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Police say a the 56-year-old man wounded in a hunting accident when accidentally shot by a 13-year-old boy has been upgraded from critical condition.

He was in stable but guarded condition at St. James Healthcare, Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester said Tuesday.

Authorities have declined to identify the man. He was shot Sunday morning in the Brown's Gulch area north of Butte.

A 13-year-old boy in the hunting party was unloading a hunting rifle when it discharged and hit the man in the abdomen. Police were called at 10:29 a.m.

Others got the man on an all-terrain vehicle and took him to the road. He was met by an ambulance about halfway into town and taken to St. James Healthcare, where he underwent surgery.

Police reports did not indicate the caliber of rifle or the distance between the boy and man.

General rifle hunting season for elk and deer opened Saturday.

-- Angela Brandt, Montana Standard

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