New Tampa Man Shot In Hunting Accident

A New Tampa man is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, after being shot during a hunting accident near Flatwoods Park in New Tampa.

According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Clinton Galentine, 37, was shot just after 7:30 a.m. on February 16, when he was mistaken for a deer while walking through the Oakridge Trail area of the Lower Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area, about 0.8-mile southeast of Morris Bridge Rd. near Flatwoods Wilderness Park.

FWC spokesman Baryl Martin says that 43-year-old Michael Trott, of Seminole, was legally hunting during a planned family hunt in the area with all of his permits, but accidentally ended up shooting Galentine, who was trying to photograph wild turkeys, twice.

Martin says that Galentine was attempting to call turkeys from a roadside inside the Wildlife Management Area. Notice of the hunt was posted at entrances to the area. He adds that Galentine received two non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident still is under investigation, but no charges are pending at this time. Martin says that the case will be passed on to the State Attorney’s office once the investigation is complete.