Ironton man dies as result of hunting accident

FAYETTE – Troy Sadler, 34, of Ironton died Monday as the result of a hunting accident. Sadler along with his hunting party made the trip to central Missouri for the opening of the Missouri firearms deer hunting season.

The Howard County Sheriff’s Department along with the Howard County coroner and medical personnel were dispatched to a rural area about seven miles east of Fayette, between Fayette and Harrisburg, at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 17. Sadler was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Howard County Sheriff Charlie Polson, Sadler had just killed a buck and was still in his tree stand, 18 feet in the air, when he was shot.

Polson said Sadler’s ammunition rounds were all accounted for and the suspected cause of death was a bullet fired by another member of Sadler’s hunting party who was shooting at the same deer Sadler was firing at.

Polson said the Missouri Department of Conservation was called to investigate due to the incident involving a hunting accident. An autopsy conducted on Wednesday confirmed that the shot that killed Sadler was fired from a far distance.

Despite the fact the incident is still under investigation, Polson said, “This was a hunting accident and there is no reason to think there was any foul play involved.”