Thread: Why do hunters continue to be accidentally shot?

Cognitive bias - If you can ignore the fact the authors of this may have their own bias the attached report offers the best insight into why these deaths still occur and why they probably will continue to:

http://www.huntersafetylab.com/wp-co...rs-review1.pdf

Can't be accidents More like negligence from the shooter

Antz

People being too comfortable in the fact they'd never get it wrong? Insufficient training?

Could only be two possible answers to your question @Mike H

Negligence = Failure to "Positively Identify Your Target".

Deliberate Intent = 'Target Was Positively Identified".

Cheers
Pete

Its pretty easy to point the finger and speculate at these tragic events. There is a shitload more people hunting even from when I first started years ago ( and Im not old ) To many people eager to bag something instead of thinking about safety first.

Originally Posted by oneshot

Its pretty easy to point the finger and speculate at these tragic events. There is a shitload more people hunting even from when I first started years ago ( and Im not old ) To many people eager to bag something instead of thinking about safety first.

That may be the case but since 1979 there's been on average one hunting fatality every 9 months. This is not just a recent occurrence.

i recon its because theres hunters and shooters some people just want to shoot something where a hunter has a specific target in mind and only shoots that target

Originally Posted by northdude

i recon its because theres hunters and shooters some people just want to shoot something where a hunter has a specific target in mind and only shoots that target

You can be a "shooter" without ever hunting. Lots of people involved in shooting sport on target ranges that never hunt... This is a hunting issue. The only sector in the NZ shooting community where this type of thing happens regular like clockwork is amongst hunters.

It is not a Firearms Licencing issue, it is not a shooting issue... It is a HUNTING issue, and it needs to be addressed as such.

Originally Posted by ebf

You can be a "shooter" without ever hunting. Lots of people involved in shooting sport on target ranges that never hunt... This is a hunting issue. The only sector in the NZ shooting community where this type of thing happens regular like clockwork is amongst hunters.

It is not a Firearms Licencing issue, it is not a shooting issue... It is a HUNTING issue, and it needs to be addressed as such.

i was meaning when hunting you dont hear of target shooters shooting each other

What's that old saying ?

Definition of insanity : doing the same thing and expecting a different result....

Interesting Reading . A point that doesn't get mentioned is the pressure to shoot an anamil . As in fly in hunters paying $600 plus and felling the need to come home with a deer , or a internet hunter talked it up for two three weeks ..... or the president of the deer stalkers needing to live up to expectations ? .

What sort of distance are these incidents occurring at? We're talking 10's of meters, right? This technical solution might've worked, but it relies on widespread adoption, and once you put active safety measures in place, you run the risk of getting the opposite result, where a hunter thinks "well my gadget / balloted permit says there's no other hunters in the area, so what I'm seeing must not be human."

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

Whatever it is,speculation without the facts is really just that. However we,as a group, seem to be faced wit this type of event year on year with awfully similar circumstance leading to our speculated (educated guess) result.
Whats the answer, blowed if i know, all i know is i have spent many hours,days,weeks in and out of the bush and more often than not empty handed.
Now that's not to say i haven't seen animals or I'm a shit hunter what I'm saying is i have always taken the time to really watch my quarry and decide if, in fact, this is the animal i want or, lets face it, I've blown the shot.

I have watched some really good vids on you tube and in turn i have seen some bloody terrible vids. Some really bad firearms handling and attitudes are displayed and when you mention this to them they get really quite defensive or block/turn off comments. Are these the source of increased hunter numbers? I'm not convinced. What I can say is the younger (<25) guys aren't the ones that turn up to range days or interested in disciplined shooting (in our club).
Im with @ebf on this one, this is a hunting issue and as a group (hunters) we need to take ownership of it and make steps to preventing the yearly recurrence. Now before you get up me and say "I'm good, i know my shit" that may not stop you from being shot/at yourself.

It seems there's no simple answers just devastated families and a nervous hunting fraternity.

These are not "accidental" shootings, they are "unintentional". Calling them accidental makes them seem unavoidable. These are all preventable.

These are not "accidental" shootings, they are "unintentional". Calling them accidental makes them seem unavoidable. These are all preventable.

If you are going to argue about semantics to fit your world view you should try to be more precise. They are an intentional shooting in error with an accidental outcome. Accidents can be avoided, but not without the cost of the elimination of the activity.

Like it or not, there will always be a statistical error rate. Ever heard the saying "nobody's perfect?"

That is not to say that we shouldn't be trying to reduce the error rate and its catastrophic effects....

The biggest impediment to this issue in my opinion is the constant repetitive thoughtless mantra "he failed to identify his target"..... its a bit like saying "going faster is more dangerous" equally as useless...

The right question is "Why did he fail to successfully identify his target"?

Until we understand the reasons why he failed, we will not make progress at reducing these incidents... and the lock em up forever brigade are just sacrificing another victim as a selfish emotional response....