Hunting safety and 2006 Minnesota hunting accidents

[M.T. Bucket]

I don't really post to this forum anymore, but with various hunting seasons underway or around the corner, I thought I'd share a quick safety message and create a thread where everyone can post their hunting safety tips.

For my part, I'm going to share this link--hopefully a DNR link won't get nixed; if it does, go to the DNR page, click on the Enforcement link, and find Incident Reports on the right side. The link is http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/enforcement/incidentreports/index.html Here you'll find year-by-year summaries of hunting (firearm only), ATV, and snowmobile accidents from 2002 through 2006. If you go to the 2006 report, you'll be able to read a synopsis of each of last year's 23 hunting firearm accidents in Minnesota. At the end of the report are easy to read charts that summarize the circumstances around these accidents.

You can draw your own conclusions about these, but after reading the report thoroughly, a few patterns of safe and unsafe behavior emerge...at least to me. My hope is that sharing this information will make people take a look at their habits out there enough to prevent at least one accident this season.

If you have thoughts on these reports, or hunting safety tips, this would be a good place to post them.

[CodyDawg]

Good post. My tip: Keep your action open when your gun is unloaded. The worst offenders seem to be the older people in my experience.

[BobT]

Wow, cody, I have just the opposite experience. It seems I'm too often correcting younger hunters about handing a firearm to someone else without first opening the action. It's a habit I've had since I first began to handle firearms. Most of mine are open even in the cabinet. I don't like to leave auotloaders open in storage however. Maybe it's a fallacy but I figure it can't be good for the bolt spring to be locked open for extended periods of time.

Bob

[Hookmaster]

When kids are learning to hunt don't let them walk in the field with a loaded gun. Let them prove to you that they can control the muzzle of an unloaded gun while walking over uneven terrain first. Even experienced hunters will stumble and fall while walking a field.

[CodyDawg]

BobT,

I dont know if it is a fallacy or not about the bolt spring, but my autoloaders always are kept in the open position, always. After 12,000 rounds, I finally had to replace the bolt spring, but that has more to do with shooting it so much I am told.

Where I really see it a lot is at the trap range. Soooo many guys keep that action open. I will tell you this, if any of my former FSC students is walking around with an open action, I would be surprised as I drill them pretty hard on it.