A hunter died this week after he was attacked by a deer that he had shot, according to officials with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Thomas Alexander, 66, shot a buck with a muzzleloader while hunting near Yellville, local outlet KY3 reported. However, the buck did not die and attacked the hunter.
“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,” said Keith Stephens, the chief of communications with the agency.
Stephens said Alexander was left with “several puncture wounds” after the altercation.{mosads}
Alexander, who was hunting alone, was able to contact his family who called emergency responders, the outlet noted. He later died at a local hospital.
Stephens said it is unclear if Alexander died from the puncture wounds or from another health-related cause such as a heart attack. Alexander’s body did not undergo an autopsy, so Stephens said “we may never know [what] actually happened.”
“I’ve worked for the Game and Fish Commission for 20 years, and it’s one of the stranger things that’s happened,” he continued.
Hunters are encouraged to wait for the deer to be still and unmoving for about 30 minutes before approaching it.