Hunter dies from accidental gunshot

DEXTER, Mo. -- A 32-year-old Poplar Bluff, Mo., man died at a Cape Girardeau hospital New Year's Day after being hit in the left shoulder and neck with a shotgun blast while duck hunting Monday morning in the Otter Slough Conservation Area southwest of Dexter.

The shooting has been ruled accidental.

Robert P. Marler was in a boat when the incident occurred. He was taken to Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter before being airlifted to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

Pertinent address:

Otter Slough Conservation Area, Dexter, MO