A Florida deer hunter was seriously hurt when his fellow hunter shot him through the arm with an arrow, the sheriff said.

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On Wednesday, Randy Pritchard, 40, shot an arrow from his tree stand into palmetto bushes 10 yards away in Jennings State Forest. He hit his friend John Whigham, 36, thinking he was a deer, Clay County Today reported, quoting the sheriff's office.

Pritchard called for help and was "holding pressure to the wounds and extremely emotional" when a sheriff's deputy arrived.

Pritchard told the deputy it was an accident, and that Whigham was able to remove the arrow from his left forearm after he emerged from the bushes. Whigham also had a puncture wound in his lower back.

Stan Kirkland of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Thursday that Pritchard, a Middleburg resident, was cooperative but "shook up and regretful" after Whigham, of Orange Park, was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital by ambulance. He said Whigham had surgery, and the wounds were not life-threatening.