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AUSTIN, Texas--How accidents occur and, more importantly, how they can be prevented are among the findings in a Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) study of Texas hunting accidents in the last 30 years.
According to Steve Hall, education director at TPW, "The study confirms that we see the same things over and over, such as hunters swinging on game outside of their safe zones of fire or careless handling of firearms--hunting accidents that could easily be avoided. If hunters only followed a few simple safety tips, he added, there would be few accidents. The safety tips are commonly referred to as the "Ten Commandments of Hunter or Shooting Safety."
Hall, who has compiled accident reports submitted by game wardens for about 15 years, said that requiring hunter education training, wearing hunter or blaze orange and prohibiting shooting across public roads, have actually hunting accidents significantly from decade to decade. In other words, "hunting is safe--and getting safer," said Hall.
TPW commissioned the study to analyze the data to determine or reaffirm the causes of accidents, create a computer database for the accident records and use the findings to enhance hunter education curriculum being taught in Texas by over 2,800 instructors. Michael McFarland, a Texas A&M University research associate who earned his master^s degree under Dr. Ron Kaiser, professor of recreation, park and tourism sciences at A&M, was in charge of the research project.
Kaiser and McFarland conducted the analysis from 2,495 hunting incident reports from 1966 through 1997. The reports originally came in various formats depending on the paperwork required by the state at the time they were filed. The researchers entered the reports into a new database using a consistent format that allowed statistical analysis.
McFarland said he expects the database to be an important addition to hunter education programs. "The entire focus of this study was why these incidents occur, and the database allows state officials to track incidents annually and exchange data with other states, as well as make comparisons."
According to Kaiser, who is also an attorney and risk management specialist, "Although hunting is becoming safer with declines in both the fatality and injury rates, certain types of incidents occur at a higher rate. Among them are incidents involving a victim injured or killed when a shooter swings on game, as well as careless firearm handling. Those two areas may need more study and more emphasis in education programs," the researchers reported.
Other findings showed that more incidents occurred after 5 p.m. and that wearing "blaze orange" clothing might have helped victims avoid incidents. More attention might also be given to these topics, the report recommended. Even though hunter orange is required on public lands, most hunting occurs on private lands that comprise over 95 percent of Texas hunting lands.
It also found a high number of incidents in the vicinity of vehicles and a high proportion of incidents among hunters^ ages 12 to 17. Laws restricting hunters from carrying loaded firearms in vehicles and/or requiring youngsters to complete hunter education training sooner might be warranted, according to the findings. (Current law requires that a person between the ages of 12 through 16 either hunt with an adult or pass the course to hunt alone.)
In addition to helping quantify types of incidents needing special attention, the statistical analysis also showed that head and torso injuries occurred at a higher rate than injuries to other areas. The report also identified counties in which a higher percentage of the incidents occurred. Between 1966 and 1997, Llano County reported 50 incidents. The statistic is not alarming, considering Llano County also boasts the highest level of deer hunting in the state. Llano County hosts nearly 16,000 of the state^s 515,000 active deer hunters and has the highest concentration of hunting activity at 24 hunters per 1,000 acres.
Other counties that stood out included Lamar with 40 incidents, Erath (38), Coleman (36), San Saba (33), Brown (32), Medina (31), Cherokee (31), Angelina (30), McCulloch (28) and Lampasas (28). Twelve counties (Upshur, Stonewall, Sterling, Roberts, Parmer, Martin, Loving, Lipscomb, King, Garza, Carson and Borden) had no incidents recorded.
The report, financed equally by TPW and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, used the term "incident" instead of "accident" because some instances involved suspected homicides or suicides. The researchers used the database to profile incidents by 11 factors: injury type, injury locations, incident type, incident by county, month, day of week, time of day, land ownership, environmental factors, firearm type, and distance of muzzle to victim.
They profiled shooters by gender, age, hunting experience, hunter education status, influence of alcohol or drugs, and species hunted. Victims were profiled by all of those factors except species hunted, and they were also profiled by their activity, clothing worn, and whether they were wearing blaze orange.
The report made a number of recommendations including the use of more hands-on instruction and skill evaluations and the use of a variety of instruction media. It also made a number of recommendations for improving the hunter incident report form, including adding such variables as the type of ammunition, relationship between shooter and victim, and various other data.
Finally, the report made several suggestions for law enforcement investigations including designing special materials and procedures for Texas game wardens investigating incidents and more on-site investigation.
For a summary of the report or for a copy of last year^s hunting accident investigation report, contact Steve Hall, education director, Texas Parks and Wildlife, (512) 389-4999; steve.hall@tpwd.state.tx.us.
Uploaded: 9/4/1999
Uploaded: 9/4/1999