# Hunting accident lands Medford man in coma



## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Bizarre hunting accident lands Medford man in coma
10/14/2006, 1:42 p.m. PT
The Associated Press 

http://tinyurl.com/y2g2ay

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - A Medford man shot by a hunter's errant bullet, intended for a black-tailed deer, is in intensive care at the Rogue Valley Medical Center, struggling to hold onto his life.

Glen Bogart, 43, has a collapsed lung, a shattered shoulder blade, a shredded left arm and a hole the size of a fist in his back. Relatives have held vigil for Bogart since the Oct. 1 shooting in the mountains northeast of Ashland. "I was there when he woke once and I've never seen that look of panic on his face," Jean Bogart, his wife of 25 years, told The Mail-Tribune newspaper. "He's fighting the sedation."

For nearly two weeks, Bogart has fought off pneumonia and infections as his family waits and hopes for his condition to improve. "I know he's strong and that he's a fighter or he wouldn't be alive right now," Jean Bogart said. "They keep telling me it's a waiting game. Well, 13 days later, we're still waiting.

The accident happened during the second day of the general black-tailed buck deer season for Western Oregon rifle hunters. Bogart, the owner of a Medford auto-detailing business, was part of a hunting party of family and friends. Also hunting nearby was Cole Reeves, a 36-year-old Klamath Falls man hunting with his father, Stephen Reeves.

Cole Reeves was high on a heavily wooded slope scouting for deer when Bogart parked his pickup on a Forest Service road downhill from Reeves, about 100 yards away. Moments later, Reeves says he spotted a blacktail buck and fired a single shot from his 7 mm bolt-action rifle downhill at the animal more than 200 feet away, but he missed, Jackson County sheriff's deputies say. The bullet flew 319 feet through brush and across a Forest Service road and struck Bogart, who was standing off the road's shoulder, sheriff's Sgt. Colin Fagan says.

Neither party was wearing bright-orange clothing, which is recommended but not required while hunting in Oregon. The state is one of 10 that don't require blaze orange.

Reeves told investigators he never saw Bogart before he fired.

Sheriff's investigators using laser surveying equipment at the scene have confirmed Reeves' account, Fagan said. Investigators discovered that the spot where Reeves says he was standing when he fired, the spot where he says the deer was and the location where Bogart was shot all fell into a straight line, Fagan said.

"There's no indication that this was intentional in any way," Fagan said.


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

This is a terrible accident for both people involved. I am amazed that there are 10 states that do not require blaze orange for big game hunting! This lack of regulation is rather ignorant on the part of the respective game and fish departments. I wouldnt think of rifle hunting without blaze orange.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Man injured in hunting accident begins recovery

By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006 ... better.htm

Medford hunter Glen Bogart was conscious, breathing on his own and even ate a dinner of chicken and mashed potatoes Sunday, two weeks after he was wounded by a hunter's errant bullet east of Ashland.

Family members reveled Monday in Bogart's remarkable improvement since Friday, when he was unconscious and on a ventilator because his left lung was too damaged for him to breathe on his own.

"You want to talk turnaround? No one remotely expected any of this to happen," Nancy Marshall, Bogart's mother, said Monday.

Bogart's condition was upgraded to serious from critical condition at the Rogue Valley Medical Center, a hospital nursing supervisor said Monday.

Bogart was standing next to a Forest Service road northeast of Howard Prairie looking for black-tailed deer when he was struck in the back by a bullet fired by 36-year-old Cole Reeves, of Klamath Falls, Jackson County sheriff's deputies said.

The 7 mm bullet tore through Bogart's torso and exited through his left arm, severely damaging the arm and his right lung, family members said.

Reeves told investigators he fired a single downhill shot at a blacktail buck, sheriff's Sgt. Colin Fagan said. The bullet traveled a total of 319 feet through brush before hitting Bogart, Fagan said.

Neither party was wearing bright-orange clothing. Reeves told investigators he never saw Bogart before he fired. Sheriff's investigators using laser surveying equipment at the scene have confirmed Reeves' account.

The case has been classified as a hunting accident and deputies have continued their investigation.

Reached Monday by telephone, Cole Reeves said he declined to comment until he speaks to investigators. Reeves said he has been out of town and out of touch with investigators since last week.

Steve Reeves, Cole Reeves' father and hunting partner, called his son "a responsible hunter" whose shot was one he and other hunters would have taken had it been presented to them.

"I just know my son," Steve Reeves said. "If he said he shot at a buck, he shot at a buck."

Members of both hunting parties recall hearing a second rifle shot fired less than a minute after Reeves' shot. Police have yet to determine who fired that shot.

Fagan said investigators never found the bullet that hit Bogart, but investigators believe the second shot was fired from an area down the road from where Bogart was shot.

"We don't think it has anything to do with the case," Fagan said.

Steve Reeves expressed sympathy over Bogart's ordeal during a Monday telephone interview.

"I felt bad about this whole situation," Steve Reeves said. "I'm really sorry for the man hit by the bullet, and his family."


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

Sad story, My prayers are with all who are involved.

This really makes me rethink my thoughts about wearing blaze orange during pheasant season also, I usually only wear it from rifle deer opener until the season has ended.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

everybody upland bird hunting should wear at least a orange hat. Its just not worth it to take the risk.


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## labsrule (Jul 28, 2006)

This is a very sad and scary story! 
Everyone stay safe and be careful this hunting season!


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