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When the National Wild Turkey Hunting Safety Task
Force met this January, members were reminded just
how safe turkey hunting has become.
"
When this Task Force first met in 1991, the
incident rate for turkey hunting was 8.1
injuries per 100,000
hunters. Today, that rate has fallen to 2.95
per 100,000 hunters, even though numbers
of turkey
hunters have increased," said Rob Keck,
CEO of the National Wild Turkey Federation. "Turkey
hunting is one of the safest outdoor activities
whether you're talking about team sports, other
types of hunting or outdoor hobbies such as
mountain biking."
The National Wild Turkey
Hunting Safety Task Force was hosted by the
NWTF at its headquarters
Jan.
11-13, 2005. Their goal was to keep turkey
hunting safe and make it even safer.
"
The National Wild Turkey Federation has
a long-standing commitment to hunter
education. We've taken our
responsibility to heart and organized all
three Task Force meetings, the first
one in 1991, the
1997 meeting as well as the most recent
one," said
Keck. "This meeting was a great forum
for spirited discussion and well-thought-out
decision
making. The group didn't shy away from
the tough issues."
This task force
featured specialists from a broad range
of backgrounds including
wildlife agency
administrators, hunter education coordinators
and instructors, International Hunter
Education Association
representatives, hunting/shooting industry
experts, biologists, educators, wildlife
law
enforcement
officers and NWTF volunteers and staff.
"
This collection of knowledge, experience
and credibility positioned the task
force as the voice of turkey
hunting safety," said Eric Nuse,
executive vice president of IHEA. "The
group set an aggressive goal to cut
incident rates in half by
the next meeting of the Task Force.
This country's nearly three million
turkey hunters will benefit
from the Task Force's commitment to
make turkey hunting even safer."
Members
of the most recent Task Force learned
that while turkey hunting has
become increasingly
safe,
those incidents that do occur share
some common variables.
For example,
research shows the average age of someone
involved in an incident
was 39
to 42 years
old. In addition, fully half of
those involved in an incident had passed
a hunter education
course. The data also shows that
68 percent of the incidents
were because shooters failed to
identify their target and 66 percent of incidents
occurred
on private land.
"
The data we reviewed made it clear where
we needed to focus our efforts to improve
turkey hunting
safety," said Keck. "The
key is education and training.
The Task Force agreed we need
to
tell hunters that the best way
to kill a bird, which is using
a shotgun to place number 4 or
smaller
shot in the head and neck at
40 yards or less, is also the
safest way."
At the Task
Force meeting, NWTF officials
unveiled a draft wild
turkey hunting
safety curriculum
to participants to get their
feedback.
"
When completed, this curriculum will be
a great tool for hunter education instructors
as well as
those who teach at JAKES,
Boy Scouts, and other events," said
Keck. "Using the latest
technology, this curriculum
will be a fun and hands-on way to teach
people to become better and safer
hunters."
The curriculum,
which is expected to be
available by spring 2005,
will supplement
the more
than a million pieces of
hunting safety information
developed
by the Task Force and produced
and distributed by the
NWTF since 1991.
For more information
about the National Wild Turkey
Hunting Safety Task Force,
contact
the NWTF at
803-637-3106 or nwtf@nwtf.org.
Blaze Orange
*
Reaffirm resolution from the 1997
Task Force
to not recommend the
mandated use of
hunter orange clothing
for turkey hunters.
* Passed by majority
vote Youth Hunting
* The Task Force recommended the
elimination of minimum age if accompanied by
and controlled by a licensed mentor.
* Unanimous consent
Shot Size
* The best and safest way to kill a
turkey is using a shotgun with number 4 or smaller
shot to place a shot in the head and neck at
40 yards or less.
* Unanimous consent
Decoys
The task force recommends the following safety
tips when using decoys:
* A decoy should never be visible while being
transported. Never carry an uncovered (identifiable)
decoy any distance.
* Whenever possible, set up by a tree, stump
or rock that is wider than your shoulders and
taller than your head. From your seated position,
identify the clearest line of vision to your
front. Establish a "sight line" that
allows you a 100 yards of visibility. Then, set
your decoy(s) approximately 20 yards from your
position on the line.
* Should you see another hunter, especially if
they are close to your line of sight, call out
to them in a loud, clear voice. Their presence
has already compromised your location and a soft
call may only confuse them, rather than alerting
them to your presence.
* If you are calling over decoys and elect to
move to a new location, check carefully to ensure
that no one is stalking your decoys before leaving
your setup.
* Unanimous consent
Rifles for Turkey Hunting
* Statistics show human
fatality is more likely when a rifle is involved
in a turkey hunting related shooting incident.
* Unanimous consent
Effect of Hunter Density on Hunter Safety
* Lower
hunter densities appear to improve hunter safety,
therefore the Task Force encourages agencies
to expand hunting opportunity through changes
in season length, hunting hours and access.
* These programs will help to improve safety
by dispersing hunter pressure and may encourage
hunter recruitment and retention by improving
quality of the hunt.
* Unanimous consent
Other Recommendations
* Have trained personnel
that consistently investigate hunting related
shooting incidents.
* Consistent incident data collection would allow
better recommendations to improve safety.
* Support the mandatory reporting of hunting
related shooting incidents.
* More detailed and consistent reporting should
include:
- exact distance, shot size, gauge, caliber,
complete list of clothing, presence of orange,
involvement of decoys.
* Promotion of hunter safety awareness through
the following:
- Outdoor media
- Public service announcements (video, TV, radio,
Web sites, print)
- Press releases
- Be Safe stickers
* When transporting firearms, they should be
unloaded and action open.
* While carrying a harvested bird over your shoulder,
hunters need to use extreme caution when transporting
a harvested bird from the field. Displaying a
trophy over your shoulder must be tempered with
local considerations and conditions.
* The Task Force set a turkey hunting safety
goal to reduce incident rates by half from the
national average of 2.95 incidents per 100,000
hunters.
* Reconvene the Task Force every five years. |
