Hunter Safety Report

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Wisconsin’s 2019 gun Deer Season closed recently. Of the state’s 72 counties, 71 allow hunting. During the nine-day 2019 Deer Season (November 23 – December 1) 564,664 licensed hunters legally pursued big game with firearms. 160,569 deer were legally harvested.

During the nine-day hunt, there were a total of four reported shootings among all 71 counties. Three of these injuries were negligent discharges where the hunter injured himself, and one involved a hand injury where a hunter’s negligent discharge injured a member of his hunting party.

This puts the injury ratio at 1:141,166, or 0.0007%. 99.9993% of Wisconsin’s hunters in 71 counties took to the field and woods with loaded firearms in pursuit of deer for nine days without incident.

The National Safety Council had previously reported twenty years ago that deer hunting typically saw seven injuries per 100,000 participants, making it slightly safer than table tennis (ping pong) and about twenty times safer than golf.

https://firearmusernetwork.com/lessons-learned-of-hunter-education/
https://firearmusernetwork.com/lessons-learned-of-hunter-education-2/

Current trends indicate hunting continues to get even safer.
https://firearmusernetwork.com/deer-hunting-getting-safer/

Wisconsin’s 2019 data indicates this continued increase in safety is still improving and hunters are even safer than ever, going from about seven incidents per 100,000 to one incident per 141,166.


Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s lone county disallowing hunting. During that same nine-day period, Milwaukee county reported 25 people were shot, including seven murders. Good thing they banned hunting!

Deer Hunting Is Getting Safer

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on the results of Wisconsin’s gun deer season.

Wisconsin’s 2018 gun deer-hunting season was safest on record
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2018/11/26/wisconsins-2018-gun-deer-hunting-season-safest-record/2118774002/

With three non-fatal shooting injuries, the 2018 Wisconsin gun deer season set a record for hunter safety, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

“We’re going to call it the state’s safest gun deer season ever,” said Jon King, DNR conservation warden and hunter safety coordinator.

The 2018 gun deer season ran Nov. 17 to 25. Although the agency has not released a final tally of gun deer license sales, it is expected about 570,000 hunters were authorized to participate.

Prior to this season, the DNR considered 2014, with four non-fatal shooting injuries, the safest.

There has been a long-term trend toward fewer shooting incidents in Wisconsin gun deer hunting seasons, especially since hunter safety education was made mandatory in 1985.

In step with these changes, the shooting accident rate in the gun deer season was 10.6 incidents per 100,000 participants in 1985, 4.8 in 1995 and about 0.5 in 2018.

The DNR is investigating the three incidents that occurred this year.

The first took place 1:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in Marcellon Township of Columbia County where a 24-year-old shooter participating in a deer drive shot at a running deer but struck the victim, a 23-year-old male, in the foot. The men were members of the same hunting party. The victim was treated at a local hospital.

The second occurred about 5 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Village of Colfax in Dunn County. In this case, a 21-year-old male who was not wearing blaze orange was working on his downed deer when he was hit in the arm by a bullet from a 17-year-old shooter who thought the victim was a deer. The victim was transported to a hospital and released.

The last was recorded at noon Nov. 25 in Sauk County. A 39-year-old male had stopped hunting and was unloading his firearm, a handgun, when it discharged and the bullet struck him in the palm, King said. The victim was treated for the wound and released.

This all occurred with an increase in total tagged deer during the season:

Hunters registered 211,430 deer during Wisconsin gun deer season, up 7% from 2017
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2018/11/27/gun-deer-harvest-up-7/2123819002/

This is in line with trends over the past decades:

https://firearmusernetwork.com/lessons-learned-of-hunter-education/

https://firearmusernetwork.com/lessons-learned-of-hunter-education-2/

Target Angle and Hunting

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Shot placement is arguably the most important component of field marksmanship, right after having the experience to know when a given shot opportunity is high percentage for you.

Two articles you must review before getting ready for fall hunting season:

https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/whitetail-deer/where-to-shoot-a-deer

https://blog.1800gunsandammo.com/target-angle-for-hunters/

Free Hunter Education Course

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https://nra.yourlearningportal.com/courses/hunter-education

This NRA Online Hunter Education course is designed to help new hunters of all ages learn how to be safe and responsible members of the hunting community. From the organization that built the first-ever hunter education program in 1949, this state-of-the-art course is the most comprehensive online hunter education instruction in the United States…and it’s 100% FREE

From John Tate:
In 1949, the NRA introduced the first Hunter Safety Course. Over time, it has grown in scope; but the central theme remains safe handling and use of firearms.

Now, exploiting electronic connectivity, this course is available for FREE over the internet. Of the four options, each may have some state-specific content; but the essentials of firearm safety are universal so any course will do.

Enhanced Marksmanship Programs for Hunters, Part 8

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Conclusion

Download complete article as a PDF:

enhanced-marksmanship-hunters

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Enhanced Marksmanship Programs for Hunters, Part 7

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Uninterested

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Enhanced Marksmanship Programs for Hunters, Part 6

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Working with Current Non-Hunters
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Enhanced Marksmanship Programs for Hunters, Part 5

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Affiliation-Oriented Hunters

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Enhanced Marksmanship Programs for Hunters, Part 4

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Fostering Achievement-Oriented Hunters

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Enhanced Marksmanship Programs for Hunters, Part 3

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A Study in Skill:  How the Germans do it

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