Safest Season in WNY (U1)

New York hunters had their safest season on record in 2013, with 19 hunting related shooting incidents, including two fatalities. The DEC’s hunter safety statistics track only shooting related incidents and no other factors such as tree stand falls. These statistics showed that 14 of the 19 incidents were self-inflicted injuries. Also there were only two recorded fatalities this season. Only one of these two fatalities occurred during the deer season and another happened while a man was trying to shoot a possum.  The tragic fact that two of these incidents were fatal reminds us that the difference between a minor injury and a fatal gunshot wound can be a matter of inches. The 19 incidents is well below the 5 year average of 27 and represents a continued decline in hunting related shooting incidents, which averaged 137 in the 1960s, 102 in the 1970s, 85 in the 1980s, 66 in the 1990s and 38 in the last decade. Since the 1960’s the number of hunters fell 20 percent while the rate of incidents declined 75 percent. The current five-year is 4.3 incidents per 100,000 hunters, compared to 19 per 100,000 hunters in the 1960’s. Several cases had the shooter  “participating in an illegal and/or unlawful act,” such as shooting from a roadway, shooting from inside a house, a youth hunting without supervision and carrying a loaded firearm on an ATV. Seven of the incidents involved a rifle and seven others a shotgun. Handguns were involved in three incidents, with a muzzleloader and bow accounting for the other shooting incidents. Three of the incidents occurred as the hunter was preparing to climb into or out of a tree stand, the report showed. Only one incident occurred during the state’s popular spring gobbler season, which in the past has seen several shooting-related incidents, typically involving a hunter stalking a camo clad hunter calling turkeys. The largest factor of these incidents was people handling the firearms the wrong way. New York has an extremely safety conscious generation of hunters, thanks to over 60 years of sportsman education and the dedicated efforts of thousands of volunteer instructors.