The many wide and open expanses of wilderness spread out throughout the United States are the perfect sporting ground for hunters of all types during each game season. Although hunting is a challenging yet serene activity that allows like-minded sportsmen to socialize, it is also an inherently dangerous activity that comes with a considerable amount of risk, including slip and falls and even wrongful deaths.

Most hunters are extremely conscientious and very aware of the safety precautions necessary to protect themselves and others while hunting, but sadly accidents can and do happen with alarming frequency and most involve some form of gunshot wound.

The International Hunter Education Association estimates that nearly 1,000 individuals throughout North America, including the United States and Canada, are shot in hunting accidents each year and slightly less than 100 of these accidental gunshots results in a hunting fatality. Although these numbers are small in comparison to other types of accidental fatalities, each and every one of these hunting wounds could have and should have been prevented to avoid unnecessary deaths.

Gunshot wounds are not the only sort of hunting accidents that occur each year. Tree stands fail, hunters trip and sprain or break limbs and occasionally die from exposure to the elements or by drowning. Yet negligence while using firearms is the most common cause of harm from hunting and the most directly under human control.

Preventing Hunting Accidents and Injuries

The best way to prevent causing or sustaining an injury from a hunting accident is to follow all available safety guidelines to reduce the risks. These include: treating all firearms as though they were loaded, only pointing the muzzle of a gun in a safe direction, keeping your finger off of the trigger guard until it is time to shoot and always a triple-checking to be certain of both the target and what surrounds the target before firing.

All too often, absent-minded hunters mistakenly think that their gun is empty or the safety is on and point the muzzle away from the ground instead of downward to prevent accidental injury. Hunting is exciting, adrenaline runs high so it is best to keep conscientious track of the amount of ammunition before things become too chaotic.

Hunters can protect themselves by wearing brightly-colored vests in a yellow, red or orange camouflage pattern which can be seen by other hunters who will not alert the color-blind animals of their presence.

Loaded guns are considered dangerous weapons and in most cases this is enough to place whoever accidentally shot the gun in a hunting accident under strict liability for the results. In some situations hunting accidents are legally considered to be situations of negligence; in both situations if a victim of a hunting accident dies, the hunter who shot the fatal bullet may face criminal charges of wrongful death and spend time in jail.

If you have been in a hunting accident, contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss the local and state laws and what impact they will have upon your case.