NEAR LAKE RATHBUN, IOWA -- Wildlife Officers from as far away as South Africa gathered in southeast Iowa Wednesday to take part in the 2011 Hunting Incident Investigation Academy.

KTVO spoke with Rod Slings. Slings is a retired Iowa DNR Law Enforcement Supervisor and Director of the International Hunting Incident Academy.

“We give them the everyday tools to put in their toolbox basically, and the skills and knowledge. It takes a trained eye, and from the beginning to the end they are going to leave here hitting the ground running,” said Slings.

The crime scene scenario that KTVO witnesses took place in a wooded area and involved officers from Georgia, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Nevada. The five person team stumbled upon a hunter who had been shot. The wound was not life threatening; however there was a blood trail.

All of the officers got to work right away. With their instructor looking on, they called for an ambulance. One officer secured the area with caution tape, while others searched for evidence. Officers found a blood trail lasting about ten to twenty yards from where the victim was found.

The hunter was questioned about the incident, and then later taken away by medical personnel. About five minutes after his departure, his daughter entered the scene. She was distraught. The woman started to run through the crime scene, being chased after officers. Once officers caught her, she was subdued and questioned. Officers calmed her down and reassured her that her father was going to be alright, but at the same time they were still investigating exactly why he was shot.

During the woman’s questioning, a gunshot rang out. One officer went into the woods to see if he could find the hunter, and he did. The daughter of the injured hunter started to yell obscenities at the hunter that was found by officers. The woman was later taken away so that officers could question the hunter that was located. That hunter did confess to accidentally shooting the other, and was taken into custody.

Richard Price, a Conservation Officer with the Iowa DNR told KTVO that the academy and the scenarios only help him do his job better.

“Every time we take classes like this, some of it is refreshment; some of it builds on new techniques and makes us the professionals that we are in our field,”

Graduates of the academy like Officer Price can take what they have learned back to their respective departments, and share with other officers the techniques that they learned at the academy.

To attend the academy, officers pay a registration fee while some of the costs are covered by the academy itself.

For more information on the Hunting Incident Investigation Academy, click here.
For information on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, click here.