NEBRASKA

2010
HUNTING INCIDENT REPORT

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

INFORMATION and EDUCATION DIVISION
HUNTER EDUCATION PROGRAMS
JANUARY 2011
 Ten year history of hunting
incidents in Nebraska.

2010 1 7

2009 2 10

2008 1 11

2007 1 11

2006 0 7

2005 1 7

2004 2 11

2003 0 18

2002 0 12

2001 0 12

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

FATAL NON-FATAL

NOTE THAT STARTING IN 2008 THE STATISTICS COLLECTED WERE LIMITED TO INCLUDE ALL
INCIDENTS WHERE A PERSON WAS KILLED OR INJURED WHILE HUNTING -
1. WHEN A HUNTER DISCHARGED A HUNTING IMPLEMENT
or 2. WHEN A HUNTER FELL FROM AN ELEVATED STAND .
 2010 NEBRASKA HUNTING INCIDENTS
During 2010, there were 8 incidents resulting in injury or death to persons that involved hunting
activities, reported to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Sadly there was 1 fatality
incident and 7 non-fatal incidents. This compares to the 10 non-fatal and two fatal incident
recorded in 2009.

In 2010 there were seven (7) Class “A” incidents involving the discharge of a firearm by a hunter
involved in legal hunting, one of these resulted in a fatality. In addition there was one (1) class C
incidents where the hunters were using and fell from an elevated stand causing the injury or
death.
All incidents involved either the shooter and / or victim NOT following the rules of safety.
How the 2010 Accidents Are Categorized
! Two (2) involved the discharge of a rifle.
! Two (2) involved the discharge of a shotgun.
! One (1) involved the discharge of a handgun.
! One (1) involved falls from elevated stands.
! Two (2) involved the discharge of a muzzleloader.
! None involved the discharge of a bow or crossbow.
Injuries were self inflicted in five (5) incidents, and the injury was caused by someone else in three (3) of the
incidents.
Ages of Those Involved – 2010
! Two (2) shooters and two (2) victims were 10-19 years old
! One (1) shooter and no (0) victims were 20-29 years old
! No (0) shooters and three (3) victims were age 30 – 39 years old
! Two (2) shooters and no (0) victims were 40-49 years old
! No shooters and one (1) victim was age 50-59 years old
! One (1) shooter and no (0) victims were age 60 or older

Causes of Incidents - 2010

! Victim covered by shooter swinging on game – one (1) incident
! Victim in line of fire – one (1) incident
! Dropped firearm - one (1) incident
! Fall from elevated stand – one (1) incident
! Careless or reckless handling of firearm – four (4) incidents

2010 Individual Incident Summary

! January 15 – Webster County- Trapping / hunting – 26 year old shooter was stepping outside a vehicle getting ready
to check trap locations when he loaded and then dropped his handgun, it non-fatally discharged into his foot.
Unload guns when not in use.

! March 29 –Clay County – Pheasant hunting – Party was hunting on a shooting preserve when the 42 year old
shooter shot at a pheasant and non-fatally hit the 58 year old victim in the face. BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND
WHAT IS BEYOND IT. Never fire at sound or movement and always identify your target before shooting.
! September 4 –Garden County – Dove Hunting – 38 year old victim was hunting doves with a hunting party of seven.
Victim was retrieving a dove when he was non-fatally shot in the back as all of his hunting companions fired at
another dove. Muzzle Control is vital. Always control where the muzzle of your firearm is pointed and never
allow it to be pointed at yourself or someone else. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it before you
pull the trigger.

! September 28 – Gage County – Squirrel Hunting – 15 year old shooter non-fatally shot his 16 year old hunting
companion in the pelvis with a .22 rifle. Muzzle Control is vital. Always control where the muzzle of your
firearm is pointed and never allow it to be pointed at your self or someone else. Never point a gun at
anything you do not want to shoot.

! October 31 – Washington County – Deer hunting – 14 year old shooter was following the 38 year old victim down a
trail. The shooter was carrying a loaded, capped, cocked muzzleloader as he crossed over a log in the trail. The
muzzleloader discharged into the back of the victim killing him. Never climb over or under a fence, into or out of
a tree or jump a ditch with a loaded gun. Muzzle Control is vital. Always control where the muzzle of your
firearm is pointed and never allow it to be pointed at your self or someone else. Never point a gun at
anything you do not want to shoot.

! November 11 - Jefferson County – Trapping / Hunting – 61 year old shooter was shooting at a coyote in a trap, the
.22 bullet he fired at the coyote non-fatally passed through his hand which he was holding in front of the rifle muzzle.
Muzzle Control is vital. Always control where the muzzle of your firearm is pointed and never allow it to be
pointed at yourself or someone else. Never point a gun at anything you do not want to shoot.

! November 14 – Franklin County – Deer Hunting - 38 year old Father and 10 year old Son where hunting from a
homemade elevated stand in a windmill. Both fell out of the stand when it failed, both suffered non-fatal injuries by
breaking their legs when they hit the ground. Never hunt from a homemade stand and always use a fall arrest
system that has a full body harness as a part of it.

! December 27 – Dawson County – Deer Hunting – 45 year old victim was holding his loaded and capped
muzzleloader by the barrel with the butt resting on a log. The rifle slipped off the log and discharged non -fatally
through his hand. Muzzle Control is vital. Always control where the muzzle of your firearm is pointed and
never allow it to be pointed at your self or someone else. Never point a gun at anything you do not want to
shoot.
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY through 2010
HUNTING INCIDENTS IN NEBRASKA
NUMBER OF INCIDENTS
TOTAL INCIDENTS

250 220
FATAL
NON-FATAL

200 179 180

164
156
144 147
150 119
111 110

100
51 46
41
50 33
16
9 9 5
0
1958 TO 1966 TO 1976 TO 1986 TO 1996 TO 2006 TO
1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

Records have been kept starting in 1958

Start of mandatory hunter education in Nebraska was1976.

TYPE OF EQUIPMENT BEING USED BY SHOOTER

600 507
500
400
300 257

200
83
100 6 13
0 1
0
W

R
N

Y
ER
E
N

ER
U
L

E
U

O
G
IF

TH
TG

SB

H
A
D
R

O
C
LO
N
O

R
A
SH

A
LE
H

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C
ZZ
U
M
 age of shooter 1958 to 2010
400 350
350
300
250
182
200 Shooter
150
91 86
100 58
32
50 9
26

0
under 9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 over 60 unknown

Age of involved 2010

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
under 9 10 - 19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 over 60 unknow n

shooter victim
 GAME HUNTED DURING INCIDENT
2000 THROUGH 2010

History

turkey 7

big gam e 40

w ater fow l 3

upland birds 37

sm all gam e 5

furbearer 12

non-gam e 19

0 10 20 30 40

2010 ONLY

0 TURKEY
3 BIG GAME
0 WATER FOWL
2010 2 UPLAND BIRDS
1 SMALL GAME
1 FUR BEARER
1 NON-GAME

0 1 2 3 4

These charts reflect the type of game animal being hunted during the incident.
Non-game includes – all mammals and birds not listed in the hunting guide.
Fur Bearer includes – all animals listed as fur bearers in the hunting guide.
Small Game includes – Rabbits and Squirrels.
Upland Birds includes – Pheasant, Quail, Dove, Snipe, Woodcock, Partridge, Rail
and Grouse.
Water Fowl includes – Ducks and Geese.
Big game includes - Deer, Antelope, Elk and Mountain Sheep.
 Number of HUNTERS

200000
190000
180000
170000
160000
150000
140000
130000
120000

2010 certified hunters unavailable at this writing.

Hunting Incidents Reported

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

DATA SOURCE: Comparison of the number of certified hunters reported to the USFWS and
the number of incidents reported to NGPC where a hunter was killed or injured in that year .
 HUNTING INCIDENT STATISTICS
Compiled by the NEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS COMMISSION
CALENDAR YEAR 2010

NEBRASKA HUNTING INCIDENTS - 1958 THRU 2010 2010 only

FATAL INJURY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 1
NON-FATAL INJURY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757 7
SELF INFLICTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344 3
CAUSED BY SOMEONE ELSE . . . . . . . 526 5
TOTAL 870 8

TOP TWENTY MAJOR CAUSES OF ACCIDENT - 1958 thru 2010 In 2010

Victim covered by shooter swinging on game . . . . . . . . . .170 1

Other - or unknown cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 0
Victim out of sight of shooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 0
Shooter stumbled and fell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 0
Removing or placing a firearm in to vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 56 0
Riding in vehicle with loaded firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 0
Victim moved into line of fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 1
Trigger caught on an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 0
Victim mistaken for game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 0
Improper crossing of fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 0
Defective firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 0
Unloading firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 0
Firearm fell from insecure rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 1
Loading firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 0
Horse play with loaded firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 0
Ricochet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 0
Careless or reckless handling of firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4
Fall from tree stand… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1
Using firearm as rest or brace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 0

TOTAL ACCIDENTS BROKEN DOWN BY AGE 1958 THRU 2010 2010 calendar year only
SHOOTER VICTIM SHOOTER VICTIM
UNDER 9 years old 9 10 0 0
10-19 years old 350 348 2 2
20-29 years old 182 180 1 0
30-39 years old 91 122 0 3
40-49 years old 58 88 2 0
50-59 years old 32 55 0 1
OVER 60 years old 26 34 1 0
Age unknown 86 20 1 0

Includes all hunting incidents resulting in injury or death meeting IHEA reporting criteria.

Hunter Education . . .
A PATH TO FOLLOW!