Outdoors With Mat Taylor
Statistics: Hunting a safe outdoor activity

A recent Texas Parks and Wildlife press release stated hunting accidents and fatalities in Texas continued their long-term decline in 2007, down below three accidents per 10,000 hunters in recent years.

That compares to about 12 accidents per 10,000 hunters in 1966, the year records began.

Texas had 26 injuries from hunting accidents last year, two less than in 2006. The state had four fatalities in 2007, the same as the previous year.

Although any fatality is tragic, accident numbers are small compared to the number of hunters. According to a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national survey, 1,112,099 people hunted in Texas in 2007.

The state's worst year on record for hunting accidents per 10,000 hunters was 1968, when 105 accidents were reported.

Statistics show hunting is a very safe outdoor activity -- and getting safer. Steve Hall, TPWD education director, believes the decline is directly related to hunter education.

In 1972, 2,119 people were certified in hunter education. By 2007, more than 3,000 volunteer hunter education instructors trained more than 30,000 hunters across the state. In 1988, hunter education became mandatory in Texas for anyone born on or after Sept. 2, 1971.

The 2007 hunter accident profile involved people who violated a cardinal rule of safety. They tended to be Anglo males under age 30, who were not under the influence of alcohol, had not taken hunter education and did not wear hunter orange clothing.

Most of the accidents could have been prevented if hunters had followed basic safety principles. Accidents included swinging a shotgun on game outside the safe zone of fire, handling a firearm carelessly in a stand or vehicle, and carrying a loaded firearm in and around a vehicle.

Most accidents occurred toward dusk, and fatigue often was a factor.

From the time I began to hunt as a child, my father insisted on following all gun safety rules. In one instance, however, I violated the rule to treat all guns as if they were loaded. It was a dumb, stupid thing to do, but I will relate it anyway.

I was just out of Texas A&M and had gone to work with the USDA Soil Conservation Service. I was assigned to Brownfield, on the High Plains of Texas. Since I was single and traveled a lot, especially back and forth to Lampasas County to visit my parents, I decided I needed a pistol in my vehicle.

Believe it or not, back in the early 1960s one could order firearms through the mail. I ordered .22 revolvers from an advertisement in an outdoor magazine. I think I paid around $25 for a pistol made in Germany. It arrived at the local freight office about a week later.

I shot the pistol a number of times. It wasn't very accurate, but it served my intended purpose.

One Saturday morning, I was watching an old western on television, sitting in a chair with my feet propped up. On a whim, I picked up the pistol I previously had unloaded, or so I thought.

Getting into the mood of the western, I began to point the pistol at the TV and was dry-firing it -- except for about the fourth time. Boom!

The pistol fired and put a .22 slug right through my left foot. Through carelessness, I had failed to unload one shell.

My immediate reaction was to say, "That was a stupid thing to do." My foot did not hurt, but I decided I need medical attention. I walked to my car and drove to Nelda's apartment. When she saw my foot, she became very excited and immediately took me to a local medical clinic.

The doctor examined me and discovered the bullet had passed through the foot without hitting a bone or tendon. He cleaned the wound, gave me a tetanus shot and antibiotics, put a Band-aid on the top and bottom of the foot, and sent me home.

Later, the wound became painful, and I walked on crutches for about a week. There was no lasting damage, but I still have a small .22-size scar on the top of my foot.

What happened to the bullet? It did not hit the TV, as it was deflected as it went through my foot and entered the mattress on my nearby bed.

Despite this complete lack of judgment, Nelda still agreed to marry me, and we have been together for almost 45 years.

Later, the inexpensive pistol failed to function properly, and I disposed of it in a safe manner.

The incident taught me a valuable lesson, though. I still like to shoot all kinds of firearms, but with a bullet scar on my foot I am always reminded to be very careful and follow all firearm rules with no exceptions.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via email at mntaylor@agristar.net.