This Is A Press Release From Mdc But Its Wrong

[TroutFearMe]

Improving hunting safety increasingly difficult

The “low-hanging fruit” was plucked in early – and highly successful – efforts to reduce the number of firearms-related hunting accidents.

JEFFERSON CITY—Hunter-education instructors have tough jobs. The more they succeed, the harder their job becomes.

“We have come such a long way in the past 20 years, it hardly leaves us anywhere to go,” said Tony Legg, hunter education coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Legg notes that in the bad old days of hunting safety, Missouri routinely recorded more firearms deer-hunting accidents in one day than occur now over the entire season.

“The worst year was 1986,” said Legg. “We had 26 accidents that year, including one fatality. There were 10 accidents just on the opening weekend.”

A big part of the reason for the large number of deer-hunting accidents that year was sheer numbers of both deer and hunters. Missouri’s firearms deer harvest topped 100,000 for the first time in 1986, and approximately 400,000 hunters took advantage of the growing deer herd.

Responding to the challenge of making hunting safer, the Conservation Commission made hunter education mandatory in 1988, requiring anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, to complete an approved safety and ethics course before buying a hunting permit.

The results have been spectacular. From 1980 through 1989, Missouri averaged 16.8 firearm-related deer hunting accidents per season. Over the past 10 years, the average has been 8.6. Last year Missouri recorded just four firearms-related deer hunting accidents, none fatal. "

The contrast is even more striking when you consider that Missouri had a nine-day firearms deer hunting season in 1986 and hunters killed 103,000 deer. Last year firearms deer hunting, including the muzzleloader season, spanned 36 days, and the harvest topped 260,000.

“I certainly appreciate the difference between a sprained ankle and a gunshot wound,” said Legg, but the fact remains that more than 400,000 hunters spent millions of hours hunting deer in Missouri last year with only four gun-related accidents. That is a remarkable safety record.

Three out of last year’s four deer hunting accidents involved self-inflicted gunshots. Such accidents frequently happen when firearms are being loaded or unloaded or when people bring loaded firearms into vehicles. Firearms with exposed hammers are involved in a large portion of self-inflicted injuries because they catch on clothing or other items and fall on the firing pin, causing unintentional discharges. Nearly all these accidents could be prevented by ensuring that firearms are always pointed in a safe direction.

-Jim Low-

This was a press release that Jim Low put out on Friday Oct 16th, but his facts are not currect there actually was a FATALITY last year during the muzzleloader season in fact it was my BROTHER IN-LAW. I did edit out the advertising for a local man in this article because I don't feel he or the MDC deserve the free plug.

[TroutFearMe]

Here is a report from KMOX's website about the incident here is the link. Please MDC change your press release, it kinda makes me wonder what else they fall to report

http://www.kmox.com/pages/1351642.php?cont...ntentId=1283535