Soon after his shotgun's blast, the hunter sprinted toward what he thought was a coveted prize: the wild turkey gobbler he'd been calling to and watching.
But Kenneth Dienst found he actually had shot his brother and a friend.
"Right after he shot, he thought he saw a turkey flopping on the ground, but when he hurried up there, he saw two guys rolling on the ground. He'd shot (both) in the face," said Jim Bussone, a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism game warden who investigated the April 12 incident in Crawford County.
"The shooter swore he'd seen strutting toms and some other turkeys right up until then."
But in reality, he'd been looking at a gobbler's preserved tail fan, behind which Gary Dienst and Justin Wiles had been hiding and sneaking. The shooter was behind another fan. Bussone said the hunters ended up hunting each other.
According to Dan Peak, Crawford County sheriff, the victims _ who spent time in three hospitals _ are expected to survive.
Their story that day is one of bad decisions made by all, a potentially dangerous hunting tactic and the tricks that excitement can play on the human mind.
"When I teach hunter ed classes, I tell them even some good people can become undone by a big deer or a turkey and make mistakes," Bussone said. "You always have to be thinking, be careful and stay under control."
April 12 was Opening Day of the Kansas spring turkey season, an exciting time when hunters usually replicate the sounds of hen turkeys to bring amorous toms into shotgun range.
Kenneth Dienst is from West Plains, Mo. Gary Dienst and Wiles are from Arkansas. They were hunting on leased lands in southeast Kansas.
Bussone said Kenneth Dienst had been dropped off at one property, while his buddies went to hunt at another. As well as turkey calls, the hunters were using a tactic known as fanning, in which the preserved tail fan of a wild turkey is used to attract, or sneak up on, a wild gobbler.
Bussone said problems began when Gary Dienst and Wiles returned to the property where Kenneth Dienst was hunting without telling him they were there.
Bussone referred to changing locations without alerting others as "one of the cardinal sins we teach against in hunter ed."
"They were calling to each other and sneaking up on each other like two toms coming at each other," Bussone said. "Both swore they were sneaking on real turkeys."
