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A Franksville man died after being accidentally shot in the chest while duck hunting near Goose Island, Sunday at 8:25 a.m.

David Craig Dawson, 38, was shot in the chest from a distance of about 20 feet by a 10 gauge shotgun in what Vernon County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jim Hanson called an “absolute freak accident.”

A hunting partner of Dawson’s was sitting in a duck blind and went to exchange guns from a 12 gauge to a 10 gauge shotgun, Hanson said. As the man reached behind him to pick up the 10 gauge shotgun, Dawson’s hunting dog jumped over the man’s arm causing the shotgun to discharge directly at Dawson.

Hanson said the man holding the gun didn’t know Dawson was behind him and the dog itself might have triggered the weapon to fire.

“He was exchanging guns putting the one in front of him down while reaching behind him and bringing the other one up,” Hanson said. “In the course of bringing the gun behind him up, the dog jumped across his arm and the gun discharged.” Franksville is located between Kenosha and Milwaukee and the Vernon County Sheriff’s Depart-ment dispatched an officer to inform Dawson’s family of the accident, Sunday, Hanson said.

Assisting the Vernon County Sheriff’s Depart-ment at the scene were the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Department, Shelby Fire and Rescue, Tri-State Ambulance Service and the Wisconsin DNR.