NRP Investigating 2nd Hunting Death In Less Than A Week

NRP to hold hunter safety demonstration at National Hunting and Fishing Day Event

Elkton, Md. (September 24, 2010)  – The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) is investigating the death of a hunter that occurred on September 20 in the 2600 block of Barksdale Road in Elkton. The investigation revealed that Dennis Arthur Siler, 44 of Port Deposit, Md., was bow hunting for deer when his 14 year-old-son found him unconscious at the base of a tree at 10:00 a.m.

Siler was hunting from an elevated portable climbing stand located 30 feet from the ground. Siler and his son were bow hunting separately on the Barksdale Road hunting property and were communicating by text messages. Siler’s son found the him after he failed to answer text messages. Paramedics took Siler to Christiana Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Preliminary autopsy revealed death from trauma received from the fall. The investigation revealed that Siler was not using a safety harness.

This accident is the second fatal tree stand hunting accident since the beginning of bow season for deer that started on September 15. The NRP’s Safety Education Unit will be demonstrating proper tree stand safety during the National Hunting and Fishing Day event at 1 p.m. on September 25, at Schrader’s Bridgetown Manor, 16090 Oakland Rd., Henderson, Md. Members of the media are encouraged to attend so that sportsman can be educated to prevent future accidents.

NRP’s Hunter Safety Education Unit has 1,100 volunteers that teach more than 7,000 students a year at over 100 teaching locations throughout the state. The hunter education courses are 10 to 14 hours and include class room, field exercises and mandatory live firing of weapons.

The Maryland Natural Resources Police is the enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With an authorized strength of 247 officers and a dedicated staff of civilian and volunteer personnel, the NRP provide a variety of services in addition to conservation and boating law enforcement duties throughout the State of Maryland. These services include homeland security, search and rescue, emergency medical services, education, information and communications services on a round the clock basis. NRP is the only police force aside from the Maryland State Police that has statewide jurisdiction.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 461,000 acres of public lands and 17,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries, and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic, and cultural resources attract 12 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov