The 2014 New York hunting season closed with the second lowest number of hunting related-shooting incidents on record, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. 
New York’s hunting incident rate (incidents per 100,000 hunters) has fallen by more than 75 percent since the 1960s. The past five-year average is down to 4.3 incidents per 100,000 hunters, compared to 19 per 100,000 in the 1960s.

A total of 22 hunting incidents occurred in 2014, including one fatality that occurred while hunting small game. Eight of last year’s accidents were self-inflicted, 11 involved members of the same hunting party, and only three occurred where the victim and shooter did not know each other.

Last year was the first on record without an incident occurring during the spring turkey season. The lowest total number of hunting incidents in any year occurred just the year prior; there were 19 incidents in 2013.

All incidents are thoroughly investigated by environmental conservation officers. The findings of these investigations are used to improve New York’s Hunter Education Course to ensure that the most common causes of incidents are addressed and emphasized during instruction. Only incidents involving firearms, bows, and crossbows are included. Incidents involving tree-stand use or other hunter health-related mishaps are not. All courses are offered free of charge.

Many, if not all of these incidents could have been prevented, if only the shooter or victim had followed the primary rules of hunter safety to:

— Assume every firearm to be loaded;

— Control the firearm muzzle in a safe direction;

— Keep fingers off triggers until ready to fire;

— Identify targets and what lies beyond; and

— Wear hunter orange.