Every autumn, during hunting season, millions of hunters across the country enter the woods and fields in search of game, and every year, a few thousand are injured in hunting “accidents”, and on average two to three hundred don’t make it home. Most of these incidents involve hunters injuring themselves, and almost all are the result of a failure to follow safe hunting and safe gun-handling practices.

Not all hunting injuries are self-inflicted. About one-third involve another person, and it is almost always a hunter shooting another hunter. In hunting incidents, the victim is often a hunting companion – a friend or family member. Last year in Georgia, two hunters killed their own sons. That has to be an awful thing to live with.

In November 2002 an incident took place here in Georgia that very nearly took the life of a teenage girl who was on a camping trip with a youth group. As is the case in most of these incidents, the hunter shot at a target that he could not see. Matthew Bryant was deer hunting as day was breaking on a Sunday morning. Rachel Ferguson was camped with her friends in a state recreation area nearby. The kids were just waking up. Bryant saw movement behind some bushes and although he could not see what was there, he assumed it was a deer and shot into the bushes, hitting Rachel in the chest. It was just luck that she wasn’t killed.

The point of this article is not anti-hunting or anti-gun. It is anti-idiot. Most hunters are responsible and careful in what they do while hunting, but not all of them. There are too many idiots with firearms running around the woods in the fall, and they are a threat to everyone in the woods. The first rule of hunting is that you do not shoot until you are certain of your target.

The state of Georgia has changed a lot over the past thirty years. The population has increased tremendously, and while most of the growth has taken place around metro Atlanta, the mountains are close and offer an inviting opportunity to get away and enjoy the outdoors. More and more people are taking advantage of the recreational possibilities available to them up there – hiking, camping, picnicking, swimming, fishing, sight-seeing, shopping and just enjoying nature. Autumn is arguably the nicest time of year to enjoy the mountains, what with the cooler weather, color, and leaves falling all around, but it is also the beginning of deer hunting season, and it puts people with conflicting goals in the woods together.

Hunters are required to wear a bright orange vest in the woods to help other hunters recognize them as non-game, and hikers are encouraged to wear one if they are in the woods during hunting season. Dogs are another matter. Most dog owners want to take the dog along when they go hiking, and if any store carries an orange vest for dogs, I haven’t seen it. If anyone knows of one, let me know and I’ll pass it along. If your dog is knee high or larger, it is a good idea to make something for him to wear, even if it is just a scarf.

Everyone born after 1961 has to take a ten-hour safety course before getting a hunting license. It is a pretty thorough course, so everyone who gets a license knows what to do and what not to do, and if everyone uses common sense and what they have learned, there should be no accidents. But every year in Georgia there are, on average, 73 hunting related injuries and eight fatalities. Almost all are due to careless and unsafe behavior, and when the injury is self-inflicted I don’t concern myself with it. My feeling is that if someone shoots himself or falls out of a tree stand and puts himself out of action, or removes himself from the gene pool, it makes the woods a little safer for me, and I don’t lose too much sleep over it. When it involves a hunter injuring or killing another person, it is a whole different matter.

When these incidents are reported they always referred to as “accidents”, and it is rare for anyone to be charged with anything, let alone prosecuted. But when someone points a high-powered rifle at some bushes because he hears something moving around behind them, and shoots into the bushes without knowing what is making the noise, it is no accident when the bullet hits a person. It is stupid, reckless and intentional act, and it needs to be treated seriously by the judicial system.

Matthew Bryant was charged with “misusing a firearm”, an offense that could result in a ten year prison term, but he is the exception. In most cases involving hunting related shootings, no charges are filed. It is just considered an unfortunate accident. Sometimes the shooter is given a ticket for a hunting violation, pays a fine and maybe has his license suspended. This is crazy. You can’t just shoot someone and have the authorities ignore it. When you aim a rifle, you put the bead or crosshairs right where you want the bullet to go, and when you make a conscious decision to pull the trigger, you have to take complete responsibility for what happens after the firing pin drops. A hunting license has a number on it, but that number shouldn’t begin with a “double 0”. Until the authorities begin to deal seriously with these shootings, the woods will remain a place where you can get away with murder.

As Atlanta continues to grow, and the northern suburbs expand toward the mountains, more and more people will visit the area for recreation. Rachel Ferguson’s group was camping in the Lake Winfield Scott Recreation Area in the Chattahoochee National Forest. This is a popular destination with well-maintained hiking trails and camping areas. It is a place where families go to enjoy the outdoors, and it is one of a growing number of locations that the state should declare off-limits for hunting. The north Georgia mountains cover hundreds of square miles, and the portion that is popular with non-hunting visitors makes up only a tiny portion of the area. Recreation areas, the area around state parks, and trails leading to popular scenic vistas are among those that should have a buffer zone around them. By declaring certain pockets of land no-hunting areas, it would give recreational visitors safe places in which to enjoy the outdoors, while leaving the majority of the mountains open to hunting.

Hunters and non-hunters will continue partake of what the mountains have to offer, and with a little thought and planning, each can enjoy the experience without interfering with the other.