With deer hunting season under way, a column on the Magnolia Tribune website offers some common-sense reminders about the importance of gun safety and accident prevention.
Columnist Ben Smith reported that a 76-year-old Pennsylvania man died Nov. 25 of smoke inhalation when his tree stand caught fire.
The hunter’s wife had just brought him lunch when the accident occurred. “The fire happened when her husband tried to light a propane heater and flames shot out of the bottom. Due to mobility issues, her husband was rendered unable to exit the stand,” the Tribune column said.
Smith said veteran hunters either recognize danger and take steps to prevent them, or get too comfortable and lose sight of things that can cause trouble. The most likely cause of the fire, unfortunately, was that wildlife had chewed on the propane line.
The hunter’s age and lack of mobility also are worth noting.
“Possibly one of the most difficult things for some of us as we age is realizing that we simply cannot do some of the things we used to do,” Smith wrote. “For goodness sakes, please don’t be stubborn and try to do things you cannot physically do.”
A second accident he mentioned is more common: One hunter shooting another hunter.
“There is simply no excuse for ever shooting another hunter and saying you thought it was a deer, turkey, or other quarry,” Smith wrote. ... “I’ve been hunting for a long time, and I’ve never seen a human that resembled anything close to a deer.
“It’s simple: If you do not trust yourself to be able to control your emotions enough to take careful consideration of your target, you do not need to be in the woods with a firearm. Period.”
Smith’s third warning is about hunting accidents that involve children. He cited a recent case where two children were hunting under the supervision of a 19-year-old, and one of the kids accidentally shot the other one. The injured child will survive, but Smith believes the accident would have been avoidable if someone older than 19 had been with the younger kids.
I know a lot of us used to go out in the woods with guns and hunt long before we could legally drive,” he wrote. “But just because we did it back then didn’t make it right then, and it doesn’t make it right now. Children should never have access to a firearm while under the supervision of another child.”
Smith takes care to point out that he believes in the right to own firearms and has never supported gun control. But he says the weapons must be used as intended, and he worries that too many hunters aren’t being careful enough.
“Being a believer in the Second Amendment and being a believer in having the right to exercise our rights in the outdoors, let’s try something out: Stop being stupid with guns in the outdoors so we can quit giving the government more reasons to take them away,” he wrote.
This is excellent advice.
Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
