[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by Belmont Resident

I lost count but there were at least 4-5 reports on the news about hunters shooting other people tonight.

Sad news on the WMUR web site. While the vast majority of hunters are ultra safety conscious, opening day sometimes brings out a few less careful one day hunters.

LISBON, N.H. -- A 31-year-old man was killed in a hunting accident in Lisbon on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The Fish and Game Department said Kenneth Brunelle, of Marlborough, Mass., was killed about 8 a.m. off Mount Eustis Road. Investigators said he was hunting with his father and brother when he was fatally shot by another hunter in the area.

Officials said the other hunter was not part of the family's hunting party and mistook the victim for a deer. Fish and Game officials said Brunelle was not wearing blaze orange.

Officials said one round was fired, and Brunelle died almost instantly. Brunelle was not carrying a weapon and may have been taking pictures for the rest of his hunting party, officials said.

Wednesday was opening day of New Hampshire's regular firearms deer season. Fish and Game said fatal hunting incidents are unusual for New Hampshire, which has a good record for hunter safety and requires hunter education courses.

There has been an average of 3.36 hunting-related incidents each year in New Hampshire since 2000, down from 21.4 incidents per year during the 1960s, before the state began requiring hunter education classes.

The department said that including Wednesday's death, there have been five fatal hunting-related incidents in the past 15 years. The most recent death was in 2009 on the opening day of muzzleloader season. A hunter was killed when his muzzleloader discharged shortly after he got into his tree stand.