Every November, I write a deer hunting column or two because I know it is the most popular form of hunting in our state. Each year, more than 500,000 deer hunters contribute nearly $690 million to New York State’s economy through hunting-related expenses, the purchase of hunting licenses, and federal excise taxes. Hunters generate over $35 million to support the management activities of NYSDEC. Hunters take some 220,000 deer annually, filling freezers with roughly 10.8 million pounds of high-quality local venison, one of the healthiest meats you can eat.
But, it is also the most dangerous. The number of inexperienced hunters out there with guns they hardly know how to operate is too high for me to venture out in the woods, even with my love of venison.
What put me into deer gun-hunting retirement played out some thirty years ago. I was deer hunting on Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area just south of Dansville. There are plenty of deer on these 5,100 acres of hilly hardwoods, but also plenty of hunters. New York State has over a million acres of public hunting ground, but public hunting areas attract a large number of hunters. Most of it is overcrowded, at least on opening day.
On this particular opening day, I was struggling to make my way through a dense grove of pines. It was a dead quiet morning without a whisper of wind. The ground was carpeted with dry leaves and pines needles, and I knew I was making a lot of noise. I understood this was a bad situation, but I had to get through the thick stand of trees, and there was no easy way around it. Suddenly a shot rang out close by, and tree bark flew from a pine just three feet in front of my face. I immediately hit the dirt, knowing whoever was shooting had to be shooting at me, assuming I was a deer. Can you imagine! From the ground, I yelled, “Hey, who’s shooting?” knowing whoever shot was close enough to hear me loud and clear. No one answered. I got to my feet and bulldozed my way through the remaining pines on a jog, hoping to catch sight of the person who shot at a sound. By the time I broke out into the clearing, there was no one to be found. They probably headed for the hills after they heard me yell. That was it for me. Instead of hunting the rest of the day as planned, I made a beeline back to my truck, cased my gun, and have never gun-hunted for deer again.
This may sound drastic, but these incidents happen too often in deer hunting. Ask any deer hunter, and most have a similar crazy story of a close call or two.
Don’t get me wrong, 99.9 percent of deer hunters are safe, but even that tiny percent of reckless ones is too high for me.
Over my 35 years working at Eastman Kodak, some of the worst hunters I knew would come in with a picture of a big buck they shot. Their stories were always similar. “I was hungover and slept in. It was noon before I grabbed my uncle’s gun and wandered out into the woods. I no sooner got out there than I heard a shot, and this huge buck ran by me. It took me five shots to drop the thing. Here is his picture on my tailgate with his tongue hanging out. Don’t let the five slug holes in the back half of the deer throw you. I still got a good 25 pounds of undamaged meat.”
That is another reason I don’t gun-hunt deer; some of the worst hunters can be the luckiest.
It is important not to put archery hunters in this category. They are a whole different animal. Most bowhunters practice regularly and put in many hours scouting for signs and then hanging tree stands. They cannot rely on luck; they need to pattern their quarry to know when and where the deer walk, hoping to be close enough for a lethal shot – little or no luck involved. They are true hunters in every sense of the word.
Another reason accidents happen is when a deer runs between hunters, and they get so excited they shoot at the deer without being aware of what’s behind it. Other common accidents happen when hunters shoot themselves while crossing fences without unloading their gun, climbing in and out of a tree stand, or back at the vehicle when somebody mistakes an empty gun that is still loaded.
Lesson number one in any hunter safety class is to treat every gun like it is loaded all the time so you won’t develop any dangerous habits. Your finger should never even go inside the trigger guard for any reason unless you are planning to shoot the weapon. This rule needs to hold true everywhere.
This brings me to my annual speech. There is nothing about a human that looks like a deer, bear maybe, but none come close to resembling a deer. Know your target. Never, never, never shoot at a sound. Wear orange and don’t trust the other guy or gal to know what they are doing. If you get shot with a big, orange coat on, somebody should go to jail.
I know I’ve probably scared people, but I hope I’ve heightened the awareness of the good, safe hunters to watch out for those who aren’t.
Now go out and harvest some healthy, tasty venison. Your family will thank you come dinnertime.
