A hunter in Arkansas was attacked and killed by the deer he had just shot. On Tuesday night, 66-year-old Thomas Alexander was hunting in Yellville, which is about 102 miles east of Fayetteville, when he shot a buck with a muzzleloader. When Alexander went over to check on the deer, it got up and attacked him.
"I don't know how long he left it there, but he went up to check it to make sure it was dead. And evidently, it wasn't," Keith Stephens, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said. "I've worked for the Game and Fish Commission for 20 years, and it's one of the stranger things that's happened."
Alexander managed to call his wife, who called 911. Paramedics rushed to the woods and planned to airlift him to the hospital. He stopped breathing while they were transporting him to the helicopter, so they decided to drive him in an ambulance instead.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital. It is unclear if he died as a result of the wounds or if he suffered a heart attack.
"We don't know for sure if that killed him or if he had a medical condition or a heart attack," Stephens said. "That sure didn't help."
The hospital is not planning to conduct an autopsy.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission attempted to track the deer but have been unable to locate it. Officials advised hunters to wait at least 30 minutes after shooting a deer before approaching it.
"The main thing is to wait a little until it expires," Stephens said. "We encourage people to also come up behind it and watch out for the deer's hooves. They can really do some damage by kicking with their hooves."
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