Do you want to learn something about hunting accidents, this article and the link to the full article will teach all of us some common sense for next season. The 2017 New York State hunting seasons saw the second-lowest number of hunting-related, shooting accidents on record, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Of the 19 incidents reported this year, 14 were two-party firearm incidents (one hunter accidentally shot another), five were self-inflicted – and one resulted in a death “that DEC believes could have been prevented if hunting laws and common sense were followed.”
The sole fatality occurred in Chautauqua County. Thomas B. Jadlowski, 34, of Sherman, N.Y. Jadlowski was arrested after the Nov. 22 incident that resulted in the death of Rosemary Billquist, 43, also of Sherman. The woman at the time was in a field taking her two Labrador retrievers for a stroll about 150 yards behind her house.
Prosecutors in the case said that that Jadlowski was hunting deer after legal hours when the incident occurred. He fired a round from his Thompson Contender pistol at what he said he believed was a deer about 200 yards away.
Jadlowski told investigators he heard a scream after firing the shot. He ran to the scene and found Billquist. He phoned 911 and tended to her until EMTs arrived. The woman was taken by ambulance to UPMC Hamot Hospital in Erie, Pa. where she died.
The legal outcome of the case is still pending after a judge dismissed the second-degree manslaughter charge against Jadlowski, ruling prosecutors made a mistake during grand jury proceeds by not telling jurors about a lesser offense of criminal negligent homicide that could be lodged against Jadlowski. Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick E. Swanson told the Buffalo News he’s considering sending the case back to the grand jury. He could also appeal the judge’s ruling, but that could take awhile, he said.
Meanwhile, the state’s lowest number of hunting-related shooting incidents was in 2016 with just 13 incidents.
Those stats are a far cry, though, from 1966 when there were 166 incidents, 13 of which were fatal. The increased focus on safe hunting over the years, according to the DEC, is due to the efforts of DEC staff and volunteer hunter education program instructors who teach nearly 50,000 students each year.
All first-time hunters, bowhunters and trappers must successfully complete a safety course and pass the final exam before being eligible to purchasea hunting or trapping course. All courses are offered for free. The DEC stressed that “99.9 percent of the people who hunt have safe and enjoyable experiences.”
Further examination of the 14 two-party incidents, said the DEC “reveals that 11 (79 percent) of those victims were not wearing hunter orange. This indicates that not wearing hunter orange increases your risk of being involved in a two-party firearm incident. Of those individuals that were wearing orange and were injured, two were injured while pheasant hunting and one was injured on a deer drive.” Read the entire article here: http://www.newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2018/03/2017_ny_hunting-related_shooting_incident_summary_includes_one_fatality.html