New York found 117 of 125 hunters mistaken for game wore no orange

STEP 1 · New York files

Nearly every victim mistaken for game had no orange

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its review of firearm injuries to hunters in New York covering 1989 through 1995, prepared jointly with New York DEC plus the state health department. A local law enforcement officer or an environmental conservation officer for the state looked into every report. Those years produced 508 injuries. The annual mean was 9.8 injuries for each 100,000 licensed hunters. Fatalities numbered 39 (8%). Single-person incidents numbered 152 (30%). Two-person incidents numbered 356 (70%). Of the 39 deaths, 31 (79%) were two-party incidents.

Deer and bear hunting produced 135 two-party injuries (38%) plus 25 deaths among the 31 two-party deaths. Turkey hunting produced 78 two-party injuries (22%) along with two deaths. Small game produced 132 two-party injuries (37%) along with three deaths.

Shooter-to-victim distance was written down in 331 cases (93% of 356 two-party injuries). The split was 54 (16%) at no more than 10 yards, 161 (49%) at 11 to 50 yards, and 116 (35%) farther than 50 yards. One deer-drive death in the report happened at 48 yards. The hunter who died had no orange on and the shooter fired into thick brush at movement. A grouse injury in the report happened at 25 yards. The wounded hunter wore camouflage and stood inside the line of fire. A turkey injury in the report happened at 40 yards. The guide had no orange on and the shot went at movement.

Investigators named mistaken for game as the main factor in 125 incidents (35%). Out of sight accounted for 79 (22%). The line of fire accounted for 60 (17%). Turkey hunting contributed 78 injuries, and 61 of them (78%) came from one hunter taking another for game.

Clothing was recorded for 343 of the injured two-party hunters (96%). The table lists 84 in hunter orange, 259 without it, and 13 with clothing unknown. On the mistaken-for-game row the table lists 6 in orange, 117 without it, and 2 unknown. The report says 117 of 125 (94%) had no hunter orange on. For turkey, clothing was recorded for 77 of 78 injured people and none of those 77 had it on.

Treat those percentages as the mix among people who had already been shot. A rate for one hunter would need time in the field broken out by what each person wore. The report never gives that rate. During 1992, DEC questioned 576 licensed hunters on orange use. Big-game hunters in the answers numbered 559, and 452 of them (81%) said orange was routine. Small-game hunters in the answers numbered 566, and 359 of them (63%) said orange was routine. Orange was routine for most big-game hunters in the sample. Victims in the mistaken-for-game group mostly had none on. The same report states New York had no high-visibility clothing requirement for hunters.

STEP 2 · Shot causes

Hunters in orange still fell in line-of-fire and ricochet rows

Of 79 out-of-sight victims, 29 wore orange. Of 60 struck along the line of fire, 18 wore orange. Ricochet rows and unintentional discharges also include hunters in orange. Across every cause row in the table, the majority of victims still had no orange on. Incidents with only one person accounted for 152 of the 508 injuries.

Reported hunting injuries moved from 157 in 1965 to 52 in 1994, with injury rates of 22.3 and then 7.2 for each 100,000 licensed hunters. Deaths went from 11 to one. Hunter education has been required for first-time license holders since 1960. The 1992 DEC campaign covered basic firearms rules together with hunter orange. Averaged by year, the injury rate during 1992 to 1995 sat 27% under the 1988 to 1991 rate. The report sets that drop after the campaign. Orange and the firearms rules moved together.

The CDC note also included 1995 figures from the International Hunter Education Association. Roughly 17 million people purchased hunting licenses that year across the United States outside Alaska. The association counted 1201 firearm hunting injuries with 107 deaths (9%). Two-party incidents made up 851 of those injuries (71%) and included 69 deaths. That note counted 40 states with a hunter orange requirement. Some of those rules covered public land alone or big game hunting alone. The 40-state figure belongs to that mid-1990s note and does not describe today's statutes. Read the current rule your state agency posts for your hunting season, since state rules differ.

STEP 3 · Pennsylvania record

Training and fluorescent orange share the credit

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has logged these incidents since 1915. It states the rate for each 100,000 licensed hunting participants. The Commission puts the decline at nearly 80 percent from the 1959 start of hunter education and credits that training plus fluorescent orange. Our read treats that credit as the Commission's judgment over decades in which training rules and clothing rules both changed. Keep the cause categories on that page in the decision.

The page names failing to identify the target and failing to hold a safe fire zone. The safety page tells people on a drive to keep 25 to 40 yards of spacing and to stay where they can see each other. The fire zone in front of each hunter is about 45 degrees. Leave game alone when it moves between you and another person.

On that page a season that requires orange generally calls for 250 square inches. The material is fluorescent orange and it has to be visible from 360 degrees. In any season where orange is required the hunter wears it the whole time while hunting. The cloth goes on the head, the chest and the back. A hat plus a vest satisfies the amount. During firearms seasons for deer or bear or elk an enclosed tree stand or a blind also needs 100 square inches or more inside 15 feet. That material has to be visible from all around. The state game lands window runs Oct. 1 through Jan. 31, then April 20 through May 31. In those windows a person needs 250 square inches unless the lawful activity underway has no orange requirement. The page still urges orange in seasons with no orange requirement and stresses the times you are moving.

Turkey hunters are told to skip red, white, blue and black because those colors are on a mature gobbler. Skip stalking. Skip any shot at sound or at movement. A wave is the wrong warning and so is a turkey sound aimed at another hunter. The page wants a shouted stop. Cover the bird once it is down. Put on or show the required orange and do that particularly while you move. Where a turkey hunter is not wearing orange, the CDC note suggests putting hunter orange near the calling spot.

STEP 4 · Deer eyes

Orange is there for the hunter who might shoot

Deer color vision is separate from what another hunter can see. The guide on deer sight and sound says deer have two cone classes. Sensitivity is weaker for long wavelengths than for short ones. The studies read for that guide never tested clothing or detergent against a deer. A hunter looking for a shot can pick out orange. The guide places both motion and outline before color where deer are concerned. It calls that ranking its own read, and our rule remains that you keep that order while on stand.

STEP 5 · Field check

Test the orange inside the common shot distances

Our rule puts the clothing check in cover you hunt at 11 to 50 yards. That distance group contains 161 of the 331 two-party injuries that have a known distance from that New York series. Have a partner look from in front and from the rear with the hood up and then down. Switch clothes or the setup if a hood or pack or blind wall blocks the orange. Before anyone steps off on a drive, lock in the Pennsylvania spacing and each hunter's fire zone. Hold the shot unless the animal is fully and plainly visible.

Firearm injuries are one slice of hunting harm. The guide on tree-stand falls includes fall counts plus the harness steps. Stay attached once your feet leave the ground and stay attached until you get back on the ground. After you reach the stand with a firearm, keep orange on if another person could see you there.