Pig Hunter shot and killed today in Aptos

[Kentuck]

Pig Hunter shot and killed today in Aptos

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A pig hunter was accidentally shot this morning by another in his group while looking for a wounded pig. Apparently the wounded pig charged on of the hunters and when he fired his 45, the bullet either bounced off the pig or missed the pig and struck the hunter. He died enroute to the hospital with a wound just below the belly button (bled out).

They were hunting in a what would normally be a "NO SHOOT" zone here in Santa Cruz County but they were working for a person with a depredation permit.

Just a reminder to be EXTRA careful when hunting with others...know where everyone is at all times.

Prayers to the family (apparently a local police chiefs son) and to the friend who shot him...he will have to live with this the rest of his life.

 

[CAjackrabbitWCP]

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/index....howtopic=118028

Similar to this perhaps?

 

[BDB]

Ouch, that sucks all the way around. I fell bad for everyone involved.

 

[rtbx15]

Wow, that hits close to home. I live here in Aptos and know a lot of local LEO as well as a couple of the Chiefs. Being a father, that is hard to hear. Could you post the other website for some more info? Thanks, Bob.

 

[oneshothunter]

wow that bad .. we have all seen the video of the hunters a week or two that just started shooting when the hog came at them and the guy slipped down the hill and all kept shooting as the pig and the hunter slid down the hill side by side .. its a shame this stuff happens .. we will pray for the familys of both .. heavy hearted oneshothunter

 

[Kentuck]

BREAKING NEWS: Son of Watsonville police chief killed in hunting accident
Timothy Medina, 38, of Soquel died in a hunting accident this morning in a rural wooded area near Haas Drive, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department reports.

Son of Watsonville police chief killed in hunting accident

By Genevieve Bookwalter
Sentinel staff writer

Timothy Medina, 38, of Soquel died this morning in a hunting accident in a rural wooded area near Haas Drive, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department reports.

Medina, the son of Watsonville Police Chief Terry Medina, and two companions were hunting feral pigs with a deprivation permit on private property bordered by the Forest of Nisene Marks State Parks. After Medina was wounded, one of the companions went to a nearby residence to report the emergency, at about 8:30 a.m. Medina was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The preliminary investigation indicates the incident was a tragic hunting accident, sheriff reports said. No one has been arrested or charged in the accident. The names of those involved are not being released pending the ongoing investigation.
(Read Genevieve Bookwalter’s complete story in Tuesday's Sentinel. Contact her at 429-2486.)

 

[BGH831]

I know I won't go look for a wounded hog with a gun in the group for just that reason, dogs do a much better job anyway. Either that or I just don't trust the experiance level of the crew I'm hunting with these days. Condolances and prayers for the family and the poor bastard that has to live with his buddys blood on his hands.

 

[Farallon]

I read this in today's Mercury News, but they didn't list any names.

I fished Long Range with Tim. He was into fishing big time, was a good angler to share the rail with. Tim had a buddy with him on the trip, buddy's name was Jason. IIRC, Jason is from the same area. They were both good sticks.

Those two guys brought several boxes of wine with them. At the end of the trip, one of the crew mentioned, they had never run out of 7-Up before, wanted to know who drank all of the 7-up. Tim and Jason usually had cups with them, after I got to know them, I looked into their cup and figured it was wine coolers, I teased them about it. Their stateroom was next door to mine, I saw their supply of boxed wine. Tim made a video of our trip and I have been keeping an eye out for him since that trip. I have seen his picture/name a couple of times since our trip together, he was still fishing San Diego Long Range.

Sorry to read about this. My thoughts to the family.

 

[Farallon]

Here is a link to the Mercury News story. In my previous post, I wrote they didn't list names, I was wrong.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...al/15387235.htm


A 38-year-old Soquel man died Monday of a gunshot wound suffered while hunting near the Forest of Nisene Marks Park in Aptos, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner's Office reported.

Timothy Medina and two companions were legally hunting feral pigs on private property, according to the sheriff. About 8:30 a.m., emergency dispatchers received a report of a gunshot accident. Details about who fired the fatal shot were not available late Monday.

Emergency personnel took Medina to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriff's and coroner's detectives, who are investigating the incident as an accident, would not release the names of Medina's companions.

 

[bighog]

I know how you feel rtbx15 this is truly a tragedy.

I heard Tim and two others went back Monday morning to trail a pig arrowed the previous night. The three men got seperated in the thick brush and one had a pistol. When he heard brush being broken he fired.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Chief Medina and his family.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Santa Cruz

Sheriff releases details of fatal hunting accident

By Jennifer Squires
Sentinel Staff Writer


A longtime friend accidentally shot and killed the son of Watsonville Police Chief Terry Medina with a .45-caliber pistol during a legal hunt Monday that had ventured outside the bounds of the permit.

Details released Friday by the Sheriff's Office reveal the events surrounding the killing of 38-year-old Timothy Medina, and the state Department of Fish and Game said the trio of hunters had gone beyond the area allowed by their depredation permit to hunt feral pigs when Medina was shot.

The Soquel man's death has been ruled an accident; no charges have been filed against the other men in his hunting party.

"We don't have any reason to believe it was anything more than an accident," sheriff's Lt. Phil Wowak said Friday.

Medina suffered a single gunshot wound to the abdomen just before 8:30 a.m. Monday while he and two Santa Cruz men — Gregory Hill and Thomas Pennington — tracked a feral pig in a wooded ravine on private property near Cabrillo College in Aptos, according to a sheriff's news release.

Hill and Pennington had wounded the pig with an arrow hours before, the Sheriff's Office reported. The men had returned with a dog to track the animal through thick brush and poison oak in the steep canyon, the release said. Hill and Pennington were armed with .45-caliber pistols; Medina did not carry a gun, investigators reported.

Medina and Hill followed the pig into the ravine while Pennington waited on the ridge opposite the animal, the release said. Medina and Hill, neither of whom were wearing "hunter orange" clothing, became separated and the boar charged between them, the Sheriff's Office reported.

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Hill, 45, fired three shots at the pig, one of which hit Medina, the release said.

When Hill realized his friend had been wounded, he carried Medina out of the ravine while Pennington, 42, ran to get help.

Firefighters from Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District tended to the unconscious Medina and carried him from the edge of the ravine to a waiting ambulance.

The bullet had hit a major blood vessel, however, and Medina died later at Dominican Hospital, investigators reported.

After the shooting, sheriff's investigators interviewed Hill and Pennington.

Both men also underwent and passed blood-alcohol tests, Wowak said. Investigators concluded the men did not commit gross negligence rising to the level of a criminal act, or an intentional act that caused Medina's death, the release said.

"Nothing really unusual came out of that," Wowak said of the investigation.

However, the shooting did occur on a parcel of private land on which the trio was not authorized to hunt, said Fish and Game Lt. Don Kelly. The permit had been issued for a 1.5-acre parcel of land adjacent to the 142-acre plot where Hill fired his weapon, Kelly said.

The permit also recommended hunters use live traps or archery equipment — not firearms — to eliminate the animals, Kelly said. The area, between the college and The Forest of the Nisene Marks State Park, is a county-designated no-shoot zone, but exceptions are made for depredation permits, Kelly said.

Officials would not discuss how the hunters ended up on the wrong piece of property, but Kelly said a depredation permit must be used on the private land for which it's issued.

"That's why we do suggest the traps that would draw the animals," Kelly said.

It's unclear if the hunters will face any disciplinary action for going outside the bounds of the hunt.

Members of Medina's family have made no public statement about his death; no funeral services had been announced Friday night.

"The Medinas are obviously still in shock because of the loss," Wowak said.

 

[spectr17]

Sad to hear about that.

You wade in on a wounded pig or bear you'd better know they folks your with real well. The chance of a charge and some high adventure is great. I once had a close call with a brear and almost got mauled cuz the goof I was with refused to watch our backtrail as I tracked the bear. He wanted to see the sign on the ground as I found it.