A safe hunt is a successful hunt

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North Dakota Game and Fish Courtesy Photo Before you shoulder your gun, take a split second and make sure of your target and surroundings.

Talk about it

North Dakota hunters have it pretty good. While a lot of conversations this fall relate to somewhat lower deer and pheasant populations, our wildlife numbers are still high compared to a few decades ago, when hunters applied for a first-drawing doe license just to have a chance to hunt in November, and a single morning rooster was something to crow about.

Success is in the eyes of the beholder, but that’s what makes hunting so special. No one will remember, however, how many ducks or how big the buck if the hunt is marred by an accident of any nature.

Safety, like success, depends on the actions of hunters. As a certified hunter education instructor, I join with hundreds of other volunteer instructors who stress that the need for safety trumps all other concerns.

While all hunters should be familiar with the basic rules of safety, refreshers are never redundant.

First, treat every gun as if it were loaded. It’s that simple, no matter if it’s a toy gun or real gun, whether you’re in the field, at home or anywhere between. When transporting your gun or someone else’s, always assume and treat the gun as if it were loaded.

You’ll find trained law enforcement officers, hunters and gunsmiths will always “clear” any firearm, just to confirm with their own eyes, that to the best of their knowledge the gun is not loaded.

Secondly, never point or aim your firearm or bow at anything you don’t intend to shoot. This holds true in all scenarios. Even when shooting clay targets or sighting in at the rifle range, and even if you know, for a fact, that the gun is not loaded, never point a gun in a misdirected manner.

I began instructing my own kids at the age they were able to pick up a plastic toy gun, that they should never point a gun – even a toy – at any person.

Instructing a youngster or anyone grasping a gun to treat it as a loaded firearm is good practice. And we all know that practice creates the habits we’ll take into the field hunting, or any time guns of any caliber and make are present.

A final bit of advice as you pursue North Dakota’s bountiful game this fall.

I know how difficult it is to deal with buck fever, the adrenaline rush when a rooster busts out of the brush or cattails, or even when ducks and geese come into the decoys. Even the most seasoned hunters feel a rush that only hunting can provide. As you shoulder your gun, take a split second and make sure of your target and surroundings.

If for any reason something seems to have changed, like maybe you’re not sure where your partner is, then by all means pass up on the shot.

When the scope focuses and you see something beyond the buck, back off until you’re sure of the target and anything in front of and behind it. Just a split second may be all that is needed to make sure your hunt is both safe and successful.

And lastly, if you find yourself in the middle of an unsafe situation, remove yourself. Alcohol and firearms don’t mix, neither do unsafe practices.

Here’s wishing you and yours a successful – and safe – rest of the fall.

Leier is a certified North Dakota hunter education instructor and biologist. He can be reached by email: dleier@nd.gov. Read his blog at dougleier.areavoices.com

Tags: doug leier, outdoors, column