Two Thursday hunting incidents investigated

One man was killed and another man was injured in separate hunting accidents Thursday in Central Virginia, according to officials with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The fatality is the second hunting-related death in the area in as many weeks.

James Michael DeBrular, 56, of Fairfax, died in southern Campbell County when his shotgun accidentally discharged, according to Sgt. Chris Thomas, with DGIF.

Thomas said DeBrular was hunting by himself in a homemade deer stand, on property he owned off Honeysuckle Lane, near Red House.

Thomas said the initial investigation indicated that DeBrular dropped his 20-gauge shotgun, which discharged, shooting him in the head.

Campbell County authorities, along with DGIF personnel and Lynchburg fire and rescue units, responded to the scene around 6 p.m. Thomas said DeBrular was pronounced dead at the scene.

DeBrular’s nephew, Douglas Foote, said his uncle was always safety-conscious when hunting.

“He’s very savvy as far as safety and all that,” said Foote, who lives in North Carolina. “It brings up lots of questions.”

In Amherst County, at about 12:45 p.m., an Elkton man was shot by a rifle from a hunter in his own party.

Thomas said Corvin William DeHart, III, was part of a party of 12 deer hunters in the area of Riverville Road, off of U.S. 60, southeast of Amherst.

DeHart was driving an ATV across from where others in the group were hunting, and took a shot intended for a deer in his bicep.

He was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital with injuries that Thomas said were not life-threatening.

Chip Street, a conservation police officer with DGIF, is investigating both incidents.

Thursday’s accidents follow the death of a hunter in Gretna last week.

On Nov. 11, Wayne Philip Logan, 57, was killed when his firearm discharged as he climbed through underbrush while rabbit hunting off Terry Road.

In the fiscal year ending in June 2007, DGIF reported 47 firearms-related hunting incidents statewide, four of which were fatal.

DGIF spokeswoman Julia Dixon said the two fatal incidents lately did not appear to signify a trend among hunters this season.

When tree stands started becoming popular, Dixon said, falls from them became more common, so the department addressed that issue in safety training.

“We do look for trends with hunting accidents, to try to get those safety messages out,” Dixon said.

“We’re concerned with every fatality, and you just hate to see them,” she said, but added “those two (recent fatalities) were just terrible unfortunate incidents.”