byerlee said. “He saw a movement and fired, hitting Coleman in the face and body.”

Coleman was taken to a hospital in Walla Walla for treatment, stayed overnight and went home Sunday.

The shooting took place on Mill Creek, about 10 miles east of Walla Walla.

Hayden Lake recommendation

Most of the anglers who voted on an Idaho Fish and Game Department proposal to lift the limit at Hayden Lake indicated they were for the department’s plan, fisheries biologist Jim Davis of Coeur d’Alene reported.

Davis said that 43 voted in favor

of removing the limit. Seven voted against the proposal.

As a result, he said, the department will recommend to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission that the limit be removed. The commission will meet in May.

Pike were released illegally into

the lake several years ago and there are now large numbers of pike in the lake.

Biologists contend that the pike will have a detrimental affect on trout and other species in the lake.

Quotas to be determined

Washington’s 1995 hunting permit quotas for deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and cougar will be decided when the state Fish and Wildlife Commission meets in Spokane Saturday at the Ridpath Hotel.

The commission also will decide whether to reauthorize an auction permit for bighorn sheep and whether to offer elk, moose and mountain goat permits for auction to raise funds for wildlife management.

The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. in Empire Room C.