Hunter was looking for a squirrel, took aim, fired — and shot his brother, officials say

Hunters who hope to leave the Iowa woods with “elusive” bushy-tailed squirrels need to “match wits with one of the most cunning species afield,” the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said in a release.

Brothers Sao Bunpan and Khor Bunpan, both of Webster City, Iowa, were ready for the task.

The brothers, both in their 50s, joined a party of four and headed to Brushy Creek State Recreation Area on Sept. 1 — the first day of Iowa’s squirrel hunting season — and began their hunt, according to the department.

Khor Bunpan grabbed his gun, took aim and fired.

But it wasn’t a squirrel he shot.

It was his brother.

The shot hit Sao Bunpan in his upper body, the statement said, and he was taken to a Webster City hospital. The city is about 15 miles from the state park.

He was then transferred to a Des Moines hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Conservation officers believe the shooting was an accident, and no charges have been filed, but it is still under investigation. The type of gun used was not released, but the DNR previously recommended a .22 rifle or shotgun for squirrel hunting.

Despite the small size of a squirrel, the department said squirrel hunting season is an ideal season for novice hunters.

“It’s a great introduction to hunting because there is such little competition from other hunters,” DNR forest wildlife research biologist Jim Coffey said in the release. “Novices can fail and learn from their mistakes because there is usually another squirrel over the next ridge.”

Coffey said you just need the gun and “clothes that help you blend in to the landscape.”

“Then find a grove of trees, get permission and start hunting,” he said in the release.

The department has not said whether the Bunpan brothers are novice hunters.

This is not the first time a hunting trip has gone wrong in Iowa, though.

Last year a hunting dog shot a hunter while looking for pheasants.

“Long story short — it was really a freak accident — one of the hunters in the hunting party set his gun down on the ground, and one of the dogs in the hunting party just stepped just right, or just wrong, onto the trigger guard of that shotgun, and the gun fired,” DNR conservation officer Ken Lonneman told Radio Iowa.

Also last year, a 13-year-old boy accidentally shot his 11-year-old brother in the hip while hunting, The Des Moines Register reported. That same week in December, another hunter shot his partner after he mistook him for a deer, the paper reported.

This story was originally published September 6, 2018 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Hunter was looking for a squirrel, took aim, fired — and shot his brother, officials say."