An off-duty sheriff’s deputy is now facing criminal charges for his role in a hunting accident during Wisconsin’s youth turkey season this spring.
Last week James D. Lehman, 35, was charged with four felony counts, including two counts of second-degree reckless injury with use of a dangerous weapon, according to documents filed Aug. 17 in Racine County Circuit Court.
The off-duty shooting took place on April 12, the second day of Wisconsin’s 2026 youth turkey hunt. Lehman was hunting with his 3-year-old daughter in April when he “saw what he thought was a turkey head” and “had his three-year-old daughter pull the trigger” of a 12-gauge autoloader, according to court documents obtained by Milwaukee news outlet TMJ4.
“Two hunting parties were participating in the youth turkey hunt when the shooter spotted what appeared to be a turkey moving through the woods,” reads a summary of 2026 hunting accidents by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “The shooting mentor kneeled in front of their mentee and aided in positioning, aiming and firing the firearm. The pellets struck another turkey hunting mentor and their youth mentee in their head, back and hands.”
The adult victim is a coworker of Lehman’s, according to FOX6. The youth hunter has undergone surgeries for his injuries, reports TMJ4, but pellets remain in his spinal cord, skull, and brain. Lehman has been placed on administrative leave by his employer, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office told local news outlets.
During the investigation Lehman told officials that he “is not a very experienced turkey hunter” and that this was “one of his first times out hunting independently.” The DNR hunting accident report confirmed Lehman did not have a hunter education course because his military service exempted him.
Wisconsin hunter education courses are generally required for anyone born in or after 1973 who wants to obtain a hunting license. An exception to this requirement is made for anyone in a hunting mentorship program or for anyone who provides “proof of completing basic training in the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserves or National Guard,” according to the Wisconsin DNR.
“He had completed a U.S. Armed Forces basic training,” Wisconsin DNR hunter education administrator Renee Thok told the news outlet. “[Lehman] reported that, obviously, to the DNR, and then you know we waive the hunter education certification that’s necessary.”
Basic training courses through the U.S. military include firearms handling, but they do not teach core principles of hunter education, including how to safely identify and shoot wild turkeys.
Wyoming and Texas also exempt qualifying service members from hunter education requirements. Idaho and Washington require hunter ed courses for military service members but exempt them from in-person live fire requirements if they wish. Colorado allows service members to test out of hunter ed instead of taking a course.
Two out of the four Wisconsin hunting accidents reported this year involved turkey hunters. The leading cause of turkey-hunting accidents, according to Hunter-Ed.com, is hunters who failed to positively identify their target.
And indeed, an analysis of 1,150 turkey hunting incidents in the International Hunter Education Association database by Outdoor Life reveals that roughly 60 percent of shooting accidents involved a case of mistaken identity.
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An approved online hunter education course, which is good for life and recognized by every U.S. state and Canadian province, takes an estimated 3 to 4 hours for adult students in Wisconsin. In-person field classes are not required for hunters 18 years of age or older in the state.
The Racine County clerk did not immediately respond to a records requests. Lehman’s initial appearance in court is scheduled for Sept. 10.
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