Ronald Allan Blank, a 63-year-old man, set out on October 6, 2021, for an elk hunt in the mountains near Ten Sleep, Wyoming, traveling the backcountry of Washakie County with his adult son, Dan Blank. The terrain was steep and unforgiving, and as the day wound down they worked their way back toward their pickup, climbing a ridge until a rock face forced them to scramble over it.
In the tight, awkward choreography of that climb, the rifles had to be moved from hand to hand. Reports describing the incident say Ronald was struck high in the right side of his chest when a hunting rifle discharged during the process of handing the firearms up over the rocks. His son immediately tried to save him—rendering first aid on the spot and calling for help as quickly as he could from the rugged hillside.
The response unfolded against the limits of the landscape. Ten Sleep EMS, Worland EMS, and sheriff’s office deputies headed toward the Cabin Spring area, but ambulances couldn’t drive all the way in because of road conditions, and responders had to be transported as far as possible and then continue on foot. In the scramble to guide rescuers to the right place, accounts say Dan Blank stayed on the phone giving directions and even fired pistol rounds into the air to help first responders zero in on their location.
Ronald was stabilized for transport and carried up to a landing zone, then flown by helicopter to the hospital in Worland. Despite emergency care, he died from catastrophic injuries described as massive internal trauma and extreme blood loss, with contemporaneous reporting noting he succumbed during treatment in the operating room.
Public reports and agency statements available online framed the death as a hunting accident and indicated the case was being investigated by the Washakie County Sheriff’s Office and the Washakie County Coroner’s Office. In those publicly available accounts, no outside suspect was identified and no arrest or criminal charge was announced in connection with Ronald’s death; the only person specifically named in the reporting was his son as the hunting companion and the one who called for help.
