Starting on November 11th, the main rifle season for whitetail deer will be starting. Although bows are already in season, the regular rifle season, from November 11th to November 21st, is probably the hunting season with highest risk for injury and even death. Rifles are much easier to hunt with than bows, and generally youth hunters start hunting with guns before bows. Because of this, the missouri forests fills up with a numerous amount of hunters trying to fill some tags, making this ten day hunting season the most dangerous of the year. Devin Dueker said, “When I’m hunting, I always try to stay away from other hunters, and wear blaze orange gear to avoid getting shot by another hunter.”

Weapon safety could arguably be the most important aspect of hunting safety. As simple as it sounds, the best way to stay safe with a firearm, is for hunters to keep the barrel of their guns pointed away from any living beings, preferably towards the ground. All rifles should also be kept unloaded, and away from ammo when they aren’t being used. In the case of tree stands, any hunting weapons should never be carried into tree stands while a hunter is climbing their stands. Whether it is a rifle, or a bow, all weapons should be hauled up a rope, unloaded, after the hunter is in his stand, and has successfully anchored his stand. Also, There will most likely never be an accident as long as you keep your finger off the trigger of your gun, and you never point your gun at something unless you plan to shoot it.

One of the other most dangerous aspects of hunting, is falling from a tree stand. Every year people are harmed, and even killed from falling out of stands. Whether a hunter is sitting in a climbing stand, or any other type of stand that sits high above the ground, they should always anchor themselves, and their stand to the tree that they are in. This will hold the hunter up if they accidentally fall out of the tree, or if the stand fails. The right tree to climb is also important too. Many hunting related accidents happen when hunters climb dead trees.

A great way to learn about ethical and safe hunting is to take a hunting education class. Dueker stated, “It taught me the best way to kill a deer and turkey, and also made me smarter on gun safety.” These classes teach hunters just about all the details needed to understand ethical and safe hunting practices.