Lightning strike kills teen hunter sitting in his deer stand, Louisiana cops say
A teen who did not return after going hunting in northern Louisiana was likely killed by a lightning strike, according to investigators.
The grim discovery was made around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, near the town of Bernice, the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office reported in an Oct. 19 news release.
“Upon arrival of first responders, they were directed to a remote wooded area where 17-year-old Colton Gauge Honeycutt, of Monroe, was located inside of an elevated deer stand. Family members had become concerned when Honeycutt did not return from deer hunting earlier in the evening,” the sheriff’s office said.
“Investigators believe Honeycutt was killed by a lightning strike when thunderstorms moved through the area, just before sunset Saturday evening. Honeycutt was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Union Parish Coroner’s Office.”
The incident is the nation’s 20th lightning fatality of 2025 and the first in Louisiana, according to John Jensenius, a lightning safety specialist with the National Lightning Safety Council.
“Since 2006, there have now been a total of 8 lightning fatalities linked to hunting, 5 of which have occurred in the last two months,” Jensenius said in a news release.
Typical lightning flashes consist of about 300 million Volts and about 30,000 Amps, according to the National Weather Service. “In comparison, household current is 120 Volts and 15 Amp,” the service says.
Deaths can result from a direct strike, a side flash linked to a taller object or current passing through the ground, experts say.
“In most direct strikes, a portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface (called flashover) and a portion of the current moves through the body – usually through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems,” the NWS says. “The heat produced when lightning moves over the skin can produce burns, but the current moving through the body is of greatest concern.”
Bernice is about a 240-mile drive northwest from Baton Rouge.
This story was originally published October 20, 2025 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Lightning strike kills teen hunter sitting in his deer stand, Louisiana cops say."