Hunting Safety
Date: Nov 16, 2005 7:05 AM
Be careful out there
Editorial,
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/editorials/ci_3221481

Wednesday, November 16
Walking has never truly been considered a dangerous sport, if ever it has been considered a sport at all.
But, come November in Vermont, walking can become pretty hairy on our state’s backroads, especially if you’re not wearing blaze orange or if you like to wear a deer antler hat just for kicks.

As many of you have noticed, deer hunting season is on, as of this past weekend.

That means we all – hunters and walkers – must take great care when we head into the great outdoors.

Accidents do happen. While only three happened in 2004, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be vigilant. For instance, Brett Crawford, 21, shot his own hand Saturday on opening day. And in the late summer in Whitingham, a man was shot and killed by a hunter while he was picking berries.

Hunting accidents seem to happen most often when a victim is mistaken for game or is out of sight of a shooter. Trouble also occurs when a shooter is swinging his rifle around on game and when the victim moves into the shooter’s line of fire.

We’re not out to crush hunters here, though. In fact, hunting seems to have a very low rate of injury as far as sports go. According to the International Hunter Education Association, estimates show that hunters encounter about one injury for every 347,000 days of hunting. Fatalities happen at a rate of one per 3.2 million hunting days.

Furthermore, a study of sports injuries featured in www.infozine.com by American Sports Data, Inc., has ranked hunting at 29th out of 100 different sports in the number of injuries reported. Only 1.3 hunters were injured per 100, compared to aerobics at 1.7, 1.8 for horseback riding, 9 for cheerleading and 18.8 injuries per 100 participants in football, according to the study.

With that being said, it still pays to be careful. Hunters, please don’t shoot just because you see bushes moving, and walkers, keep your dogs and yourselves dressed in orange.

Even though the chances of an accident are low, no one wants to become a statistic.