PETERBOROUGH - A Greenfield teen was shot in the throat in a hunting-related accident Tuesday night, and a Peterborough teen who authorities say shot him is being investigated.

Fish and Game officers responded to a wooded area off Old Dublin Road about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday after Peterborough police reported that Cody Boutwell, 16, shot his companion Matthew Sandquist, 16, while the boys were hunting coyotes, Fish and Game Lt. Craig Morrocco said Wednesday.

Boutwell was using a .22-caliber rifle, a family heirloom passed down by his grandfather, Fish and Game Maj. Kevin J. Jordan said.

Jordan said Sandquist was hit just above the sternum, in the throat.

He was taken to Monadnock Community Hospital. From there he was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.

Morrocco said Sandquist was still hospitalized at Dartmouth-Hitchcock on Wednesday and was in stable condition.

"The young man is extremely fortunate it wasn't fatal," Jordan said.

Both youths could be charged with hunting without a license, Morrocco said.

"We're still waiting for reports from the officers who arrived on scene from the Peterborough Police Department," he said.

Fish and Game has learned that Boutwell had not completed a mandatory hunter education course and that both boys were hunting without licenses, a Fish and Game news release said.

"Coyote hunting season is open year-round, but a hunting license is required," Morrocco said.

Boutwell could also be charged with negligent discharge of a firearm while hunting, Morrocco said.

The Hillsborough County Attorney's Office will determine what, if any, charges are brought against Boutwell, he said.

"Anytime there is any gunshot-type injury we always contact the county attorney's office and get them on board," he said.

Morrocco confirmed that Boutwell is the son of David Boutwell Jr., who was convicted in 2008 of shooting his estranged wife and another man in Peterborough in 2007.