There are a lot of people who hurt themselves while they are hunting. What is supposed to be a fun trip can be a troublesome situation especially when the hunters become wounded because of the improper use of their firearms. There are different things that people would have to face when they are hunting and it is not only the thrill of the hunt but the other things that they will get to experience in the process.
When you have a loaded gun with you, you need to take extra precaution and become more aware of the things that you have to do. You have to remember that your loaded gun can kill. If you point it at someone that you are not supposed to terminate, you are already mishandling your gun. You have to know how you can be safe. If you do not know how to do these things then you better read up and be knowledgeable on how you can stay risk-free while hunting.
Common Causes of Hunting Accidents
- Not Practicing Before the Hunting Expedition – There are a lot of people who are not aware just how powerful their firearms are because they have not practiced prior to their expedition. Some are able to discharge their guns without knowing how they did it and they might hurt themselves or other people in the process.
- Judgment – There are times when you just miscalculate the distance of the game that you are going to hit and you hit others instead. When you do not have a good judgment of your surroundings, this may cause some problems.
- Failures of the Equipment – You cannot always expect that your firearms will be in perfect working condition all the time. There will be instances when the equipment will just fail and if this happens, you should be prepared so that you will not get into any accidents.
- Not Knowing and Not Following the Rules of Hunting and The Use of Firearms – There are different rules that should be followed in order to use firearms properly. Not knowing what these rules are can lead to accidents.
Firearm Safety Rules When Hunting
It was mentioned earlier that there are some rules that people are not aware about when they are hunting and not having enough knowledge about these rules have caused people to be bad with using their firearms. There are some rules and regulations that you can follow with ease so that you will be safer and other people who are with you will also stay safe while hunting:
- Always be aware of the things that may be in front, back and side of your target. There is always a possibility that there are some people or items that you should not hit. No matter how good you are at shooting, this is something that you have to pay attention to.
- Remember that even if your weapon is unloaded, you should still treat it like as if you have a loaded weapon because you may never know if the weapon is truly unloaded or not. This is also true when someone gives you a weapon, you always have to assume that it has bullets in it whether it is truly unloaded or not.
- Point towards a safe direction. This is especially true when you are handling a loaded gun. You need to make sure that the direction you would point it at is the one that you are going to shoot. If you point it towards you or towards someone else, you are putting yourselves in danger.
- Do not put your finger on the trigger unless you already intend to shoot. There are some inexperienced hunters who just put their fingers on the trigger all the time so that they can do fast hunting but this should not be the case.
Other Safety Tips to Remember
- Wear clothes that will help you be distinguished by other hunters. You might wear clothes that are similar to what color of the surroundings are but you might get hit by other hunters. There are times when you are given information about what you should wear so that you can easily be seen. The best color to wear is orange.
- Know the rules of the place that you are hunting on. You have to remember that hunting rules may change from state to state. Be aware of these rules beforehand so that you will not be reprimanded for your actions that you did not know were wrong in the first place.
- Be in good physical condition. You may not realize this yet but when you are hunting, you have to do a lot of things. You have to run sometimes, climb and you will also be exposed to a wide variety of weather conditions. You need to make sure that you are in good shape in order to experience all of these things.
- Remember to have a sense of self control. One of the mistakes that hunters make is being overly excited about seeing their target for the first time. Make sure that you will practice self control and this will not be an issue.
- If you do not know what you are shooting at then do not take the shot. A lot of people have gotten other people killed or have gotten people injured because other hunters thought that they were other animals.
When you are hunting especially with the use of your firearms, you are in control of the things that you are doing so keep safe and have a nice fun hunting.