GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter to help Michigan State Police out of Houghton Lake evacuate a hunter who fell from his tree stand on the first day of regular firearm deer season.
It happened around 6 a.m. Wednesday in the Dead Stream Swamp area of Roscommon County, northwest of Houghton Lake. MSP Says the hunter, a 61-year-old man from Almont, fell about 25 feet.
Though he was injured, he managed to crawl to his backpack, which he had left on the ground, get his cellphone and call 911 and his brother. Troopers and a local sheriff’s deputy soon found his car and the hunter’s brother arrived to lead them to the stand.
First responders were worried the man had pelvic, back and chest injuries, and they were in “difficult terrain” far from the road. They called in the Coast Guard, which sent a helicopter to evacuate the hunter in a basket.
MSP did not provide an update on the man’s condition later Wednesday.
