Many people enjoy hunting, for a variety of reasons. No one goes on a hunt with the expectation that serious injuries or fatalities may occur. When they do, lives may be altered indefinitely. If your hunting outing turns to disaster, contacting a local personal injury attorney to deal with the aftermath may be a wise decision.
Why Hunt?
The reasons people love to hunt are as wide-ranging as the hunters themselves. In general, experts say they key attraction to the sport can be boiled down to four basic concepts:
- It is a unique way to become one with nature and truly experience the great outdoors;
- It is a way to provide food;
- It creates a human bond tied to rituals, common goals and experiences;
- It develops a respect for, and kinship with wildlife.
Safety First
There are, of course, certain risks inherent to hunting. Key safety tips for hunters cannot be overstated. Just a few include:
- Keeping the barrel of the gun pointed in a safe direction (away from people);
- Keeping guns unloaded when they’re not being used;
- Remembering to unload firearms when in a vehicle or on a 4-wheeler;
- Always treating guns as if they’re loaded, even if you’re sure they’re not;
- Never taking a shot unless you’re certain of the target, as well as whatever is behind it;
- Avoiding the use of drugs and alcohol when handling guns;
- Increasing your own visibility by wearing hunter orange;
- Affixing tree stands to strong, healthy trees;
- Using a strong safety harness in the tree stand;
- Making sure others know of your location.
Tragic Accidents
Knowing the safety tips is well and good; following them, and relying on others to do so, sometimes proves to be a challenge. To be sure, hunting fatalities nationwide are relatively rare, with one death occurring for about every 5,000 hunters. Accidents do result in a significant number of injuries, however, with roughly 123,000 reported annually. Here in Mississippi, we are no stranger to them:
- A duck hunter was struck in the leg by a firearm that discharged accidentally while it was being put into a utility vehicle in Warren County;
- A seasoned duck hunter died when his boat capsized and he disappeared beneath the surface of the water on the Mississippi River. His body was recovered more than a month after the tragic incident.
- A father accidentally shot and killed his teenage son in the Delta National Forest.
After a Serious Accident
If you or a loved one has been seriously harmed, or even killed, due to the negligence of another hunter, moving forward can be a difficult thing to contemplate. At the office of Derek L. Hall, PC, our heavy-hitting team knows just how to proceed. Schedule a free, confidential consultation with one of our Jackson personal injury lawyers to discuss the details of the accident and the path to receiving damages.
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