NAMPA, Idaho - A Nampa man is recovering after his turkey hunting trip went wrong and now the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is warning others that hunter safety is key.

Brent Rose sums up what happened to him in one word. "Lucky, very lucky to be here today," he said. 

Rose has been hunting turkeys in Idaho for six years, but what happened to him on Sunday is a first.

Hunting with a buddy near Grangeville, Rose said he had his gun ready, and was about to shoot the turkey in front of him, when he heard something.

"I turned to see what was behind me and I seen them and I went to whistle and raised my arm, but I didn't whistle," he said.

Just as Rose did that, a fellow hunter, only 25 yards behind him, shot him.  More than 100 small pellets lodged inside his head, shoulder and back.  The only thing he thinks saved him was his heavy camouflage jacket.
 
"There's pellets sticking out of it, still in the cotton, the cotton seemed to stop a lot of them," he said.

Idaho Fish and Game officers say turkey hunting is risky.  Because the birds can see colors, they recommend turkey hunters where camouflaged gear from head to toe, even painting their hands and faces.  But without wearing any color, another hunter can mistake a person for a bird.

"You shouldn't be wearing colors, red, white, black, or brown because those are the colors of turkeys," said Dan Papp, regional wildlife educator for Fish and Game.

Papp said if you find yourself in a situation like what happened to Rose, it's best to yell to get the attention of other hunters but he also said accidents like this are rare in Idaho. 

"You're more likely to be struck by lightning then by another hunter's bullet," he said.  "A lot of people don't understand that, on average, we average less than six non-fatal accidents each year."

Papp also said since turkey hunting started in the mid 1990's there hasn't been a deadly accident yet, but he attributes hunter education for keeping that statistic at zero.

While Rose said he doesn't plan to quit hunting, he hopes his lesson will make every other hunter a bit more cautious before they shoot. 

Rose said he doesn't plan to press charges but he is looking at some big medical bills.
    
If you were born after January 1, 1975, in Idaho, you have to graduate from a safety class in order to buy your first license.  Fish and Game said with the growing popularity of turkey hunting and hunting in general, they see, on average, between 7,000 to 12,000 people graduate each year from their courses.