Update: $10,000 Bond Set for Mentor in Youth Turkey-Season Shooting

   Bond was set at $10,000 for the Racine County sheriff’s deputy who faces four felony charges after his 3-year-old daughter triggered a shot that wounded a turkey-hunting mentor and the man’s 7-year-old son April 12 during Wisconsin’s youth-only turkey season.

   James D. Lehman, 35, of Union Grove made his initial appearance Sept. 17 before Court Commissioner Sally Hoelzel, who ordered him to have no contact with the shooting victims while free on bond. Lehman also cannot possess any firearms, and was ordered to report to the Racine County sheriff’s office to be finger-printed.

   Lehman faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. in Racine County Circuit Court, where he is charged with two counts of second-degree reckless injury with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon.

   The victims suffered multiple wounds. Pellets penetrated the man’s lower torso, left hand, forearm and upper arm. The boy suffered multiple pellet wounds that penetrated his skull and brain cavity. Surgeons removed as many pellets as possible from the boy, but had to leave single pellets in his spinal cord, skull and brain.

     Wisconsin’s popular youth-only turkey season nearly turned tragic in April when a father and son were shot during a mentored hunt. Another mentor, James Lehman, is free on a $10,000 bond but faces four felony charges for his involvement in the shooting on public lands in Racine County.     — Patrick Durkin photo

   Lehman has been on administrative leave from the sheriff’s department since the shooting, which occurred near Burlington in the Cherry Lake Sedge Meadow State Natural Area in Racine County.

   Lehman worked as a sheriff’s deputy with the wounded man, and had asked his colleague for tips on where to hunt. Lehman cooperated with investigators, and told them he didn’t think his colleague and his son were hunting that day. The shooting victim told investigators he had discussed the state forest lands with Lehman, but asked him not to hunt his spots.

   Investigators said 39 yards separated the shooters from the victims, who were not using decoys or a turkey fan. They were wearing camouflage clothing, and seated against a tree and metal post while watching a field with their backs to Lehman and his daughter.

   Lehman told investigators he saw movement that he mistook for a turkey fan and a white turkey head. He aimed his 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun by resting its barrel on a fallen tree, and held its buttstock against his shoulder. His daughter was sitting in front of him, and pulled the trigger at his instruction.

    State law sets no minimum age for hunting, but young hunters must stay within arm’s reach of a certified mentor, who must be at least 18 and hold a hunter-education certificate or have completed basic training in the U.S. military. Lehman has a military exemption, but told investigators he was an inexperienced hunter and had seldom hunted alone.

   Wisconsin is one of about 35 states with no minimum hunting age. Wisconsin’s minimum hunting age was 12 throughout the 1900s, but in 2009 lawmakers lowered it to age 10 for children being mentored. They changed the law again in 2017 to let parents decide when their children can hunt with a mentor.