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Sportsman Outdoors

2022: A safe hunting season!

Jack Danchak
Posted 3/24/23

The New York State DEC recently released stats for the 2022 big game hunting seasons on hunting-related shooting incidents and elevated hunting incidents, that involves hunters using tree stands.

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Sportsman Outdoors

2022: A safe hunting season!

Posted

The New York State DEC recently released stats for the 2022 big game hunting seasons on hunting-related shooting incidents and elevated hunting incidents, that involves hunters using tree stands.

DEC stated the 2022 hunting seasons tied 2021 for the safest ever year with the lowest number of hunting-related shooting incidents since records were kept. DEC Conservation Officers investigated just nine shooting incidents, but unfortunately there was one fatality. Elevated hunting incidents proved to be more deadly with four of the 13 reported were fatal for the hunters involved.

DEC said four of the nine shooting incidents were two-party firearm incidents, while the other five were self-inflicted. The one recorded fatality occurred due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound by a turkey hunter. 

All identified shooters were experienced hunters with an average of 30 years of hunting experience, emphasizing the need for all hunters to remain vigilant when going hunting. DEC said each incident could have been prevented if those involved followed the proper hunting safety rules. 

DEC reminds hunters to remember the basic rules of hunter safety, which include treating every firearm as if it were loaded, controlling the muzzle, and keeping it pointed in a safe direction, identifying your target and what lies beyond, keep your finger away from the trigger until you are ready to fire, and wear hunter orange or pink clothing.  

DEC said tree stand incidents are underreported and not always reported to them when falls occur. In 2022 DEC received 13 calls of falls, four of which were fatal. Just two of the 13 hunters involved were wearing a safety harness. Six of those involved hang-on stands, three involved ladder stands, two involved homemade stands and one involved a climbing stand.

One of the four fatalities was an elderly hunter, who was wearing a harness, suffering cardiac arrest. Each of the other three were not wearing a harness. Among them, two fell from homemade stands and one fell from a hang-on stand. 

Tree stand safety is now integrated into DEC’s Hunter Education Course because these incidents have become a major cause of hunting-related injuries. Used correctly, a full body harness and a lifeline keep hunters connected from the time they leave the ground to the moment they get back down. 

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