Arcadia man dies in fall from elevated hunting blind in Fountain County

CATES, Ind. (WISH) — A 69-year-old man died Wednesday after falling from an elevated hunting blind, Indiana conservation officers said.

Jimmy Grider, of Arcadia, fell about 8 feet. Arcadia is a town north of Indianapolis in Hamilton County.

Fountain County dispatchers about 11 a.m. Wednesday received a 911 call about the hunter’s fall near the 2000 block of West Snoddy Road. That’s near Prairie Creek in rural Covington, which is about a mile north of the rural community of Cates and about 60 miles east-northeast of Indianapolis.

Grider died at the scene. He was not wearing a full-body harness or any other climbing safety gear, according to a news release from conservation officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

An autopsy has been scheduled to determine his cause of death.

The release said, “Indiana Conservation Officers would like to remind Hoosiers that the most common hunting related injuries are accidents involving tree stands and elevated platforms. All Hoosiers are urged to wear a full body safety harness when ascending and descending elevated platforms. For more information, see hunting.IN.gov.”