On Saturday morning, 11-10-2018 around 10:20am, deputies from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and Viola Fire & EMS responded to Welker Hollow Road in Forest Township for a report of a hunter hanging from a tree. An unidentified hunter from Milton, Wisconsin was using a climber stand when the stand gave way and the subject was suspended upside down about 5 ft off the ground. He had his safety harness attached, however his leg became caught in the bottom rung of the stand. A neighbor to the property was walking to the woods with his son to put up their stands when the son heard someone yelling for help. The neighbor investigated and found the subject about 30 yards into the woods off Welker Hollow. The victim indicated he had been hanging upside down for approximately 2 hrs. Viola Fire, Viola EMS & Richland County Sheriff’s Deputies freed the victim, who was then flown by Medical Helicopter to Gunderson Hospital in LaCrosse with a reported leg injury and hypothermia.
The incident took place off of Welker Hollow Road in Forest Township.