A Child Hero Killed in Hunting Accident
A fourteen-year-old boy, famous for fighting off a cougar as a child, is shot after being mistaken for a deer near Shelton.
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A tragic hunting accident near Lake Isabel in Mason County has claimed the life of 14-year-old Johnny Rodenberger. The boy was shot by B. S. Barger, a Shelton jeweler, who mistook the motion of the youth jumping from a log for that of a deer. Rodenberger, the son of Watson Rodenberger, had gained local fame six years prior when he defended his younger brother from a cougar attack, fighting the animal off with a milk bottle. Despite his fortitude after the shooting, the boy died four hours later. The tragedy has cast a pall over the community, which recently mourned the loss of another child in the family.
“The shot was fired from a 38-58 Winchester, the ball entering his stomach three inches above the navel and passing out near the backbone.”
Hunting accidents remain a sobering reality in Washington’s rural areas, though today's strict safety standards and hunter education courses strive to prevent such impulsive mistakes. The story captures a period where wild animals and rural perils were part of daily childhood, contrasting sharply with the urbanized Pacific Northwest of today.
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