ELK FALLS ? An 11-year-old boy fatally shot by his older brother while they were deer hunting in Elk County might have been a victim of his own prank, a relative and sheriff said.

Dalton Baty was killed early Sunday evening near Elk Falls after jumping out at his brother while hunting on their grandmother’s land. The grandmother, Lena Baty of Wichita, said the 13-year-old thought he was shooting at a deer when he fired his .30-06 rifle.

“Bless his heart, he just never had a chance,” said Elk County Sheriff Janet Harrington.

Lena Baty and the sheriff said the boys and a fifth-grade classmate of Dalton’s went into the woods next to the house the brothers share with their father.

The older brother wandered away from Dalton and his friend, and minutes later Dalton jumped out at his brother.

“He thought he was shooting at a deer,” Harrington said of the older brother. “Something moved, and he fired.”

Lena Baty said Dalton, who loved to tease and play pranks, might have been trying to tease his brother by making sounds and motions like a deer.

“This little guy’s going to have a hard row,” Baty said of the older boy.

On Monday authorities began investigating whether there was an adult present when the boys went hunting, and whether they had a deer permit and had passed the state’s required hunter safety course.

State law requires deer hunters under the age of 14 to have an adult present while they hunt.

“If we find that there was not any adult supervision, there could be a ticket issued for that,” Harrington said.