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Hunters can learn from painful history or repeat it
MDC
10/10/03
Missouri's 2002 hunting accident reports point the way to safe days afield.
JEFFERSON CITY - "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Philosopher George Santayana probably wasn't thinking of hunting accidents when he penned that famous saying. However, Rick Flint, hunter education program coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says hunters would do well to heed the warning. Year after year, they make the same mistakes.
"If people could see how history repeats itself in our hunting accident reports and see first-hand the suffering those mistakes create, we could cut hunting accidents in half overnight."
Flint, who has been investigating hunting accidents for more than a decade, has seen his share of suffering. But you don't have to look any farther than last year's hunting accident summary to find the lessons hunters need to learn.
In 2002, the Conservation Department recorded 36 firearms-related hunting accidents. No one died in those accidents, but several people suffered serious or disabling injuries.
Nine of last year's accidents, exactly one-quarter of the total, were self-inflicted. You might think it would be difficult to shoot yourself unintentionally, but accident reports show a surprising variety of ways it can happen.
The first two accidents of 2002 were self-inflicted. On Jan. 6 of that year, a .45 cal. pistol fell from an unsecured holster of a 22-year-old Independence man who was hunting deer near Strasburg. Seeing that it had dirt in the barrel, he tried to clear the pistol and it discharged, piercing the palm of his left hand.
On Jan. 12, 2002, a 14-year-old St. James resident was hunting crows in Maries County. He put his 20 gauge shotgun down to cross a fallen tree. That was a wise move. But when his hunting companion handed him the loaded shotgun the young hunter grasped it by its barrel. Moments later, the gun discharged a load of No. 6 lead pellets into his right forearm.
On Oct. 3, 2002, a 32-year-old St. Joseph man was returning from bowhunting for deer in Buchanan County when he found a .25 cal. pistol along a railroad track. As he tried to clean mud off the pistol, it discharged into his left hand.
On Nov. 17, a 16-year-old Stafford resident climbed into her tree stand to hunt deer in Lawrence County. Her companion handed her a loaded .357 cal. lever-action rifle. She lost her grip on the rifle, and as it fell the exposed hammer struck her metal tree stand, causing the rifle to discharge. The bullet stuck her right forearm.
A lever-action rifle also figured in a Nov. 22, 2002, accident that involved a 24-year-old Keokuk, Iowa, man. He fell about 5 feet while climbing out of his tree stand with the loaded .30-30. Again, the rifle discharged, and the bullet struck the hunter's left leg below the knee. He was able to crawl to his vehicle, where his father found him.
As seen in these incidents, most hunting accidents are associated with the most popular types of hunting -- deer, rabbits and squirrels. That is predictable. More hunting means more hunting accidents, just as more automobile driving means more traffic accidents. However, turkey hunting accounts for a disproportionate number of accidents every year.
That is partly because turkey hunters do their best to become invisible while imitating the calls of their quarry. The majority of turkey hunting accidents fall into the category of "victim mistaken for game." Last year, eight of 11 turkey hunting accidents were of this kind.
Turkey hunters can take measures to avoid such accidents. Ultimately, though, mistaking another person for game is the shooter's fault. A case from April 28, 2002 makes this clear. A 39-year-old Belton man had finished hunting in Cass County and was walking back to his vehicle wearing a hunter-orange vest and with an orange vest thrown over one shoulder. He saw another hunter and waved. A few moments later the other hunter shot him.
The only thing the victim in this accident did wrong was to wave instead of shouting a greeting. Movement can be misinterpreted by a hunter who is intent on finding a turkey. Another case illustrates this fact.
On April 22, 2002, a 55-year-old Belton man was hunting on national forest land in Texas County. He later said he heard what he thought was a young turkey gobbler. Then he thought he saw a turkey feeding near a tree. Then he thought he saw a red turkey head and fired his 12 gauge shotgun, striking the victim, in the head and right shoulder with No. 4 lead pellets.
"This case is very typical," said Flint. "The victim was wearing camouflage clothing, but shooter's desire to find a turkey clouded his judgment enough that he was convinced he saw a turkey."
Turkey hunters aren't the only ones who mistake other hunters for game. On Nov. 16, 2002, a 37-year-old Queen City man was deer hunting with his cousin in Schuyler County. They saw a deer go into some brush. The shooter thought he saw a deer coming out of the brush 30 or 40 yards away and fired his .30-30 rifle. His target turned out to be his cousin's brown pants. The bullet hit the victim in the right thigh above the knee. This incident was the only one in 2002 where a deer hunter mistook another hunter for game.
Most of the other accidents that happened during the 2002 deer season were the result of defective firearms or careless gun handling. Three involved victims who were out of sight of the shooter, moved into the line of fire or were injured when the shooter fired at moving deer and they were in the way.
This last type of accident, "shooter swinging on game," is more common in other types of hunting, especially rabbits and game birds. Last year this type of accident accounted for eight incidents, second only to "victim mistaken for game." The cases included one waterfowl hunting accident, one dove, one squirrel, one deer, two quail and two rabbit. These included the last hunting accident of the year.
The victim, a 17-year-old Westphalia man, was one of five hunters in a party hunting in Cole County Dec. 29, 2002. They had surrounded a brush pile and the victim was about 30 yards away, directly across and in plain sight of the shooter, a 25-year-old Mokane resident. When a rabbit bolted from the brush pile, the shooter fired his 12-gauge shotgun at the rabbit, striking the victim, his cousin, in the legs, abdomen and chest with approximately 60 No. 6 shot pellets.
Nearly a third of 2002 hunting accidents involved friends shooting hunting companions. In five cases, the shooter was the father, son or brother of the victim. On Nov. 25, three days before Thanksgiving Day last year, a 73-year-old Greenville man taking part in a deer drive fired two rifled slugs from his 12 gauge shotgun at a running deer. One of the slugs struck his 39-year-old son in the left side of his abdomen and exited through his left buttock.
Illegal activity sometimes figures in hunting accidents, too. Two days before Christmas last year, two Chadwick men, ages 36 and 17, were hunting deer in Christian County. Deer season had been closed for more than a week. They wounded a deer, and in the process of pursuing the deer the older man fired two shots from a .22 cal. magnum rifle. After the first shot, the younger man jumped up and stepped in front of the rifle. The second shot entered his head from behind on the right side and exited on the front, right side.
Twenty-six of the 2002 hunting accidents involved known shooters and injuries that were not self-inflicted. The Conservation Commission has revoked the hunting privileges of 18 of those shooters. Three other cases are pending final Commission action.
Flint said hunters could prevent nearly all hunting accidents by obeying the following rules:
--Always keep firearms pointed in a safe direction.
--Keep firearms unloaded except when hunting or preparing to shoot.
--Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
--Be sure of your target before you pull the trigger.
--Never point a gun at anything you do not want to shoot.
--Never climb or jump with a loaded firearm.
--Never shoot at a flat, hard surface or water.
--Store firearms and ammunition separately and under lock and key.
--Avoid alcohol and other drugs before and while handling firearms.
- Jim Low -
MDC
10/10/03
Missouri's 2002 hunting accident reports point the way to safe days afield.
JEFFERSON CITY - "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Philosopher George Santayana probably wasn't thinking of hunting accidents when he penned that famous saying. However, Rick Flint, hunter education program coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says hunters would do well to heed the warning. Year after year, they make the same mistakes.
"If people could see how history repeats itself in our hunting accident reports and see first-hand the suffering those mistakes create, we could cut hunting accidents in half overnight."
Flint, who has been investigating hunting accidents for more than a decade, has seen his share of suffering. But you don't have to look any farther than last year's hunting accident summary to find the lessons hunters need to learn.
In 2002, the Conservation Department recorded 36 firearms-related hunting accidents. No one died in those accidents, but several people suffered serious or disabling injuries.
Nine of last year's accidents, exactly one-quarter of the total, were self-inflicted. You might think it would be difficult to shoot yourself unintentionally, but accident reports show a surprising variety of ways it can happen.
The first two accidents of 2002 were self-inflicted. On Jan. 6 of that year, a .45 cal. pistol fell from an unsecured holster of a 22-year-old Independence man who was hunting deer near Strasburg. Seeing that it had dirt in the barrel, he tried to clear the pistol and it discharged, piercing the palm of his left hand.
On Jan. 12, 2002, a 14-year-old St. James resident was hunting crows in Maries County. He put his 20 gauge shotgun down to cross a fallen tree. That was a wise move. But when his hunting companion handed him the loaded shotgun the young hunter grasped it by its barrel. Moments later, the gun discharged a load of No. 6 lead pellets into his right forearm.
On Oct. 3, 2002, a 32-year-old St. Joseph man was returning from bowhunting for deer in Buchanan County when he found a .25 cal. pistol along a railroad track. As he tried to clean mud off the pistol, it discharged into his left hand.
On Nov. 17, a 16-year-old Stafford resident climbed into her tree stand to hunt deer in Lawrence County. Her companion handed her a loaded .357 cal. lever-action rifle. She lost her grip on the rifle, and as it fell the exposed hammer struck her metal tree stand, causing the rifle to discharge. The bullet stuck her right forearm.
A lever-action rifle also figured in a Nov. 22, 2002, accident that involved a 24-year-old Keokuk, Iowa, man. He fell about 5 feet while climbing out of his tree stand with the loaded .30-30. Again, the rifle discharged, and the bullet struck the hunter's left leg below the knee. He was able to crawl to his vehicle, where his father found him.
As seen in these incidents, most hunting accidents are associated with the most popular types of hunting -- deer, rabbits and squirrels. That is predictable. More hunting means more hunting accidents, just as more automobile driving means more traffic accidents. However, turkey hunting accounts for a disproportionate number of accidents every year.
That is partly because turkey hunters do their best to become invisible while imitating the calls of their quarry. The majority of turkey hunting accidents fall into the category of "victim mistaken for game." Last year, eight of 11 turkey hunting accidents were of this kind.
Turkey hunters can take measures to avoid such accidents. Ultimately, though, mistaking another person for game is the shooter's fault. A case from April 28, 2002 makes this clear. A 39-year-old Belton man had finished hunting in Cass County and was walking back to his vehicle wearing a hunter-orange vest and with an orange vest thrown over one shoulder. He saw another hunter and waved. A few moments later the other hunter shot him.
The only thing the victim in this accident did wrong was to wave instead of shouting a greeting. Movement can be misinterpreted by a hunter who is intent on finding a turkey. Another case illustrates this fact.
On April 22, 2002, a 55-year-old Belton man was hunting on national forest land in Texas County. He later said he heard what he thought was a young turkey gobbler. Then he thought he saw a turkey feeding near a tree. Then he thought he saw a red turkey head and fired his 12 gauge shotgun, striking the victim, in the head and right shoulder with No. 4 lead pellets.
"This case is very typical," said Flint. "The victim was wearing camouflage clothing, but shooter's desire to find a turkey clouded his judgment enough that he was convinced he saw a turkey."
Turkey hunters aren't the only ones who mistake other hunters for game. On Nov. 16, 2002, a 37-year-old Queen City man was deer hunting with his cousin in Schuyler County. They saw a deer go into some brush. The shooter thought he saw a deer coming out of the brush 30 or 40 yards away and fired his .30-30 rifle. His target turned out to be his cousin's brown pants. The bullet hit the victim in the right thigh above the knee. This incident was the only one in 2002 where a deer hunter mistook another hunter for game.
Most of the other accidents that happened during the 2002 deer season were the result of defective firearms or careless gun handling. Three involved victims who were out of sight of the shooter, moved into the line of fire or were injured when the shooter fired at moving deer and they were in the way.
This last type of accident, "shooter swinging on game," is more common in other types of hunting, especially rabbits and game birds. Last year this type of accident accounted for eight incidents, second only to "victim mistaken for game." The cases included one waterfowl hunting accident, one dove, one squirrel, one deer, two quail and two rabbit. These included the last hunting accident of the year.
The victim, a 17-year-old Westphalia man, was one of five hunters in a party hunting in Cole County Dec. 29, 2002. They had surrounded a brush pile and the victim was about 30 yards away, directly across and in plain sight of the shooter, a 25-year-old Mokane resident. When a rabbit bolted from the brush pile, the shooter fired his 12-gauge shotgun at the rabbit, striking the victim, his cousin, in the legs, abdomen and chest with approximately 60 No. 6 shot pellets.
Nearly a third of 2002 hunting accidents involved friends shooting hunting companions. In five cases, the shooter was the father, son or brother of the victim. On Nov. 25, three days before Thanksgiving Day last year, a 73-year-old Greenville man taking part in a deer drive fired two rifled slugs from his 12 gauge shotgun at a running deer. One of the slugs struck his 39-year-old son in the left side of his abdomen and exited through his left buttock.
Illegal activity sometimes figures in hunting accidents, too. Two days before Christmas last year, two Chadwick men, ages 36 and 17, were hunting deer in Christian County. Deer season had been closed for more than a week. They wounded a deer, and in the process of pursuing the deer the older man fired two shots from a .22 cal. magnum rifle. After the first shot, the younger man jumped up and stepped in front of the rifle. The second shot entered his head from behind on the right side and exited on the front, right side.
Twenty-six of the 2002 hunting accidents involved known shooters and injuries that were not self-inflicted. The Conservation Commission has revoked the hunting privileges of 18 of those shooters. Three other cases are pending final Commission action.
Flint said hunters could prevent nearly all hunting accidents by obeying the following rules:
--Always keep firearms pointed in a safe direction.
--Keep firearms unloaded except when hunting or preparing to shoot.
--Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
--Be sure of your target before you pull the trigger.
--Never point a gun at anything you do not want to shoot.
--Never climb or jump with a loaded firearm.
--Never shoot at a flat, hard surface or water.
--Store firearms and ammunition separately and under lock and key.
--Avoid alcohol and other drugs before and while handling firearms.
- Jim Low -
