Gary
Lee Burkard
Hillsboro
Press-Gazette October 28, 1969
A Highland County man was fatally wounded in a hunting accident in
northern Adams County last Saturday. He was struck by deer slug from
the gun of a hunting companion and died instantly. Dr. Gary Greenlee,
Manchester, Adams County coroner, ruled the shooting as accidental.
Killed was Gary Lee Burkard, Hillsboro Rt. 5. His hunting companion who
mistook him for a deer in thick woods was {name removed} Gragg, 14,
Seaman Rt. 2. They had been hunting companions for a long time.
The accident occurred near the Tranquility Wildlife Preserve and time
of the mishap was placed as shortly after 6 P. M. Saturday.
The pair had been hunting with some other young men but they had gone
off in search of grouse while Burkard and Gragg continued pursuit of
deer.
They were certain that deer were in the area and decided to separate at
a spot just east of the Tranquility preserve, Gragg swinging down the
lower side of a hill. Burkhard continued along a ridge.
Sheriff Eugene Hodge and Deputy Harold Wilson, who investigated, said
Gragg jumped some dear and shot at them. Dusk was closing in. The young
boy thought the deer had turned and started up the hill. He heard
leaves rustling and other sounds. This was apparently Burkard
stiffening into firing position.
Gragg told officers he saw a flash of white and fired into the woods.
The slug hit Burkard in the face below the right eye, hit the cheekbone
and then followed down his spine into the chest cavity. The pair was
about 75 yards apart.
Deputy Wilson, following a recheck of the scene Sunday, said the ironic
touch was that the shooting occurred in extremely thick woods and how
the shot missed a “tree, twig or limb, we’ll never know.” He added, “A
slight deflection would have saved the boy’s life.”
The youth, after the accident, made his way to the nearby Liming Road
and met some of his other gunning companions and the sheriff was
notified. It took searching parties nearly five hours to locate the
body. It was found about 10:45 P. M., Sheriff Hodge said. Burkard was
pronounced dead at the scene. The Gragg boy had trouble retracing his
steps to the area in the dark.
The boy’s father, {name removed} Gragg, Seaman Rt. 2, works for B &
B. Plating in Hillsboro, operated by the Burkard family, and this is
how the pair became acquainted.
The Gragg boy was carrying a J. C. Higgins, six-shot, 12-gauge,
bolt-action shotgun. Burkard was packing a Winchester Model 88 rifle.
Burkard is survived by his wife, Bonnie, Hillsboro, Rt. 5; his mother,
Mrs. John Burkard; five brothers, Robert, Washington C. H. Richard,
Dayton, Karl, David and Neal, all of Hillsboro.
Services will be held Tuesday at the Hope Miller Funeral Home, with
Rev. Robert Gallagher officiating and burial following in New Market
Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home form 1 to 9 P. M. Monday. |