During illegal hunting trip -
C'ville man shot, killed by uncle
By EVAN GEIBEL
Staff Reporter
egeibel@cortlandstandardnews.net
CORTLAND - A Cortlandville man was shot and killed by his uncle on
Salt Road in Summerhill Friday morning while the pair were illegally
hunting deer, one day before the opening of the official gun season
for deer.
Ricky A. Huffman, 33, of 11 Lorraine Drive, Cortlandville, was shot
in the abdomen at about 7:30 a.m. Friday. He died at the scene, on
property owned by relatives off Salt Road, about a mile south of
Filmore Road.
The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office charged Michael A. Hall Sr., 49,
or 1306 Salt Road, Moravia, with criminally negligent homicide, a
felony. He was arraigned in Throop Town Court Friday afternoon and
sent to the Cayuga County Jail with bail set at $10,000 cash or
$20,000 bond.
Further charges from state Department of Environmental Conservation
police are pending; official shotgun season for deer opened today at
dawn.
The arrest was a result of a joint investigation by Cayuga County
Police, the Cayuga County District Attorney's office and the DEC
Police.
According to a press release from the Cayuga County Sheriff's
Department, Hall and Huffman entered the forest early Friday morning
and were hunting deer on family-owned land. They split up - Hall fired
his 20-gauge shotgun at what he believed to be a deer and hit Huffman,
who was wearing camouflage clothing and an orange knit hat.
Cayuga County Sheriff's Lt. Joseph Weeks said the two were alone in
the woods and about 44 yards apart.
The investigation revealed there were no deer present at the
location when the shot was fired.
Alcohol was not a factor, Weeks said.
The Cayuga County 911 center received a call at 7:46 a.m.
indicating that a hunter had been shot.
Weeks said the hunters were "a good ways" into the woods, since it
took Hall 15 minutes or more to make it to a telephone to report the
accident.
"It's a prime example of why deer hunters need to properly identify
their target before shooting," Weeks said Friday evening, adding that
blaze orange clothes, rather than camouflage, should be worn while in
the woods during gun hunting seasons.
The sheriff's office, DEC Police, the Cayuga County District
Attorney's Office, the Cayuga County Coroner's Office, Four Town
Ambulance and the Sempronius and Homer fire departments responded to
the scene.
