A rural Salem man was injured last Thursday when climbing into a tree stand at a hunting location in the 2500 block of Metcalf Road a half mile south of Briarcroft Road in rural Iuka. Frank Clutter of County Farm Road had to crawl out to the road with an apparent broken leg after the fall and wasn’t found until nine hours later.
Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps says Clutter fell about 15 feet to the ground when climbing into the stand around 5:15 in the morning. Since he was hunting alone and had left his phone in his vehicle due to lack of signal in the area, Clutter reportedly crawled towards the roadway.
After getting close to the road, the sheriff says Clutter was located by his brother who had gone looking for him when he failed to return home.
An Air Evac helicopter was called to the scene and landed in a nearby field. Clutter was then transported to a St. Louis Hospital for treatment. Cripps said Clutter had to undergo surgery for his injuries.
The Iuka Fire Department and United Medical Response joined the sheriff on the scene.
