Hunter-safety courses right on target | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader

Missouri Department of Conservation

Hunter-education instructors have tough jobs. The more they succeed, the harder their job becomes.

“We have come such a long way in the past 20 years, it hardly leaves us anywhere to go,” said Tony Legg, hunter education coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Legg notes that in the bad old days of hunting safety, Missouri routinely recorded more firearms deer-hunting accidents in one day than occur now over the entire season.

“The worst year was 1986,” said Legg. “We had 26 accidents that year, including one fatality. There were 10 accidents just on the opening weekend.”

A big part of the reason for the large number of deer-hunting accidents that year was sheer numbers of both deer and hunters. Missouri’s firearms deer harvest topped 100,000 for the first time in 1986, and approximately 400,000 hunters took advantage of the growing deer herd.

Responding to the challenge of making hunting safer, the Conservation Commission made hunter education mandatory in 1988, requiring anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, to complete an approved safety and ethics course before buying a hunting permit.

The results have been spectacular. From 1980 through 1989, Missouri averaged 16.8 firearm-related deer hunting accidents per season. Over the past 10 years, the average has been 8.6. Last year, Missouri recorded just four firearms-related deer hunting accidents, none fatal.  Full Story

Hunter-safety courses right on target | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader.