The "Old Days"post brought this to mind. I wonder how improvements in the way we hunt have effected our safety in the woods. Box blind vs. fork in a tree, actual ladders vs. scrap 2x4's nailed to said tree, etc.

Didn't want to piggyback or hi-jack that thread so I'll throw out these stats from TP&W I find interesting. I read this report every year. It's usually available by September and is full of some really good data.

1966: 81 hunting accidents with 21 fatalities out of 644,653 licenses sold.
2017: 21 hunting accidents with 2 fatalities out of 1,248,450 licenses sold

The 2 fatalities of 2017 is a record low and tied with several years, first met in 1996. The previous record was 4 fatalities set the prior year, 1995.

Of the 2017 hunting accidents, 5 involved a rifle, 13 involved shotguns, 3 involved handguns, and there were 0 reported with either muzzleloader or bow (good job guys!)

The highest number of accidents, at 7, is attributed to careless handling.

1972 was the first year of Hunter's Safety education, although not mandatory, That year saw 85 accidents, 30 of which were fatalities, out of 966,332 licenses issued, and 2,119 Hunter's Safety certificates being issued.

1971 was the last year in which Hunter Safety wasn't widely available. In that year Texans saw 92 hunting accidents, 24 of which were fatal. There were 978,285 licenses issued that year. Hunter Safety certificate numbers aren't available for that year.

The first year Hunter Safety became mandatory, according to this particular TP&W document, was 1988. That year resulted in 70 accidents with 12 fatalities out of 1,189,000 licenses issued, and 18,043 Hunter Safety certificates.

That's just some fat for y'all to chew on, if you choose to. Complete stats back to 1966 can be found by searching "2017 Texas Hunting Accident Report."

I like statistics. They're like bikinis. What they reveal is very interesting, but what they conceal is even more interesting.

As always, safe shooting and tight groups,

sd

Interesting. Never had the course dad taught me right and wrong. I'm sure I do some things wrong I hope not.

Interesting info, thanks for posting it.

very interesting stats!