ROCKPORT, Wash. - A 54-year-old woman was shot and killed Saturday by a boy who was hunting bear in Skagit County, sheriff's deputies said.

The woman, a resident of Oso, was hiking with a friend in the area of Sauk Mountain near Rockport when the shooting occurred.

Deputies were called to the scene at about 10:35 a.m., said Will Reichardt, chief criminal deputy with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a preliminary investigation, the woman was stopped on the trail putting something into her backpack when the hunter mistook her for a bear and fired one shot, which killed her.

The victim fell down a steep hillside after the shooting. Deputies were able to reach the victim and were able to confirm her death.

Due to the rugged terrain where the victims body fell, emergency search and rescue ground crew volunteers trained to negotiate this type of terrain were called in. They assisted deputies and the Skagit County coroner in recovering the victim’s body.

The hunter is a juvenile from the Concrete area and was accompanied by at least one adult. He is talking with investigators and no one is in custody at this time.

Detectives from the Skagit County sheriff's detectives, as well as an officer from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, are investigating.

The name of the victim was not released.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

You can tell by the photos below, how the hunter could so easily have been confused.