By Curt Robertson, HuntSAFE Coordinator/Program Specialist

In 2007, 37 hunting related incidents were reported in South Dakota.  None of the incidents which resulted from the discharge of a firearm resulted in a fatality. 

The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks compiles hunter safety statistics each year using the definitions outlined by the International Hunter Education Association (IHEA).  The IHEA is the leading organization worldwide in hunter education and safety.  The IHEA determines the main criteria which define how incidents are reported.  These are:

            A. Injury or death of a person resulting from the discharge of a firearm or bow during hunting.
            B. Injury or death of any person while hunting, which did not involve the discharge of a firearm.
            C. Injury or death of any person, other than while hunting, resulting from the discharge of a firearm or bow.

This report will include incidents reported to South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks from categories A and B.  Other incidents may have occurred but were not reported to the agency.

Below is an overview of the reported incidents.  After this overview, a case-by-case description of each incident is printed.

·        30 incidents were related to upland game birds (all pheasants)

·        1 incident was related to turkey hunting

·        1 incident was related to deer hunting

·        4 incidents were related to other reasons

·        2 incidents were related to treestands

There was one fatality reported in a hunting related incident.  This was a hunter who suffered a fatal heart attack while pheasant hunting.  In cases where a shooter could be determined, 14 were residents while 10 were non-residents. 

Each individual hunter shoulders the responsibility for their own safety and the safety of those around them.  The four basic rules of hunter safety include:

• Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction
• Keep the action unloaded and open if not actively hunting
• Be sure of your target and what is beyond
• Keep your finger outside and alongside the trigger guard until ready to shoot

2007 Case-by-Case Summary of Hunting Incidents

Upland Bird Incidents

County: Aurora
Reason: Victim out of sight of shooter/Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of shooter: 42
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Victim was blocking for a party of 12 hunters.  A pheasant flushed low and shooter didn’t see victim in field of tall switch grass.

County: Beadle
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game/Victim out of sight of shooter
Age of shooter: UnknownHunter
Ed. Certified: Unknown
Hunting party was walking through cattails when a rooster flushed.  Several members of group shot with one or more covering victim.

County: Beadle
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game/Victim out of sight of shooter
Age of shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Party was walking through cattails when bird flushed.  Several in the party shot at the bird with several pellets striking the victim.

County: Brown
Reason: Victim was out of sight of shooter
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim was blocking at the end of a standing cornfield.  The standing corn and a small hill blocked the shooters sight of the blocker.  Victim had been hit twice before prior to injury.

County: Brule
Reason: Loading firearm/self inflicted
Age of shooter: 41
Hunter Ed. Certification: Yes
Victim had exited vehicle and was loading firearm.  One shell was loaded in the chamber and discharged when the second shell was loaded in the magazine.

County: Charles Mix
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim had fallen behind hunting party attending to dogs.  Pheasant flushed behind party and victim was struck by pellets.  Shooting glasses broke but saved damage to eye.

County: Charles Mix
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: 16
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Victim was blocking for a party of hunters when he was struck by pellets.

County: Charles Mix
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim was blocking for a group of hunters. A rooster flushed low in a direct line with victim.  The victim was struck with five pellets.

County: Clark
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim was blocking for a group of 14 hunters. Pheasants flushed low and victim was struck by 50 pellets.

County: Davison
Reason: Victim e\was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim and unknown shooter were on the opposite sides of a creek.  Pheasant flushed low from one side of the creek to the other.  Victim was struck by 9 pellets from shooter.

County: Edmunds
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim was blocking in a slough area.  Bird flushed low in line with victim.

County: Edmunds
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim was blocking for a party of eight hunters in a small patch of standing corn.  Pheasant flushed and victim was struck by several pellets.

County: Faulk
Reason: Heart Attack
Age of Shooter: N/A
Hunter Ed. Certified: N/A
Victim was pheasant hunting and suffered a fatal heart attack.

County: Gregory
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: 56
Hunter Ed. Certified: No
Victim and shooter were both blocking for a party of hunters.  Pheasant flushed and shooter covered victim on his right side.

County: Hand
Reason: Shooter stumbled and fell/Self inflicted
Age of Shooter: 60
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Hunter was walking in a decline in a ditch.  His foot slipped and his hand hit the safety during the fall.  Gun discharged during fall.

County: Hand
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim was on a ridge top as other hunters walked a creek bottom.  Pheasants flushed and several hunters from the creek bottom covered the higher victim.

County: Hanson
Reason: Victim out of sight of shooter
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certification: Unknown
A ridge separated the blockers and walkers of a hunting party.  A blocker shot and struck the victim who was a walker.

County: Jones
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: 43
Hunter Ed. Certified: unknown
Pheasant flushed between shooter and victim.  Victim was struck in eye by pellet.

County: Lake
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game.
Age of Shooter: 44
Hunter Ed. Certified: yes
Shooter swung on pheasant flushing from a food plot.  One pellet struck victim in eye.

County: Lyman
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: 41
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Victim was blocking for a group of 11 hunters.  Multiple birds were flushed and at least one bird was a low flyer.  Shooter shot at low flyer and struck the victim.

County: Potter
Reason: Running, walking with loaded firearm
Age of Shooter: 37
Hunter Ed. Certified: yes
Shooter was attempting to cross creek to retrieve some downed birds.  When shooter stepped down in creek, firearm discharged striking victim with several pellets.

County: Sanborn
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game.
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Pheasants were flushed and flying low when a group of shooters fired on them.  Victim was struck by several pellets.

County: Sanborn
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: 35
Hunter Ed. Certified: No
Victim and shooter were blocking for a hunting group.  Victim was slightly ahead of shooter and was struck by 2 pellets when shooter swung on game.

County: Spink
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game.
Age of Shooter: 34
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Pheasant flushed low and victim was struck by two pellets from shooter.

County: Stanley
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game/Victim out of sight of shooter
Age of Shooter: 70
Hunter Ed. Certified: No
Victim was standing in heavy cover after completing a drive.  Pheasants flushed and shooter swung on bird, striking victim.

County: Tripp
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: 25
Hunter Ed. Certified: yes
Bird flushed in between shooter and victim.  Victim hit by 5 pellets.

County: Tripp
Reason: Victim out of sight of shooter.
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Victim and shooter were hunting together in a large party of hunters walking through tall cane.  A pheasant flushed and the shooter, not seeing the other hunter, shot and struck the victim.

County: Tripp
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
The victim was a blocker in a party of 12.  a low flying rooster was shot at by 6 to 8 walkers.  Victim struck by 3 pellets.

County: Tripp
Reason: Victim was covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certified: Unknown
Party of hunters were in a slough when a large number of birds were flushed.  Several hunters fired and victim was struck by seven pellets.

County: Tripp
Reason: Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game
Age of Shooter: Unknown
Hunter Ed. Certification: Unknown
A large party was pheasant hunting.  A bird flushed with several people shooting at bird and striking the victim with 3 pellets.

Turkey

County: Mellette
Reason: Victim mistaken for game
Age of Shooter: 33
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
A party of three was turkey hunting.  Two individuals remained in a draw and both were struck by pellets from the third hunter who had separated from the group.

Tree Stand

County: Marshall
Reason: Failure to use full body harness in tree stand.
Age of Victim: 56
Hunter Ed. Certified: No
Victim was attempting to clear branches around his stand when victim lost his balance.  Victim fell approximately 12 feet.

County: Lawrence
Reason: Fall while climbing out of tree stand
Age of Victim: 44
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Victim was climbing out of a tree stand after an archery hunt.  A limb broke sending the victim to the ground.

Prairie Dogs/Gophers

County: Potter
Reason: Trigger caught on object/Careless handling of firearm
Age of Shooter: 29
Hunter Ed. Certified: Yes
Shooter was checking fence and spotted a prairie dog. A .22 caliber pistol was retrieved from the center console of the truck to dispose of the prairie dog.  Upon the retrieval of the pistol, firearm discharged striking the shooter in the buttocks.

County: Brookings
Reason: Victim moved in line of fire/Victim out of sight of shooter
Age of Shooter: 11
Hunter Ed. Certification: No
Victim was shooting gophers from the passenger side of the vehicle and shooter was on the tailgate using the topper as a rest.  Shooter shot the victim in the head as he leaned out of the passenger door.  Shooter was using a scope that narrowed his field of vision.

Coyote

County: Lyman
Reason: Removing placing firearm in vehicle
Age of Shooter: 23
Hunter Ed. Certification: Yes
Victim was passenger in a vehicle. Upon witnessing a coyote crossing the road, victim took loaded gun from center console, jumped out of vehicle and discharged gun, striking his right forearm.

Other

County: Brown
Reason: Careless handling of firearm/Self inflicted
Age of Shooter: 15
Hunter Ed. Certification: Yes
The victim was riding a snowmobile wearing a shoulder holster and a .22 caliber pistol.  Victim was trying to remove the pistol from holster when firearm discharged and struck victim in arm.

County: Beadle
Reason: Ricochet/Self inflicted
Age of Victim: 10
Hunter Ed. Certification: No
Victim was shooting blackbirds in a metal machine shed with a BB gun.  Victim was hit in hand that pierced the skin with a ricochet.

County: Haakon
Reason: Ammunition failure/self inflicted
Age of Shooter: 35
Hunter Ed. Certified: No
Victim was hunting deer with a .308 caliber firearm when ammunition malfunctioned sending shrapnel into the face of the victim.  Ammunition was a reload.

County: McPherson
Reason: Careless handling of firearm
Age of Shooter: 60
Hunter Ed. Certified: No
A loaded firearm was in the backseat of the victims vehicle.  Driver stopped vehicle and reached for firearm, when the gun discharged.  Safety was not engaged.