Decades ago, Pennsylvania hunters were involved in hundreds of “hunting accidents” per year. Then things began to change for the better, and it is no coincidence that the change directly reflects the success of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Hunter-Trapper Education Course that is required for first-time hunters, regardless of age.
According to statistics for 2014, the safety record for Pennsylvania hunters continues to demonstrate an impressive positive trend in safety, with just 29 hunting-related shooting incidents reported. This is the second consecutive year there were fewer than 30 such incidents.
“This latest report is further proof that Pennsylvania’s woods are safer than ever,” PGC executive director Matt Hough said. “While the numbers are encouraging, there’s still work to do because even one incident is too many.”
Of the 2014 hunting-related shooting incidents, one was fatal, as Pennsylvania has experienced at least one fatal accident every year with the exception of 2012. That was the first and only year without a single reported fatality related to gun handling in hunting and trapping in Pennsylvania since the PGC began tracking hunting-related shooting incidents in 1915.
There have never been fewer than 33 incidents reported in a year prior to 2013, and decades ago hundreds of incidents occurred each year. The record low of 27 hunting-related shooting incidents came in 2012, and the current report by the PGC says that the requirements for hunters to wear fluorescent orange and mandatory hunter-education classes are essential components driving the improved safety record.
Statistics show that hunting-related shooting incidents have declined by 80 percent since hunter-education training began in Pennsylvania in 1959. The program issued 41,462 certifications in 2014, setting a record for the program.
“Pennsylvania’s student graduates, the volunteer hunter-education instructors that teach the classes and the hunting public at large all can be proud of the role they have played in making hunting the safest it’s ever been.” Hough said. “Additional analysis of the 2014 HRSI show that six of the 29 involved with an identified offender resulted from individuals with 10 or fewer years of hunting experience.”
In the one incident involving a youth participating in the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, the youth hunter was the victim in the incident, not the offender. The report found that the MYHP, which enables hunters younger than the age of 12 to take specific game species when accompanied by a licensed adult, continues to be safe. More than 34,000 MYHP were permits issued in 2014, contradicting the recently passed revisions to Pennsylvania’s youth hunting opportunities by the PGC board of game commissioners,.
The report said that hunters ages 16 and younger have by far the highest safety record based on the formula the PGC uses to establish incident rates by computing the number of accidents per 100,000 participants. The 2014 data shows a 3.07 incident rate, compared to 2013’s incident rate of 2.85 for all hunters. An analysis of offender ages revealed individuals ages 16 and younger had an incident rate of 0.81, incidents per 100,000 participants in 2014.
Victims in the line of fire accounted for 34 percent of the total hunting-related shooting incidents in 2014, and accidental discharge and the victim being shot for game each accounted for 21 percent of the total. Accidental discharge hunting-related shooting incidents have decreased year by year, but victims shot in mistake of game have increased.
PGC BOC Tim Layton of Windber, who is also chairman of the Information and Education Committee, agreed that hunter education is instrumental in reducing the number of hunting-related shooting incidents. He thanked the volunteer instructors for their efforts and the state’s hunters for continuing to put safety first.
“Focused efforts to make certain hunting in Pennsylvania stays safe and continues to get safer really are what have led to these records numbers,” Layton said. “We all can take pride in how far we’ve come as we look forward to many more safe seasons ahead.”
Adding flexibility to the program is the online hunter-trapper course for those 16 and older. Like the traditional classroom style course, the online course requires approximately six hours to complete. While the traditional classroom courses remain free of charge, enrolling in the online course requires paying a fee of $19.50 that is retained by the Texas-based company Kalkomey to offset its costs of providing the course.
No matter the cost, it is a small price to pay for the safety record all Pennsylvania hunters should take pride in creating and continuing to improve.