Death of a Deer Hunter: The Shooter Just Walked Away

The bullet broke a number of ribs when placing the 47-year-old hunter that Saturday afternoon, after which shattering his liver and slicing his spinal column, spleen, proper lung, and each kidneys earlier than stopping on the left facet of his chest beneath the diaphragm. Pothour slumped towards his nephew, Jon Pothour, who guided him to the bottom and commenced shouting for assist.

The subsequent morning, an post-mortem physician discovered the mushroomed slug mendacity unfastened inside Gene’s rib cage, and wrote this terse abstract: “He was shot with one — singularly efficient — looking spherical.”

Again on the taking pictures scene, issues weren’t going simply. A workforce of 14 conservation wardens from the Wisconsin Division of Pure Sources labored practically round the clock the subsequent 4 days to resolve the taking pictures. And over 25 years later, the lead investigators nonetheless think about Gene Pothour’s loss of life one of many saddest and strangest instances they ever unraveled.

Pothour was looking the opener along with his son, Casey, 12, and nephew, Jon Pothour, 36, on public land throughout the Decrease Wisconsin State Riverway close to Avoca, a village of a number of hundred individuals 50 miles west of Madison. Gene and Casey Pothour shared a two-person treestand that morning whereas Jon Pothour sat in his treestand 200 yards away.

After assembly up at about 12:30 p.m., Jon walked westward down a hill and turned south right into a pine plantation, desiring to circle again towards his uncle and cousin. He discovered a recent blood path coming into the pines and adopted it. As he neared the pine stand’s far edge about 10 yards later, he discovered a freshly killed 6-point buck not but tagged or gutted. After Jon talked to Gene and Casey, the Pothours determined to discipline gown the buck and wait to see if the shooter confirmed as much as tag it.

Gene took photographs of his son and nephew with the buck, after which led his son to a ravine 50 yards away to observe for deer and name often with a grunt tube whereas he and Jon gutted the buck. Quickly after, Gene eliminated his blaze-orange jacket and labored in his crimson plaid shirt, black fleece pullover, and tan-colored pants. Jon didn’t take away his blaze orange. When Jon completed the job and cleaned his palms within the leaves and grass, Gene let go of the buck’s leg and flipped it over to empty.

The time was about 2 to 2:30 p.m. A rifle blast made Jon flinch and look east towards the sound uphill from them. He noticed two orange-clad hunters 50 away, however then observed his uncle raise his palms towards his chest after which his mouth earlier than slumping, his eyes broadly bulged. Uncertain what was occurring, Jon shouted for assist as Gene made solely “just a few noises.” Cradling Gene’s head in his proper arm, Jon laid him on his again.

Jon informed investigators a hunter quickly entered the pines, adopted by two others. He didn’t acknowledge any of them. Two shortly left when Jon cursed them and yelled for them to summon assist. Jon recalled somebody suggesting Gene had suffered a coronary heart assault, however he knew that wasn’t proper. He quickly discovered his uncle’s gunshot wound. The opposite hunter pressed a vest towards Gene’s chest to assist cease blood loss whereas Jon carried out CPR. When Casey Pothour heard the commotion and approached, Jon informed him to remain again and begin praying.

Jon knew his efforts have been futile, however stored performing CPR as a result of he didn’t need Casey to comprehend his father was lifeless. He didn’t cease till a sheriff’s deputy arrived with EMTs and an ambulance about half-hour after the ordeal started. The deputy, Lana Bowers, requested if she may relieve him. Jon stated, “Please,” and threw himself to the facet and pounded the bottom in grief. Earlier than Bowers may take over, an EMT stated Gene Pothour had no pulse and his physique was chilly.

In the meantime, different deputies and DNR wardens converged on the location, organising a 2-square-mile perimeter, and recording identities and license-plate numbers. They encountered 54 hunters that afternoon and Sunday, and gathered particulars on their firearms, and when and the place they have been looking.

After Jon Pothour completed speaking with the investigating conservation wardens about 9 p.m., Deputy Bowers informed Warden Kevin Mickelberg her issues concerning the hunter who had helped Jon attempt to save his uncle. Bowers first thought the person was with the Pothours’ looking celebration, however Jon didn’t know him. The person was John Strand, 51, of McFarland. Bowers stated Strand was crying, emotional, and appearing suspiciously, telling her he by no means needed to hunt once more.

Bowers additionally discovered Strand had been looking along with his buddy, Curtis Anderson, 45, of Cambridge, and Anderson’s sons, Jason, 18, and Christopher, 20. Bowers had encountered Jason Anderson when arriving with the ambulance at 3:04 p.m., and he helped direct them throughout a discipline to the taking pictures scene within the pines. Jason later checked with the deputy earlier than returning to his stand 300 yards north of the scene, and informed her that Strand and the Andersons have been staying at a campground in Avoca.

The subsequent morning, Sunday, Warden Jim Herrington approached a hunter close to the scene, who turned out to be Jason Anderson. Jason informed Herrington he had been on his stand when the taking pictures occurred. After listening to the shot and commotion, he left his stand as his father and brother approached throughout the sector. Curtis and Chris Anderson had simply left the taking pictures scene. Jason stated his father despatched him to hunt assist, noting that Jason was a nonsmoker and higher capable of run. Jason flagged down a pickup truck on close by Freeway 133. The motive force had a cell phone and known as 911.

When Herrington launched Warden Mike Good to Jason, Good requested if the remainder of Jason’s group was additionally looking that morning. Jason stated no, they have been at their Avoca campsites, and didn’t plan to return. He stated they have been “a little bit upset” concerning the taking pictures and hadn’t slept a lot. Good informed Anderson to go get them.

When the boys returned, the wardens discovered Chris and Curtis Anderson had rushed into the taking pictures scene with Strand seconds after the shot. Curtis stated he informed Strand to remain and assist whereas he and Chris summoned assist.

In the meantime, one other hunter informed wardens Sunday morning that he had seen two hunters (Chris and Curtis Anderson) kneeling and speaking 75 yards away in a discipline north of his stand for 15 to twenty minutes after the taking pictures. He stated a 3rd hunter (Jason Anderson) joined them after the ambulance arrived.

Wardens examined the location within the discipline and located cigarette butts and a Three Musketeers wrapper. Why hadn’t Chris and Curtis returned to the taking pictures scene to supply help and discuss to law-enforcement officers after sending Jason to seek out assist? The sons stated their father, Curtis, was a Vietnam veteran. They stated he didn’t like gory films and struggled with disturbing conditions.

Good informed MeatEater that Curtis emphasised the identical issues when he interviewed him. “He was evasive about any particulars concerning the deer looking accident, and he will need to have gone by means of his Vietnam tales 10 instances with us,” Good stated.

The wardens’ suspicions grew shortly. Chris and Curtis Anderson had been avoiding the wardens, which gave them time to craft a canopy story and share it with Jason Anderson and John Strand.

“Nearly each hunter who had been close by circled again every time they noticed us Sunday, curious to study if we’d discovered something,” Good stated. “However there was one thing about that child (Chris Anderson) and their group. They didn’t say a lot and wouldn’t admit something. As issues progressed (Sunday), we knew it was them and we had to determine what occurred.”

The wardens quickly zeroed in on Chris Anderson. After they checked the rifles the group was carrying Sunday, Chris had a Savage Mannequin 219B single-shot .30-30 rifle. He stated he had the identical rifle Saturday, and by no means fired a shot. However when Chris led Warden Mickelberg to a fallen log Sunday and stated he had hunted there briefly Saturday round noon, they discovered three empty brass casings from a .243 Winchester. A follow-up search positioned a fourth casing.

“Nothing about that .30-30 made sense,” Warden John Glennon, now retired, informed MeatEater. “The opposite three guys in his group had good rifles and scopes, and right here’s this man with a beat-up piece-of-crap gun. And what are the percentages of somebody taking pictures from the identical spot the identical day with a .243, not removed from the place Gene Pothour obtained shot?”

The Andersons quickly informed totally different tales on how they occurred to be close by when Gene Pothour was shot. In a single account, they stated they have been on their option to arrange a drive for Jason. In one other account, they stated they have been there to assist Chris Anderson search for a buck he’d shot at.

As wardens looked for extra proof on the fallen log, they ran lengthy strings from there to a bullet-scarred sapling and bullet-clipped twigs downrange, after which to the 6-pointer’s blood path. Every little thing lined up. Additionally they used metallic detectors to verify for spent bullets. They discovered none within the floor, however then Warden Scott Thiede checked the far discipline edge downhill and throughout the valley from the fallen log. He noticed broken bark and a bullet gap the dimensions of a nailhead 12 ft up a birch tree.

A DNR forester lower down the tree and eliminated a foot-long part with the bullet. Wardens took the chunk to the state crime lab to extract the slug. Quickly after, the lab’s ballistics professional recognized the slug’s caliber as .243, and its rifling marks matched these on the slug that killed Gene Pothour.

“Based mostly on what Jon Pothour noticed when he regarded up after the shot, we had a good suggestion the shooter was about 50 yards from the place we discovered these 4 .243 casings,” Glennon informed MeatEater. “We knew we needed to discover that rifle to make a strong case, however we figured the Andersons have been hiding it. We even put an undercover warden in a campsite close to them, hoping he’d see or hear one thing to steer us to the rifle and contradict what they have been feeding us.”

Different statements by the Andersons additionally didn’t align. In follow-up interviews, Chris Anderson admitted to wardens he had shot at 5 deer working towards the pines and probably hit a buck. However how did he shoot a number of instances with a single-shot rifle, and the place did all that .30-30 brass go? Additionally, close by hunters informed wardens they heard a four- or five-shot volley about an hour earlier than the one shot and Jon Pothour’s cries for assist.

When wardens questioned the Andersons additional, Chris stated he suspected he hit the buck, and left to get Strand and his father to assist observe it. He stated in the event that they discovered the buck, they deliberate to have Strand tag it so they may “open up” his bonus tags for antlerless deer. That plan, nonetheless, had flaws. First, it confirmed Chris meant to interrupt Wisconsin’s group-hunting regulation by leaving the scene to get another person to tag it. It additionally confirmed he didn’t know a easy reality: Deer hunters in 1998 may use buck tags and antlerless-only tags in any order. The foundations by no means required taking pictures a buck first.

The Andersons additionally informed wardens they heard a shot from contained in the pine stand as they arrived to search for Chris’ buck. They stated they raised their rifles in case a deer bolted out, however rushed into the pines when listening to Jon Pothour yelling. John Strand, described in DNR case experiences as “stocky” and coping with a sore leg, was trailing 25 yards behind the Andersons and didn’t have a transparent view of them when listening to the shot.

The wardens have been sure the Andersons have been making an attempt to lie their manner out of a group-hunting quotation and any involvement within the taking pictures. The wardens believed Chris Anderson knew all alongside that he killed the buck. Its blood path was apparent and simple to observe. Why did he need Strand to tag the buck? “Group-hunting violations often contain somebody who’s both not looking or doesn’t plan to maintain looking,” Glennon stated. “I assumed Chris Anderson knew Strand would tag it so he (Chris) may maintain looking.”

The Andersons’ altering cowl tales, nonetheless, inadvertently defined how one particular person may have fired pictures an hour aside from two close-together websites. “A method or one other, their tales put Chris Anderson close to the scene of the taking pictures,” Glennon stated.

In the meantime, the investigation’s coordinator stored looking for the .243 rifle that Chris Anderson used to shoot the buck and Gene Pothour. Randy Stark, the DNR’s regional warden, issued a “Crime Stoppers” report back to Madison TV, radio, and newspapers concerning the lacking rifle. On Nov. 25, 4 days after the taking pictures, a person known as the hotline to say Jason Anderson visited the person’s sister at her residence the evening of Nov. 22 and requested her teenage son (Jason’s buddy) to cover a rifle and a few ammunition. Jason informed his buddy the DNR was making an attempt to hold the taking pictures on his brother Chris.

Stark and his workforce sought search warrants for the lady’s home, Curtis Anderson’s home (the place his sons nonetheless lived), and his camper-trailer in Avoca. Stark additionally dispatched wardens to observe these locations till search groups arrived with warrants, after which assigned wardens to interview Curtis, Chris, and Jason Anderson individually however concurrently to make sure they couldn’t conspire on one other cowl story.

When searchers arrived with a warrant on the lady’s home, they discovered a Remington Mannequin 700 BDL in .243 Winchester and three containers of .243 ammo in her son’s bed room closet. The search workforce knowledgeable Stark, and he relayed the discover to wardens interrogating the Andersons. All three Andersons confessed when informed the wardens had Chris Anderson’s rifle.

Curtis Anderson admitted he crafted the quilt story to guard Chris from prosecution. Remarkably, Curtis had shot a hunter within the brow with a shotgun slug when he was 14 years previous, and stated he didn’t need Chris to endure the lengthy investigation he skilled. Curtis stated he knew his sons would persist with the story and perform his instructions to lie and conceal proof as a result of “my boys know to do what they’re informed.”

Jason Anderson admitted mendacity to wardens to guard his older brother. He additionally admitted he first hid his brother’s rifle above the axle of the household’s camper-trailer Saturday evening, after which took it to his buddy’s home the subsequent evening after they realized wardens doubted their story. He additionally informed wardens he didn’t think about Chris a critical hunter. He stated he knew immediately his brother had shot somebody when seeing his distraught face minutes after the taking pictures.

On Nov. 27, six days after Gene Pothour’s loss of life, wardens re-enacted the taking pictures with data from the confessions. Chris Anderson admitted he discovered the lifeless buck quickly after taking pictures 4 instances from the fallen log, after which went to get Strand and his father.

When he and his father returned, Chris Anderson stated he heard a deer bleat from throughout the pines. He knelt, raised his rifle, and thought he noticed a buck’s antlers shifting in his riflescope. He then aimed the crosshairs the place he assumed the buck’s chest can be, and fired after his father nodded OK.

Within the wardens’ re-enactment, two of them wearing garments like these worn by Eugene and Jon Pothour. About 50 yards to the east, the place Chris Anderson knelt and shot, one other warden kneeled and raised a scoped rifle to survey the scene whereas a colleague videotaped the re-enactment.

Though the “shooter” noticed actions within the pine stand’s “very darkish” inside, he struggled to see the warden portraying Gene Pothour, standing in a plaid shirt and tan pants. The “shooter” additionally couldn’t see the blaze-orange clothes worn by the kneeling warden dressed as Jon Pothour.

The “shooter” doubted he would have been capable of see deer antlers, as Chris Anderson claimed, even along with his scope set on 7X. The re-enactment didn’t embody a yearling buck being turned over to empty, however wardens and prosecutors contended Chris Anderson shot regardless that he couldn’t see his goal, supposedly a deer’s chest.

In April 1999, Curtis Anderson was discovered responsible of two misdemeanors for “resisting” the conservation wardens investigating the taking pictures. In September 1999, Christopher J. Anderson was sentenced to five years’ probation for the “felonious and reckless” loss of life of Eugene Pothour, and his looking privileges have been revoked for all times. The court docket dismissed misdemeanor costs for failing to render help to Pothour after taking pictures him, for obstructing a warden by claiming he had been looking with a .30-30, and for not instantly tagging the buck.

Good and Glennon stated they’ll always remember how outwardly cool the Andersons behaved throughout the four-day investigation. “The scene after a deadly looking accident is a tricky place to be,” Good informed MeatEater. “Everyone seems to be upset, nobody is aware of who fired the shot, and also you’re making an attempt to make sense of all this confusion. However these guys…they have been calm, cool, and picked up. That also stands proud to me. They appeared snug realizing that they had shot somebody. They simply went about their enterprise.”

Stark has comparable recollections. “Most individuals in unintended shootings can’t simply stroll away,” Stark stated. “They arrive ahead when realizing they may’ve fired the shot. Most individuals can’t reside with a giant lie and all of the guilt. However these guys by no means confirmed a sew of regret. We knew they’d by no means admit something until we confronted them with bodily proof.”

Featured artwork by way of David Burgess.