The state estimates there are half a million hunters in New York, and those hunters and others who visit the state to hunt spend between 10 and 15 million days in the field each year. Even with those huge numbers, the shooting incident rate has decreased by about 80 percent over the last 50 years.

“DEC’s Sportsman Education Program is mandatory for all hunters. The program was introduced in 1949 and has significantly reduced the number of hunting incidents,” a press release from the DEC says. “Beginning in 2016, DEC instituted new course homework requirements for all hunter and trapper education courses. Students are now required to review course materials and complete homework prior to attending classroom and field sessions.”

Ralf Hartmann, a Bloomingdale resident who is also a hunting safety instructor, said the classes have undoubtedly reduced the number of hunting-related incidents.

“Many beginning hunters have never shot a firearm or bow before. Pulling the trigger on either is simple, making sure of your target and what is beyond is more of a trained thought process that comes from the classes and experience,” Hartmann wrote in an email.

Ralf Hartmann, who lives in Bloomingdale and is a DEC-certified hunting safety instructor, poses with a deer he took. (Photo provided)

“The hunting community has learned much since the inception of the mandatory classes. The safety courses do have a positive effect. I believe hunters feel safer in their hunting environment than they did 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago. Not only does the ‘hunting community’ see an effect, but the general population does also. Property owners, friends and other non-hunters are more likely to have a positive understanding of hunters’ knowledge.”

Hartmann, who has been hunting for more than 50 years and teaches safety classes at both the Saranac Lake Fish and Game Club and at DEC’s youth summer Camp Colby in Saranac Lake, said he has witnessed to two separate hunting incidents that could have been deadly.

“I was partridge hunting in Spain with my dog and friend. Across a field I spotted another lone hunter with his dog who just went on point (pointing in my direction). The Spanish hunter raised his shotgun and fired two shells, one after the other. I saw all this in sort of a slow motion and there was no time to yell or even hide, as it was open country fields. I was hit with several lead pellets and luckily none broke my skin,” Hartmann said. “What did I learn: Always be aware of your surroundings. Even though you may think you are alone, there may be others in your area that do not see you. The other one is, I should have hit the ground to avoid being hit.”

According to statistics released by the DEC on the 2016 hunting season, there were only 13 shooting-related incidents, down from the five-year average of just over 20 incidents per year. More than half of the 2016 incidents were self-inflicted.

“Unfortunately in 2016, despite the lowest number of hunter-related shooting incidents on record, there were four fatalities,” the DEC reported in its safety statistics. In the six two-party incidents (non-self-inflicted) last year, four out of five victims were not wearing hunter orange.

The DEC also said that while the number of hunters is decreasing, the rate of hunting-related shooting incidents is dropping faster.

“Since the 1960s, the number of total hunters has declined about 20 percent, while the incident rate has declined almost 80 percent,” according to the DEC statistics. In the 1960s, there was an average of 137 incidents each year, while in the 2010s, the five-year average sits at just over 20 incidents per year.

Hartmann said he makes sure to schedule time in his classes to ensure people practice what they’ve learned in the field, and he hopes that other instructors do the same.

“The NYS Hunter Education Classes curriculum must address all the risks associated with any hunting implement and show by example what the results are both to the victim and possibly the initiator of the accident. For the most part, this is occurring,” he wrote. “However, I believe that there is some (political?) pressure to keep the courses at a bare minimum of length. To provide quality instruction, the course needs to be an appropriate length.

“NYS does allow instructors the flexibility to increase the course length. I make sure that all my classes have plenty of time to not only cover the required material in a classroom environment, but I also have all (students) perform various activities outside in the woods.”

While the safety course is only required to be taken once, Hartmann thinks hunters do a pretty good job of regulating each other. There is also the possibility that a judge could order a hunter to go through the course again if there is an incident.

“The safety course is normally only taken once (those involved in infractions or accidents can be judicially directed to take the course again in order to receive their next hunting license), so this by default should make hunters manage their own,” he said. “They should not look the other way when one of their party does something wrong, whether ethically or regulatory. When accidents are analyzed the causes are usually very simple and all could have been easily avoided.”

He added that younger people taking the classes learn differently than people who came of age prior to computers, but the takeaways from the classes should be the same, regardless of age.

“With the advent of computers and general higher use of technology, courses have been streamlined to more fit the upcoming and current population. Millennials are extremely familiar with electronic devices such as tablets, smart phones and laptops and their learning environment is much different from those of pre-computers,” Hartmann said. “The hope for me is that all course attendees pay attention, learn and practice what they have learned. Loss of life, limb and mobility can all be results of not practicing the course material.”

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By the numbers

While last year was the safest on record, the number of fatal accidents was higher than the five-year average. But all other categories of incidents were below the average.

The five-year average for total incidents equals just over 20 per year, and 2016 only had 13. But the four fatalities is well above the 1.8-per-year average.

Meanwhile, the nine non-fatal incidents are less than half the average of 18.4. Self-inflicted and two-party incidents were also below average, with seven self-inflicted incidents comfortably below the average of 10.4 and the six two-party incidents was less than half the five-year average of 13.4.

Deer hunting spawned the most incidents with eight last year, but that was still below the average of 10.4. Spring turkey hunting resulted in one incident, slightly above the average of 0.8, and waterfowl and squirrel hunting each produced one incident. The annual average for waterfowl hunting is 1.8 incidents, while squirrel hunting typically produces 2.2 incidents.

Rifles were the most dangerous hunting implement last year. Nine incidents involved rifles (the average is 9.4), while four of the incidents involved a shotgun. The average number of incidents involving shotguns is higher, sitting at 7.8 per year. None of the incidents last year involved muzzleloaders, crossbows, bows, handguns or air guns.

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The incidents

Most of the incidents last year, including all four fatalities, involved wounds sustained to the torso or head and neck. Two people suffered wounds to their hands, while four others sustained wounds to their feet or legs.

DEC notes in the 2016 report that several of these incidents occurred while the hunter was committing an illegal act and most, if not all, were preventable.

One hunter discharged a round into his left foot while loading the magazine to his shotgun in Lewis County in April last year during a pigeon hunt. In July, a person trying to shoot a beaver in Clinton County under a nuisance permit caused severe damage to their own hand when a third round discharged.

In November, a hunter shot himself in the leg during a squirrel hunt in Fulton County when he tried to pull a loaded gun into a tree stand with a rope tied around the trigger.

In late February, a man shot himself in the foot while hunting geese in Ontario County, while another person lost four fingers on one hand after a self-inflicted wound in Chenango County in December.

The lone turkey hunting incident occurred when a man was making turkey calls from a hedgerow and another hunter discharged their gun at movement in the brush. The man suffered wounds to his shoulder and upper torso, but survived.

The first fatality of the year was self-inflicted and came in October in Oneida County when the victim suffered fatal wounds to the head and neck. The second fatality occurred on Thanksgiving Day when the victim was mistaken for a deer while hunting in Oswego County.

Just a few days later, another person died in Livingston County when another member of the hunting party unslung his shotgun, causing it to discharge into the victim’s abdomen. The fourth fatal incident was self-inflicted and occurred in Chatauqua County on Nov. 28.

On Nov. 19, a man was setting up a deer decoy near his hunting blind in Schuyler County when he was shot in the thigh by a rifle bullet. The second incident on Thanksgiving Day happened in Albany County when a man discharged his rifle while unloading it and resulted in the victim suffering wounds to the shoulder from bullet fragments. The final incident was in Columbia County at the end of November, where the victim suffered wounds to the torso and hip while walking in a field.

The DEC writes in the annual report that every gun should be assumed loaded and that no gun muzzle should ever be pointed in an unsafe direction. Hunters should wear safety orange and be sure of the target and what lies beyond it. Hunters should also keep their finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

For more information on DEC’s hunter safety program, including finding safety classes and information on how to become an instructor, go to www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7860.html.