A 71-year-old Beloit, Ill. man died Oct. 10 of injuries sustained in a fall from a tree stand in Stark township, according to the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office.

John Zumwalt was bow hunting for the weekend on family property.  When he failed to return after dark, a family member went into the woods where Zumwalt had his tree stand.  He was found laying unresponsive approximately 10 yards from the tree.  The tree stand was approximately 25 feet high.

Zumwalt was pronounced dead at the scene by the Vernon County Coroner’s Office.
“We believe, after talking with Vernon County Coroner Janet Reed, it was a fall,” Sheriff John Spears told the Vernon County Broadcaster of Viroqua. “The injuries he sustained were consistent with that. Trauma was the cause of death.”

Assisting the Sheriff’s Office was Tri-State Ambulance, La Farge Ambulance and La Farge Fire.

The accident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s and the Coroner’s offices.