MILFORD TOWNSHIP – A 26-year-old hunter was killed Tuesday morning in an accidental shooting during a deer drive on a mountain near Vincent Tram Road in Juniata County, according to information released by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and local emergency responders.

The man’s name has not yet been released. He was part of a group of 24 hunters who were conducting a coordinated deer drive when the shooting occurred shortly after 8:20 a.m., the Game Commission said. The incident unfolded as a buck jumped up and broke back through the line of drivers.

Investigators said two hunters fired at the deer as it moved, and the victim, one of the drivers, was struck in the hip. He was in the direct line of fire when the shots were taken. Emergency crews responded as snow was settling in across the ridge, but the man later died from his injuries.

The Mifflintown Hose Company No. 1 reported that its volunteers assisted EMS and the Game Commission at the scene. The accident occurred roughly 100 to 200 yards into the group’s planned drive, according to the commission’s preliminary account. It was not immediately known whether the victim was wearing fluorescent orange as recommended under Pennsylvania hunting regulations.

The Game Commission has not announced whether any charges will be filed. The agency said the incident remains under investigation, and no further details have been released about the hunters who fired the shots.

A deer drive is a long-established group-hunting method used in Pennsylvania’s wooded, mountainous terrain. In a typical drive, a line of “drivers” walks through thick cover to push deer toward “standers” who are posted ahead in expected escape routes such as ridges, benches or logging roads. The tactic is common in areas where deer are difficult to spot or are bedded in heavy laurel and rhododendron. Because it involves movement, multiple hunters and shifting fields of fire, it also requires strict coordination and communication to maintain safety.

Hunters in the region were in the early days of Pennsylvania’s statewide firearms deer season, which opened the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The Game Commission has not yet released updated statewide safety statistics for this year’s season, and it is not clear how common similar incidents have been in recent years. Hunting-related shooting incidents have generally declined in the state following the expansion of mandatory hunter education requirements and a wider emphasis on safety practices.

Authorities have not released information on the hometown of the victim, details about the hunting party, or whether the group contacted dispatch through the Game Commission’s centralized hotline at the time of the shooting. The agency’s primary dispatch numbers are 1-833-742-9453 and 1-833-742-4868.

More information is expected as investigators complete interviews and review the circumstances of the drive and the shots fired. The Lewistown Sentinel will update this story as additional details become available.