hunting

Hunters in Pennsylvania saw the lowest number of hunting-related shooting incidents on record in 2015.

(Marcus Schneck, mschneck@pennlive.com)

Pennsylvania hunters experienced the lowest number of hunting accidents on record in 2015, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

There were 23 hunting-related shooting incidents statewide last year, according to a new report from the commission.

Two of the resulted in fatalities. One was self-inflicted, and one resulted from a shot where the victim was in the line of fire.

Except for 2012 - the first year without a single reported fatality related to gun handling in hunting and trapping in Pennsylvania - at least one fatality has been reported each year. There was one fatal incident in 2014.

Pennsylvania has compiled data on hunting-related shooting incidents since 1915.

The previous record-low was 27 incidents in 2013. Prior to 2013, there never had been fewer than 33 incidents reported in a year, and 2015 marks the third straight year in which fewer than 30 incidents were reported.

HRSIs in Pennsylvania have declined nearly 80 percent since hunter-trapper education training began in 1959.

"If you look back at the hundreds of incidents that occurred year after year in Pennsylvania decades ago, it really is remarkable how far hunter safety has come, and it's been accomplished largely through a team of hard-working volunteers dedicated to making hunting continually safer," said R. Matthew Hough, commission executive director.

A total of 38,671 students received their basic hunter-trapper education certification in Pennsylvania.

In 2015, five of the 23 incidents resulted from individuals with 10 or fewer years of hunting experience.

No incidents in 2015 involved a youth participating in the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, which enables hunters under the age of 12 to harvest certain wildlife species if they are accompanied by a licensed adult.

About 32,680 Mentored Youth permits were issued.

The leading causes of hunting-related shooting incidents in 2015 were a victim being in the line of fire or unintentional discharge, each of which accounted for 35 percent of the total.

Requirements for hunters to wear orange in many seasons and ongoing hunter-education efforts are essential to the upward trend in hunter safety, the report states.

The Game Commission's schedule of hunter-trapper education courses through June can be found through a link in this weekend's Outdoor things to do package: