Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Authories said an investigation is continuing into the death of 19-year-old Tommy Hale Jr. of Buchanan County, who died Tuesday in a remote area of Giles County.
Hale and Ronald Jack Ball, 25, also of Buchanan County, were hunting deer in a rainstorm when Ball fired a rifle through brush, striking Hale, said Lt. Steve Vincent of the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The incident took place several miles from the nearest residence or telephone in the Jefferson National Forest's Big Stoney Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Hale was dead by the time Ball called for help and officers reached the scene, Vincent said.
Both hunters were wearing camouflage clothing, which is legal during the two-week muzzle-loading deer season, which began Monday. Regulations require blaze orange attire during the modern-firearms deer season, which begins Nov. 20.
Vincent said Giles County Commonwealth's Attorney James Hartley will review the incident.
Earlier this year, a Roanoke man who fatally shot a hunter during muzzle-loading season received a five-year prison term for involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors called that sentence one of the longest ever in a Virginia hunting death.
However, that case involved the use of a shotgun, which is illegal during the muzzle-loading season.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***