According
to the International Hunter Education Association, hunters shot 1038 to 1790 people per year in the US and Canada during 1987 to 1997.
In 1997, the causes of 822 shootings
were given:318 (39%) people were victims of accidental discharge,
193 (23%) people were mistaken for game,
143 (17%) people were in their
homes or vehicles or obscured by vegetation,140 (17%) were visible (in some cases wearing blaze orange)
but were not noticed as the hunter quickly aimed and shot, and 28 (3%) moved into the
line of fire.
The hunters were 8 to over 60 years old and were hunting deer, bears,
foxes,raccoons, crows, turkeys, and other game. Many were experienced hunters
whohad taken hunter safety courses. Weapons were shotguns (70%), rifles (25%),
other firearms (4%), and bow
and arrow (1%).
The following are a few of the hunting accidents that appeared in newspapers
during 1997 to 2001:
November 22, 1995. A 23-year-old
hunter mistook his hunting partner's gun barrel for antlers and shot at him.
Later, he said, "I thought I was the safest hunter in the world.
Now I'm afraid to walk through the woods myself. I can
see how easy it is."
November 8, 1997. A stray bullet came through a windshield and hit a
29-year-old woman in the forehead
as she drove near Redwood Falls, Minnesota.
November 9, 1997.
A stray bullet came through a wall and a chair and hit a 13-year-old girl in the chest as she played her
clarinet in her home in Motley, Minnesota.
November 16, 1997. A 47-year-old man dressed in blaze orange was shot
in both legs as he crossed a road before sunrise near Motley, Minnesota.
December 8, 1997. A hunter education
instructor mistakenly shot his wife indense vegetation while trying to shoot a duck near Carthage, Texas.
September 18, 1998. A 12-gauge
shotgun slug intended for a bear deflected off a tree branch, penetrated a solid cedar door, ricocheted off a
refrigerator and ceiling and
landed two feet from where a 10-year-old boy was eating supper in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
October 17, 1999. A 36-year-old duck hunter who had taken several hunter
safety courses mistakenly shot
two 13-year-old boys and their collie dog near Paynesville, Minnesota.
October 1999. Several lakeshore
property owners complained to Minnesota DNROfficer Chuck Nelson about shotgun pellets hitting their roofs near
Paynesville, Minnesota.
October 21, 1999. A 37-year-old
hunter saw a gray cap, thought it was a squirrel, and shot a boy in the head near Sudbury, Vermont.
October 27, 1999. A brown cat
came home with an arrow through its back during deer season near Rochester, MA.
November 20, 1999. Within minutes
after a 49-year-old hunter removed his blaze orange vest he was mistaken for a deer and killed by a 61-year-old
hunter near Woodbridge, Connecticut.
November 1999. A
41-year-old hunter saw a white reflection in a man's jacket, thought it was the tail of a deer, and killed
the man as he walked in a field by his house near Raymondville, New York.
November 1999.
A 51-year-old deer hunter heard what he thought were ruttingnoises, saw movement, and fired at something brown
he saw through his scope.
1999 A 50-year-old pheasant hunter could not see through dense vegetation
and shot a 4-year-old girl playing
in her back yard in Utah.
October 1, 2000. A 65-year-old turkey hunter mistook his two sons for
turkeys and shot them near Elmont,
NY.
October 3, 2000. A conservation officer accidentally shot his 15-year-old
son while hunting for turkeys near Morden, Manitoba. The officer said
that each carried a radio to prevent accidents, but there was miscommunication.
October 10, 2000. A turkey hunter
in Oak Grove, Missouri, saw his hunting partner 30 yards away, mistook him for a turkey, and shot him in the
head with buckshot.
October 15, 2000. A 49-year-old man was shot on a wooded section of private
land near Sterling, Connecticut.
October 29, 2000. A bow hunter
thought he heard a deer, looked, thought he saw a buck, and killed his 28-year-old son who was walking
toward him near North Webster, IN.
November 2000. About 6 PM, a bullet came through a wall and missed a woman
by five or six feet in Chazy, New York.
November 4, 2000.
Daniel Ripka, 21, shot at a running deer, missed, and killed Stephen Gilbertson, 53, whom he didn't see
in the brush east of Backus, Minnesota.
November 16, 2000. A 43-year-old hunter mistook a 13-year-old boy and
his 70-year-old grandfather for elk and shot them in Oregon. Each of the
victims was wearing yellow rain
gear.
November 20, 2000. A stray bullet came through the door of a van and
wounded two men driving near
Birchwood, Wisconsin.
November 20, 2000. A 19-year-old hunter thought a man was a deer and killed
him with a .223 caliber bullet
near Glasgow, Kentucky.
November 25, 2000. A stray bullet hit a tractor-trailer, cut the fuel line,
and ended up in the fuel tank
during deer hunting season near Pittsfield, Maine.
November 25, 2000.
A man taking a walk near Muskogee, Oklahoma, was critically wounded by a 30.06 rifle bullet fired
at a deer from 400 yards away by a 15-year-old hunter who had taken hunter safety courses.
November 25, 2000. Two 16-year-old deer hunters
killed two horses near Pittsfield, Maine.
December 2, 2000. A teenage hunter saw a 35-year-old man looking for his
dog, mistook him for a deer,
and killed him with a shotgun blast near Powhatan, Virginia.
December 9, 2000. A 40-year-old bear hunter saw
a 54-year-old man sitting in the woods, mistook him for a bear, and killed him near Binghamton, New
York.
December 28, 2000. A 13-year-old hunter killed a 69-year-old man who was
taking a walk near Jonquiere,
Quebec. The teenager said he saw the man onlyas a figure in the distance. He took aim with his .22 caliber rifle, and
shot the man in the head. The
victim was a 39-year-old man wearing a brown fleece jacket near Bloomingdale, New York.
November 17, 2001. A stray bullet killed Wayne Blodgett about 8 AM as he
stood in an open field in Adams
County, Wisconsin.
November 17, 2001. A 14-year-old hunter who was trailing a wounded deer
sawa movement and killed his 21-year-old brother at 4:30 PM near Ettrick,
Wisconsin.
