Sheriff: Hunter fatally shot in Beltrami County

A Bemidji man died in a hunting-related incident last Wednesday, according to the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office received a report at about 7:16 p.m. that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Red Lake Tribal Police were investigating a hunting-related death that occurred near the Red Lake Reservation in Nebish Township.

The man who died, identified as 28-year-old Lukas Dudley, was reportedly deer hunting east of Irvine Avenue near the south boundary road when he was shot by another hunter, identified as a 33-year-old Redby man.

The sheriff’s office states that the hunter and Dudley were not hunting together.

The hunter told authorities he saw movement from what he thought was a deer and fired a round from his rifle. When the hunter found Dudley, he called 911. He is cooperating with the investigation, the sheriff’s office reports.

Dudley was not wearing typical blaze orange, or other high-visibility, clothing at the time of the incident.

The incident remains under investigation by the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, Red Lake Tribal Police Department, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Enforcement and the FBI.