In a horrific incident, an experienced Arkansas hunter was gored in the woods on Tuesday after being attacked by a deer. Thomas Alexander, 66, was reportedly hunting in Yellville, an area roughly 102 miles east of Fayetteville, officials said.
The tragedy unfolded after Alexander had shot a deer using a muzzleloader but was instead attacked by the animal. "He apparently went over to the buck and it got up and attacked him," Keith Stephens, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, told Fox News.
Alexander's nephew found him and at the time the hunter was alert and talking. However, he succumbed to his injuries by the time paramedics could get him to the hospital, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said.
The hunter was pronounced dead at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Stephens said. While it wasn't clear whether Alexander died from the deer attack, or due to other medical problems, like a heart attack, hospital officials said he did have puncture wounds.
Stephens said that it was unlikely that an autopsy would be conducted to find the exact cause of death.
Joe Dale Purdom from the Game and Fish Commission said that the wounded deer was not found.
While speaking to local media, Stephens said that while this was not the first time a wounded deer had attacked a hunter, it is advised that hunters wait 30 minutes after shooting a deer before approaching it, as "it may not be dead." Stephens said Alexander "may have done that, [but] we just don't know."
