Local man killed while hunting

By NATHAN LAMB | Milton Independent Staff Writer and JASON STARR
miltonreporter@yahoo.com

Friends of David Jenkins had nothing but good things to say about him. Jenkins was shot and killed while hunting with friends on Friday. Here he is shown with his very faithful friend Oz.

A Milton man was shot and killed while deer hunting near dusk on Nov. 23, and the incident is under investigation by authorities.

David Jenkins, 43, was hunting with two acquaintances in a wooded area near the end of Warren Road in Milton when the incident happened, according to a press release from Milton Detective Corporal Paul Locke.

Jenkins was shot at approximately 4:20 p.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene, said the release.

Local police are investigating along with the Vermont State Police and Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Milton Police Chief Brett Van Noordt cited the ongoing investigation and declined to give more information at this point.

“The investigation is continuing on the hunting fatality and once the investigation is completed it will be submitted to the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office,” he said.

Van Noordt would not speculate on the possibility of charges being filed in connection with the incident, saying that decision will rest with the state’s attorney. He said more information would be forthcoming within the next week and declined further comment.

“The reason we don’t release very much information while an investigation is ongoing is because we don’t want to compromise the investigation in any way,” he said.

Those who knew Jenkins universally described him as a hunting enthusiast who was well-liked by all.

Among those offering that assessment was Colchester superintendent of schools Larry Waters, who knew Jenkins from his nine years as a utility maintenance worker in the schools.

“He was a great guy,” said Waters. “He had a great relationship with the rest of the guys on the maintenance crews. He always had a story to tell.”

Waters, an avid hunter himself, received word of the death during a Thanksgiving hunting trip in New York, where he hunts every weekend from October through December. He and Jenkins often traded stories about the sport.

“I was shocked and devastated by the news,” Waters said.

Though Van Noordt would not confirm it, Jenkins was reportedly not wearing the precautionary orange clothing hunters often wear in the woods.
Wearing orange is the law for hunters in Maine and Canada but not in Vermont and New York. Waters said it may be time for Vermont to consider a mandatory orange law.

“One life is worth it,” he said.

Though he claimed no inside knowledge of the incident, Milton-based hunting instructor Ronald Morgan said shooting accidents are seven times more likely to happen when hunters are not wearing bright orange. Though he’s not in favor of more laws, it’s something he tries to impress on those who take hunting safety courses.

As a hunter with 60 years experience—who bagged a white tail this fall while wearing an orange hat and vest—he said color isn’t a determining factor in hunting, but can be when it comes to safety.

“If you miss a deer and save a human life, I’d say that’s worth doing,” he said.

Morgan said that message is pertinent to coming weeks: though rifle season for deer ended last Sunday, muzzle-loading season begins Saturday.

Elsewhere, Jenkins’ distant cousin Shawn Jenkins described his relative as a nice guy who loved to hunt.

“He was a big time hunter,” he said. “…it’s unfortunate he wasn’t wearing orange.”