Missouri hunters set a safety record in 2008

Missouri recorded 15 firearms-related hunting accidents in 2008, the fewest since the Missouri Department of Conservation began keeping records in 1963.
Conservation Department records show that the incidence of firearms hunting accidents peaked in 1986, when 98 people were hurt in such incidents. That was not the most lethal year, however. While only seven hunters died in firearms hunting accidents in 1986, 22 lost their lives in both 1966 and 1970. Twenty perished in firearms hunting accidents in 1963 and 1967.
The number of total firearms hunting accidents hovered in the 70 to 90 range from 1976 through 1985, and Missouri averaged 11.8 fatal firearms hunting accidents during that period.
“In hindsight, those were dark days,” said Hunter Education Coordinator Tony Legg. “The annual toll was an embarrassment to hunters, and Missouri took a leading role in ending that era.”
In 1988, the Conservation Department began requiring anyone born after Dec. 31, 1966, to complete an approved hunter education course before they would buy any hunting permit. The results, documented in hunting-accident statistics, were remarkable. The number of accidents dropped by more than 50 percent in the first 10 years of mandatory hunter education. In 2008, the 20th anniversary of mandatory hunter education in Missouri, the number of hunting accidents was one-quarter what it once was. None of the accidents recorded last year was fatal.
Requiring hunters to wear hunter-orange clothing during firearms deer seasons also has played a significant role in reducing hunting accidents. However...
Read the complete story in the January 29th edition.