Improving Hunting Safety Increasingly Difficult

By Jim Low, Missouri Dept. of Conservation

First posted on 10-20-2008

The “low-hanging fruit” was plucked in early – and highly successful – efforts to reduce the number of firearms-related hunting accidents.

Hunter-education instructors have tough jobs. The more they succeed, the harder their job becomes.

“We have come such a long way in the past 20 years, it hardly leaves us anywhere to go,” said Tony Legg, hunter education coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Legg notes that in the bad old days of hunting safety, Missouri routinely recorded more firearms deer-hunting accidents in one day than occur now over the entire season.

“The worst year was 1986,” said Legg. “We had 26 accidents that year, including one fatality. There were 10 accidents just on the opening weekend.”

A big part of the reason for the large number of deer-hunting accidents that year was sheer numbers of both deer and hunters. Missouri’s firearms deer harvest topped 100,000 for the first time in 1986, and approximately 400,000 hunters took advantage of the growing deer herd.

Responding to the challenge of making hunting safer, the Conservation Commission made hunter education mandatory in 1988, requiring anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, to complete an approved safety and ethics course before buying a hunting permit.

The results have been spectacular. From 1980 through 1989, Missouri averaged 16.8 firearm-related deer hunting accidents per season. Over the past 10 years, the average has been 8.6. Last year Missouri recorded just four firearms-related deer hunting accidents, none fatal.

The contrast is even more striking when you consider that Missouri had a nine-day firearms deer hunting season in 1986 and hunters killed 103,000 deer. Last year firearms deer hunting, including the muzzleloader season, spanned 36 days, and the harvest topped 260,000.

Hunter education has achieved significant safety improvements in other types of hunting, too. A study of injury rates of various sports conducted by American Sports Data, Inc., in 2005 showed hunting 29th in frequency of injuries. Other activities not normally considered dangerous, such as cheerleading, baseball, volleyball, tennis and aerobics showed higher injury rates than hunting.

“I certainly appreciate the difference between a sprained ankle and a gunshot wound,” said Legg, but the fact remains that more than 400,000 hunters spent millions of hours hunting deer in Missouri last year with only four gun-related accidents. That is a remarkable safety record.”

Remarkable or not, Missouri’s hunting safety record is something Legg works to improve. Missouri’s more than 2,000 hunter-education instructors are constantly on the lookout for new ways to pare down the number of hunting accidents even further.

Mike Bedwell, of Florissant, Mo., thinks he can help. He invented the Hunter Banner to prevent accidents that occur when hunters end up in the same area but are unaware of one another’s presence.

The banner consists of a 36 by 12-inch length of plasticized, hunter-orange cloth with “HUNTER IN AREA” printed in bold, black letters. Fabric hook-and-loop fasteners along the top and bottom edges allow the banner to be fastened securely around a tree near the hunter, alerting others to his or her presence.

Bedwell began marketing the American-made banners last year. He said he is a hunter himself, and has unexpectedly found himself in the presence of other hunters more than once.

“What surprises me most is that I didn’t think of it sooner,” he said. “Hunters have been wrapping hunting vests around trees for years, but sometimes they aren’t long enough, or there isn’t a good way to fasten them. This makes it simple.”

The Hunter Banner fits around trees 11 inches in diameter. Putting two together expands useable tree diameter to approximately 20 inches. The banners sell for $9 each or three for $24. To encourage Missouri hunters to use his product, Bedwell is offering every hunter-education graduate a coupon good for a $1 discount on one banner or $2 toward the purchase of three. Hunter-education students receive the coupons as part of information packets.

More information about the Hunter Banner is available at http://www.hunterbanner.com.

Some of the most effective hunting-safety measures are mental, rather than physical. One of the most common causes of hunting accidents is “victim mistaken for game.” To avoid this mistake, hunters should always wait to see the entire animal before taking aim.

Three out of last year’s four deer hunting accidents involved self-inflicted gunshots. Such accidents frequently happen when firearms are being loaded or unloaded or when people bring loaded firearms into vehicles. Firearms with exposed hammers are involved in a large portion of self-inflicted injuries because they catch on clothing or other items and fall on the firing pin, causing unintentional discharges. Nearly all these accidents could be prevented by ensuring that firearms are always pointed in a safe direction.

Hunting partners who separate and lose track of one another’s positions also are at higher risk of injury. Hunt together when possible. If you separate, agree on a plan and stick to it so each hunter knows the others’ location.

Hunters of any age can improve their safety habits and awareness by taking or re-taking a hunter-education class. For information on classes in your area, visit mdc.mo.gov/8821.

-Jim Low-