By Jeanne Sager
GRAHAMSVILLE — November 29, 2005 – A pair of shootings on the county’s borders over the holiday weekend are a tragic warning of what not to do while hunting.
In the Town of Denning, just over the line in Ulster County, Grahamsville’s Jason McCarthy was out hunting with a party of five in Catskill Park.
Dressed in dark clothing, the 24-year-old was walking in a wooded area when his brother, Nathaniel, caught sight of him.
Mistaking Jason for a bear, Nathaniel fired.
The bullet entered Jason’s left hand, said New York State Police Investigator Rick Sauer.
“It went through his left hand and into his hip and out his buttocks,” Sauer said.
Volunteer firemen from Claryville and Grahamsville descended on the mountain between Sugarloaf and Red Hill roads along with the State Police, Department of Environmental Protection Police, Ulster County Sheriff’s Department and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police.
“We were up on that mountain for over an hour – it was a steep mountain – trying to get him out of there,” Sauer said.
McCarthy was airlifted to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie for treatment where he was in stable condition Monday morning.
Sauer said no tickets have been issued, and none are expected.
Wearing orange is advisable while hunting to avoid accidents like this, he noted.
Hunting safety is weighing heavily on the minds of the folks who responded to the scene of a fatal shooting on Thanksgiving Day in the Town of Deerpark.
David Kingston, 13, was out with his family in a wooded area near Sparrowbush on Thursday when he was somehow shot.
New York State Police responded to the scene along with the Town of Deerpark Police and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police, and Kingston was rushed to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis.
But the child, a Huguenot resident, died of his injuries at the hospital.
That shooting remains under investigation. No more information was available at press time.