AO-1991-021

Following an early morning departure to hunt deer, the helicopter failed to rendezvous with ground crew. ELT transmissions enabled searchers to locate the wreckage of the helicopter by midday. While retrieving a shot deer from a riverbed, a wind gust had drifted the helicopter toward nearby trees. The main rotor blades contacted an unseen overhanging branch and during the ensuing descent on to rocks below the shooter fell from the helicopter receiving serious injuries from which he died before rescuers reached the scene. No conclusive reason was established to account for the shooters fall from the helicopter.