Hunting, contrary to popular belief, is a very safe activity. In fact, hunting results in fewer injuries per 100,000 participants than do many other sports, including cycling, bowling, golf and tennis. On the eve of the 2009 turkey season, the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) is asking the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to consider a regulation that would could further reduce accidents.

The conservation federation on March 1 passed a resolution asking the MDC Regulations Committee to consider instating a blaze orange requirement to all hunters during the spring firearms turkey season. The requirement would mandate hunters to wear blaze orange vests when moving into and out of public hunting areas. Their recommendation came after a review of the 2008 season showed two of the three accidents involved “misinterpretation of the color of clothing” according to their official statement.

The first of the two incidents occurred on April 21, when a 20-year-old hunter heard yelping to his right and waited for the turkey to move in closer. About half an hour later, he heard what sounded like a turkey walking in the brush from the same direction. When he turned toward the sound, he thought he saw something red move in the brush and fired at what he thought was a male turkey.

What he thought he saw and what he hit were two different things. The shooter’s pellets found and struck a husband and wife who were hunting nearby. The husband was hit in the shoulder, but fortunately, the pellets didn’t penetrate his coat.

One pellet struck the woman’s glasses, knocking them off her head, and another penetrated her eyelid, bruising her eye. This incident occurred on public hunting ground.

The second incident the conservation federation referenced in its resolution occurred on May 6. Two friends went turkey hunting at Mark Twain National Forest and decided to split up. After the first hunter got his turkey, he returned to the truck and moved it closer to where his friend was hunting.

The successful first hunter exited the truck and heard his friend trying to call in a turkey. For unknown reasons, he decided to walk toward the other hunter. As he neared his friend, the victim began answering his friend’s turkey call with a gobble of his own.

The second hunter heard what he thought was a turkey calling directly in front of him. When he saw movement in that direction, he fired at what he thought was the white of a turkey’s head. Unfortunately, the white he saw was actually the sun reflecting off the neck of his buddy. The victim was struck with pellets in the left side of his head, neck and body.

Turkey hunters are not currently required to wear any form of blaze orange during the firearms season. Currently, regulations require hunters to place a “Be Safe” sticker (provided by MDC and permit vendors) on their firearm and in their line of sight when shooting. The CFM believes the addition of the blaze orange requirement to a hunter’s attire would further decrease the possibility of accidents.

All of this comes on the heels of a year when Missouri hunters set a safety record in 2008 for firearms accidents. Missouri recorded only 15 firearms-related hunting accidents, the fewest since the Missouri Department of Conservation began keeping records in 1963.

In 1988, MDC began requiring anyone born after Dec. 31, 1966, to complete an approved hunter education course before they could purchase a hunting permit. The results speak for themselves. The number of accidents dropped by more than 50 percent in the first 10 years alone. In 2008, the 20th anniversary of mandatory hunter education in Missouri, the number of hunting accidents was a quarter of what it once was, and none of the accidents recorded last year were fatal.

Hunting in the United States has continually been one of the safest outdoor recreational pursuits and unlike other sports is becoming even safer. This is primarily due to increased education, awareness and the willingness of hunters and conservation organizations to find new ways of reducing accidents while still providing a fun and challenging hunt.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be reached at outdoors@npgco.com