There are many things that can cause you injury whilst hunting for deer; some may cause minor injury whilst others can even lead to death. Whenever you set of hunting for deer you should always have health and safety in mind in whatever you are doing. It’s not just guns and crossbows that you need to be careful of, its other equipment, animals, and the general environment that can be a predicament.
In this article we wanted to highlight some of the major concerns that you are going to face and how you can avoid them. By the end of our deer hunting accidents guide you will hopefully be more aware of potential dangers, and have a keen eye on health and safety next time you venture out.
Deer Hunting Accidents: Tree Top Failures
More often than not it’s our own actions that lead to accidents and rarely is it nature or animals. One of the biggest culprits to hunting accidents is tree stands, and it is usually something simple like they haven’t been tested properly prior to the hunt or they haven’t been setup correctly.
Sadly, many hunters fall from their tree stand and in some cases many of the victims are lucky and suffer minor bruises, cuts, and scrapes. However, it’s not uncommon that hunters have died from such falls, suffered paralysis or broken bones. Usually the hunters that die from these type of accidents are from the result of brain damage where they have landed on their head, broken their spine or snapped their neck on impact with the ground.
Therefore, it is paramount that any hunter securely positions their tree stand to avoid this from happening, as well as using safety harnesses to prevent them from falling to the ground should they lose balance.
Deer Hunting Accidents: Friendly Fire
The second biggest accident is hunters accidently shooting other hunters and this can happen for a number of reasons. The sad news is that many hunters are killed each year due to these kinds of mistakes, and it’s normally down to improper handling of a gun, poor communication or lack of visibility.
There has been many a newspaper story where family members have accidentally shot each other, many leading to death so it makes sense to always be sure on what in-front of you, and where every hunter is located before you fire off any ammunition.
Hunters should always wear orange so that other hunters can clearly see them, but many forget or think that the brightly colored clothing will spook off deer. Orange doesn’t affect deer, this is purely an urban myth so next time you go deer hunting don’t forget to wear hunter orange.
Deer Hunting Accidents: Drowning
This type of accident doesn’t happen a lot but it has been reported on a fair share of occasions. It’s all too common to see the bigger bucks hide out near water sources such as lakes and rivers in an effort to avoid being shot or captured. They don’t get to their size through luck alone; they are quite intelligent and look for a way to force hunters to travel by canoe in order to get to them.
Under water currents canoe accidents can lead to hunters being swept downstream and without the proper lifejackets on hand they ultimately drown as a result of trying to pursue big trophy bucks.
If you ever need to travel across water then remember to take a lifejacket as it could be the only thing that saves you from life or death.
Deer Hunting Accidents: When They Turn on You
When you go hunting for a deer they know exactly what you are trying to do and in an effort to save their own life, they will often charge at the hunter with their antlers in order to try and protect themselves from being killed. However, it’s not so much the deer’s that you really need to worry about as many hunters each year lose their lives to other animals that inhabit the land.
When hunters are focused on hunting deer, and are in the zone, they forget that the hunter also can become the hunted. Bears and cougars are common predatory animals in a lot of places, and so too are snakes and spiders.
Any off guard hunter can soon fall foul to an attack from one of these and lose their life.
Always be aware of your surroundings and check of any reports of bears or cougars that may also inhabit the areas in which you are looking to go deer hunting in.
Deer Hunting Accidents: Hunter Health
It may seem like a slightly strange accident heading to end on but hunting can take it out of even the fittest members of society. Spending hours in the cold, or in the heat, and trudging through waters, swamps, marshlands, forests, cornfields and other areas can really take its toll on a hunter. Not to mention if you are doing all that with a great big trophy buck dragging behind you!
Therefore it’s not uncommon to see reports of deer hunters collapse and eventually die from heart attacks because of their health levels.
If you feel that you are unhealthy then it’s worth getting into shape well before the season starts so that you can push yourself more than you normally would. This will help you avoid any unnecessary health problems whilst you are deer hunting.
Summary
Deer hunting can be dangerous as you are now probably aware of thanks to our rundown of accidents that can happen while you are on the hunt. It is always best to be safe than to be sorry so next time you are out deer hunting make sure you take every precaution to keep yourself and others around you safe by following our tips and suggestions.