A 3-year-old child who was being mentored by a 34-year-old hunter, accidentally wounded two other turkey hunters on Sunday during Wisconsin’s two-day youth-only spring turkey season. The mishap occurred on state forest lands in western Racine County, when the young shooter and mentor mistook movement about 35 yards away for a gobbler’s fanned tail.
Keeping their focus on the movement, the mentor knelt beside the child to help hold, aim, and fire a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun. Following the shots, pellets struck a 7-year-old child in the head and a 40-year-old man (that child’s mentor) in the left hand, shoulder, and backside. Rochester township. Lt. Renee Thok, the Department of Natural Resources’ hunter-education administrator, mentioned that the woods they were hunting featured a brush understory with some cover between the groups, but was not dense forest. She believes that both victims from the separate hunting party were facing away at the time and were not known to the shooters.
The 7-year-old remained hospitalized as of Tuesday with non-life-threatening injuries, while the 40-year-old was treated and released the same evening. Thok has since confirmed that the DNR has assigned a recreation warden to investigate and that the names and genders of the juveniles have not been released. The DNR is set to forward its findings to the Racine County district attorney, who will determine whether to file charges. The 34-year-old mentor was military-exempt from standard hunter-safety certification.
“I’m just glad everyone will be OK,” she said. “For the sake of both juveniles, I hope this incident doesn’t deter them or anyone else from hunting again, because hunting is a safe activity. This is a reminder that you can’t be complacent about safety.”
Wisconsin has no minimum age for mentored hunting, with adults required to stay within arm’s reach. The state resumed modern turkey hunting in 1983 and has maintained a strong safety record with just four fatalities in 31 shooting incidents as over 200,000 spring hunters take to the field each year.
This isolated incident comes as youth turkey hunting is enjoying remarkable success across the country in 2026. So far this year, several states have reported record-breaking harvests and participation, which is good news in an industry that, in some ways, is struggling to recruit the next generation.
In the state of Illinois, youth hunters set a new state record during their spring youth season, harvesting a preliminary total of 2,318 birds, surpassing the previous record of 2,099 set in 2025 (the third consecutive year of record kills). Participation also hit an all-time high, with a record 7,369 permits sold and success rates exceeding 30%.
More than doubling those numbers, Missouri’s young hunters downed over 5,200 birds during the 2026 youth season, which could very well become a record-setting total once numbers are finalized.
These successes serve as great examples of the growing appeal of mentored youth hunts, which introduce the next generation to the outdoors under close adult supervision. Thankfully no one was seriously injured in an incident we all hope will remain an anomaly.
The Wisconsin DNR continues its investigation into the Racine County incident, with a focus on target identification and safe firearm handling, core principles that have kept turkey hunting statistically safe for decades.
