712 Digital Group - top

20 injured, no deaths in 2011 hunting seasons

Ag/Outdoor, News, Sports

February 1st, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigated 20 incidents involving injured hunters in 2011, virtually unchanged from recent years, but there were no hunting-related deaths in 2011, down from a single fatality last year. Megan Wisecup, a DNR recreational safety program supervisor, says most of the hunting incidents happened during shotgun deer season when a hunter focused on a deer and not on what’s beyond their target. As a result, she says people get shot. Several injuries happened without shooting at an animal. Wisecup says in one case a hunter was shot in the foot while reaching into his vehicle to unsnag a loaded gun from several bags he was carrying and the gun discharged. There were also eight reports of hunting incidents that caused property damage.