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Hunters, anglers can be prone to boating accidents
By TIM RENKEN, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
5/23/2003 10:24 AM
Two men were crossing Mark Twain Lake on a rainy opening day of the deer season in 1996 when waves started slopping green water over the side of their small aluminum johnboat.
Before they got across that wide place about a mile upstream from the dam, the boat became unstable and then capsized. Both men went into the water, which was November cold, and it was being pushed into 3-foot waves by a strong northwest wind.
One of the men said his companion had been worried that his gun would get wet. Before they got in the boat he had shoved it into his coveralls and down one of his pants legs. He had grabbed a lifejacket as he fell into the water, but that gun was more than he could cope with when the two tried to swim for it.
Pretty soon he disappeared. A boater passing by rescued one of the men, but his companion's body wasn't found until spring. He still had that gun in his clothes.
That gun in the pants leg was the only unusual aspect of this hunter boating acccident. That same day two other deer hunters drowned on the Mississippi River near Louisiana, Mo. The other factors were similar, and typical. They illustrate why hunters and some of their colleagues in boating malpractice, anglers, are slowing the national effort to make boating safer.
Between 1995 and 1999, recreational boating fatalities in this country dropped by about 20 percent. Fewer boaters die in accidents these days, probably because of a relentless educational and advertising barrage by safety and industry groups. Most boaters are safer these days. Most, but not all.
In that same period the fatality rate among fishermen and hunters who use boats has remained the same, and number about 220. Fishermen and hunters make up about 10 percent of those who use boats in their recreation, but fishermen and hunters are involved in more than a third of all boating fatalities. Why? If you use a boat in your fishing and hunting, you know or should know the answers. Among them:
Many anglers and hunters are ignorant boaters. Many pay little attention to safe boat handling, loading or equipment. Many don't even know there are boating rules of the road similar to rules on the streets and highways.
Hunters and anglers often stand up in boats, walk around and lean over the side. That's just the nature of their sports. They also tend to go out in bad weather and when the water is cold. And they tend to go out in small boats, which they often overload -- anglers with people and hunters with gear.
Many anglers and hunters don't wear lifejackets, many don't even carry them. Most say they don't because lifejackets are bulky, hot and uncomfortable. Truth be known, though, many dislike the image projected by lifejackets -- even the new inflatables that are small, cool and almost weightless.
The attitude among many anglers and hunters is that kids, beginners, women and nerds wear lifejackets. This image is fortified in those photos and TV spots of the pros fishing from their boats. Rarely are those pros wearing personal flotation devices.
Many sportsmen consider alcoholic beverages as essential supplies. Some would rather forget the bait than the beer.
All of these factors make fishermen and hunters, on average, poor boaters. No wonder they have more accidents than any other kind of boaters.
Here are some other facts pertinent to this problem.
The most common kind of fatal hunting-fishing accident involves the victim falling overboard. That's not surprising, considering the facts above. In many of these accidents the victim goes overboard and sinks immediately -- no struggling, shouting, etc.
Of the people who died in boating accidents in the four-year period above, 77 percent weren't wearing PFDs. Of those boating hunters and anglers who died in that same period, 95 percent weren't wearing PFDs and almost half of them didn't even have a PFD aboard.
Some anglers told surveyors that they wear PFDs under certain conditions, such as bad weather. But three times as many fatal boating accidents occur in good weather as in bad.
Most fatalities occur to people in that age group, 30-50, that includes experienced anglers and hunters.
http://www.boatus.com/foundation/sportsnew/ads2.htm
With hunters and anglers now accounting for a disproportionate number of boating fatalities, safety officials and groups like the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society, North American Hunting Club, Coast Guard Auxiliary and businesses such as Cabelas and BoatUS are trying to come up with ways to make this group of boaters safer.
The problem is compounded by the fact that since hunters and anglers don't consider themselves as "boaters," many don't take boating safety courses or read the literature of boating. They generally don't belong to boating groups. Many miss the messages of Safe Boating Week, just ended, and National Boating and Fishing Week, just beginning.
The first effort of these concerned clubs, businesses and agencies has been to compile and publish a 37-page booklet entitled "Boating Tips for Hunters and Anglers." It contains information on all aspects of boating as it pertains to these sportsmen.
Hard copies of this new book aren't available yet, but it can be downloaded in PDF format at http: www.boatus.com/foundation/sportsman.
Reporter Tim Renken E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com Phone: 314-849-4239
By TIM RENKEN, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
5/23/2003 10:24 AM
Two men were crossing Mark Twain Lake on a rainy opening day of the deer season in 1996 when waves started slopping green water over the side of their small aluminum johnboat.
Before they got across that wide place about a mile upstream from the dam, the boat became unstable and then capsized. Both men went into the water, which was November cold, and it was being pushed into 3-foot waves by a strong northwest wind.
One of the men said his companion had been worried that his gun would get wet. Before they got in the boat he had shoved it into his coveralls and down one of his pants legs. He had grabbed a lifejacket as he fell into the water, but that gun was more than he could cope with when the two tried to swim for it.
Pretty soon he disappeared. A boater passing by rescued one of the men, but his companion's body wasn't found until spring. He still had that gun in his clothes.
That gun in the pants leg was the only unusual aspect of this hunter boating acccident. That same day two other deer hunters drowned on the Mississippi River near Louisiana, Mo. The other factors were similar, and typical. They illustrate why hunters and some of their colleagues in boating malpractice, anglers, are slowing the national effort to make boating safer.
Between 1995 and 1999, recreational boating fatalities in this country dropped by about 20 percent. Fewer boaters die in accidents these days, probably because of a relentless educational and advertising barrage by safety and industry groups. Most boaters are safer these days. Most, but not all.
In that same period the fatality rate among fishermen and hunters who use boats has remained the same, and number about 220. Fishermen and hunters make up about 10 percent of those who use boats in their recreation, but fishermen and hunters are involved in more than a third of all boating fatalities. Why? If you use a boat in your fishing and hunting, you know or should know the answers. Among them:
Many anglers and hunters are ignorant boaters. Many pay little attention to safe boat handling, loading or equipment. Many don't even know there are boating rules of the road similar to rules on the streets and highways.
Hunters and anglers often stand up in boats, walk around and lean over the side. That's just the nature of their sports. They also tend to go out in bad weather and when the water is cold. And they tend to go out in small boats, which they often overload -- anglers with people and hunters with gear.
Many anglers and hunters don't wear lifejackets, many don't even carry them. Most say they don't because lifejackets are bulky, hot and uncomfortable. Truth be known, though, many dislike the image projected by lifejackets -- even the new inflatables that are small, cool and almost weightless.
The attitude among many anglers and hunters is that kids, beginners, women and nerds wear lifejackets. This image is fortified in those photos and TV spots of the pros fishing from their boats. Rarely are those pros wearing personal flotation devices.
Many sportsmen consider alcoholic beverages as essential supplies. Some would rather forget the bait than the beer.
All of these factors make fishermen and hunters, on average, poor boaters. No wonder they have more accidents than any other kind of boaters.
Here are some other facts pertinent to this problem.
The most common kind of fatal hunting-fishing accident involves the victim falling overboard. That's not surprising, considering the facts above. In many of these accidents the victim goes overboard and sinks immediately -- no struggling, shouting, etc.
Of the people who died in boating accidents in the four-year period above, 77 percent weren't wearing PFDs. Of those boating hunters and anglers who died in that same period, 95 percent weren't wearing PFDs and almost half of them didn't even have a PFD aboard.
Some anglers told surveyors that they wear PFDs under certain conditions, such as bad weather. But three times as many fatal boating accidents occur in good weather as in bad.
Most fatalities occur to people in that age group, 30-50, that includes experienced anglers and hunters.
http://www.boatus.com/foundation/sportsnew/ads2.htm
With hunters and anglers now accounting for a disproportionate number of boating fatalities, safety officials and groups like the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society, North American Hunting Club, Coast Guard Auxiliary and businesses such as Cabelas and BoatUS are trying to come up with ways to make this group of boaters safer.
The problem is compounded by the fact that since hunters and anglers don't consider themselves as "boaters," many don't take boating safety courses or read the literature of boating. They generally don't belong to boating groups. Many miss the messages of Safe Boating Week, just ended, and National Boating and Fishing Week, just beginning.
The first effort of these concerned clubs, businesses and agencies has been to compile and publish a 37-page booklet entitled "Boating Tips for Hunters and Anglers." It contains information on all aspects of boating as it pertains to these sportsmen.
Hard copies of this new book aren't available yet, but it can be downloaded in PDF format at http: www.boatus.com/foundation/sportsman.
Reporter Tim Renken E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com Phone: 314-849-4239
