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Hunter shot and killed after he’s mistaken for a wounded deer, New York officials say

File photo of deer in Colorado snow. A hunter was killed after he mistaken for a wounded deer on Nov. 25, 2021, Ontario County Sheriff’s Office said. The accused shooter was arrested on Jan. 4, 2022.
File photo of deer in Colorado snow. A hunter was killed after he mistaken for a wounded deer on Nov. 25, 2021, Ontario County Sheriff’s Office said. The accused shooter was arrested on Jan. 4, 2022. AP

Zachary Barse was tracking a deer he had wounded in a wooded area in New York when he was shot by the man he was hunting with, the sheriff’s office said.

Barse, 28, of Gorham, died in the woods on Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day, the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office said in news release on Jan. 4.

Kevin Hudson, 61, of Clifton Springs, faces a criminally negligent homicide charge in the shooting.

Before the shooting, the two men were hunting together in a wooded area near Phelps a town about 40 miles southeast of Rochester, deputies said in the release.

Hudson was in his tree stand when he spotted movement in the brush near a creek, deputies said.

He fired his shotgun at what was moving in the brush, mistaking it for the wounded deer Barse was tracking, deputies said.

Barse was struck by a round from the shotgun in his upper body, the sheriff’s office said, and he was later pronounced dead.

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This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Hunter shot and killed after he’s mistaken for a wounded deer, New York officials say."

Helena Wegner
McClatchy DC
Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.
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