MADRID -- "It was one of those fluke things," said Craig Mitchell, a 40-year-old Phillips hunter. "It was just one of those things —just a bad accident," Mitchell explained having been accidently shot on Thanksgiving morning in the thigh with a 308 caliber rifle. His nephew Brian Mitchell, 19, also of Phillips was reportedly firing on a deer and instead struck his uncle.

The wounded man was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital and later sent to Lewiston before he was treated and released. Mitchell said he's fine and ready to again go out and hunt. He and his nephew said they both look forward to the muzzle-loading season as early as this Saturday they said.

However, a scary incident happened in a thickly settled wooded section of land off the Old Bray Hill Road shortly after they set out to hunt at 8:30 a.m. As a family tradition, seven members gathered and set off that morning for the day's hunt. The plan was to go as far as the Salem Road. However, the ill-fated event happened just a quarter mile from their truck, making extraction relatively simple.

It was originally reported by Maine Wardens Service that the nephew thought his uncle was a deer and shot at him. The Wardens service will continue the investigation and pass its findings on to the District Attorney's office as a matter of procedure.

"I never saw him and I'm sure he could not see me," the uncle clarified. He explained that the Game Wardens responded to the scene and duplicated the incident by hanging orange to understand the views and Craig said the Wardens could not see any bright colors where they were.

"He was firing on a deer and I unfortunately was on the other side of it in some really thick stuff," Craig explained. "The deer was between he and I."

The uncle said it felt like a bee sting at first, but after hearing the report of the rifle, he knew he'd been shot.

Brian said he responded quickly and used his belt to apply pressure on the wound, but at the same time he said he was quite shaken up. The group was also accompanied by Craig's 10-year-old son. Craig said he knew that he himself had to react to get out.

"He (Brian) was a basket case and I was more worried about him," Craig said on the phone over the weekend. "This is what helped me get my focus and get us out. Once we had the original assessment, we controlled our emotions and calmed down and were ready to get out."

The nephew said he unloaded both his and his uncle's rifles, and at that time, his uncle was calmer then he was. "Once we got him to walk, I knew we would be OK, but I was still shaken up."

The group did reach their truck, called 911 and met with the NorthStar ambulance which was located at the bank in downtown Phillips. Craig was sent to Lewiston for precautionary reasons.

Brian said that the family will still get together in the future, but in his opinion they should now look at some of the things they do. "I think we'll all become better hunters," Brian said. "It really doesn't matter how safe you think you are. You're never safe enough and need to take all precautions."

"We are all very fortunate that it was not more serious than it was," Brian added.

The nephew explained that out of his whole family, he and his uncle hunt the most together throughout all the seasons.

"I feel very lucky," Craig explained, "if something like this has to happen, I guess I'm just as lucky as it gets."

"If I could take that bullet back I'd take it back in a heartbeat," Brian said.

Meanwhile the state district attorney's office and the warden's service will continue their investigation.

"The only thing that matters to me," Brian said, "is that Craig is alright. They need to go through their procedure. No matter what they come up with for a finding, the only one who'll really ever know what happened out there is Craig and I."

"They'll have to do their investigation to do their job. I just hope their investigation does not add to the hurt that he's already dealing with. I got the easy part," the uncle added on the phone last Sunday. "Once I heal I'm done… Brian doesn't have it that easy. I just hope to get out and hunt with him again sometime soon," Craig said.