Hutchinson ? Authorities arrested two faculty members from the University of Iowa after a bullet passed through an elk and struck the guide of a bungled hunting trip.

Marlin Keith McQueen was taken Wednesday to Hutchinson Hospital after the bullet hit him in the shoulder and then entered his torso. McQueen’s condition was not released.

Court records show Paul K. Schroeder, 53, of Iowa City, Iowa, and Steven R. Volgamott, 43, of Coralville, Iowa, had paid McQueen to help them hunt farm-raised elk. The animals had been transported to private property for the two men to hunt in apparent violation of state law banning the release of elk within the state.

The restriction is in place to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease, which attacks the brains of elk and deer, causing them to become emaciated and die.

Department of Wildlife and Parks officials investigating the accident arrested Schroeder and Volgamott on suspicion of hunting big game without a valid permit, hunting with a centerfire rifle during muzzleloading season, hunting big game without a valid license, hunting big game without wearing hunter orange and illegal use of radio for pursuing big game.

Schroeder and Volgamott, who were released after individually posting a $2,000 surety bond, told officers that McQueen had told them they did not need hunting licenses or permits for the hunt.

But anyone who hunts big game is required to buy a permit for the animal being hunted, said Val Jansen, regional law enforcement supervisor for the Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Though releasing elk within the state is illegal, Jansen said once they were released, all hunting regulations pertaining to big game applied.

Jansen said one of the elk was killed by the hunters and the Department of Wildlife had been ordered to kill the others.