Hunter wounded in accident near Nevis

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Nov. 11, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

The Hubbard County Sheriff's Department reported Wednesday one serious weapon-related hunting injury has taken place so far this hunting season.

Hubbard County Chief Deputy Tim Archambault said a man checked himself into St. Joseph's Hospital in Park Rapids Saturday with a gunshot would to his left hand.

Archambault said Darryl Edward Schmidt, 42, of South St. Paul, shot himself while holstering a pistol about 10:50 a.m. Saturday.

Schmidt had been hunting in the Spider Lake area near Nevis when he climbed down from his tree stand. He then attempted to holster his .308 caliber pistol into a shoulder holster and it discharged.

The bullet shot off several fingers on Schmid's left hand, according to the deputy.

Previously, the sheriff's office reported no one had been injured while hunting so far this season, except for two men who had suffered heart attacks. But the sheriff's office hadn't yet been informed of Schmidt's injury by the hospital.