If Vice President Dick Cheney sending a load of bird shot into the face of a fellow hunter sounds odd, consider:
The hunter on horseback in Gunnison County who caught his gun scabbard on an oak, discharging his rifle and wounding himself and his mount.
The partridge hunter who swung around on a flock of birds and shot her husband, puncturing one of his lungs.
The man trailing a wounded elk in Rio Blanco County who saw movement and shot, hitting a hunter who wasn’t wearing orange.
The goose hunter who was pulling a loaded shotgun from the back of a car and sent a load of pellets through the seat into the butt and thigh of a companion.
Those incidents all happened in Colorado during the past three years, and could seemingly happen to anyone.
“Most of these involve just a moment of carelessness,” said Mark Cousins, hunter education coordinator with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
In Colorado there are about 10 hunting accidents a year, with an average of fewer than two fatalities, according to state Division of Wildlife data.
By contrast, about nine skiers and snowboarders died on the slopes in 2004, and 660 were hospitalized, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment.
The potential for death is, however, sobering.
Last week, Larimer County officials conducted an autopsy on the body of a hunter missing since late January, identified as Bart Thomas Strain, 30, of Loveland. Strain died in Buckhorn Canyon, after shooting himself in the chest while climbing over a downed tree, according to the report.
Hunters often hurt themselves, but far worse is when they shoot others – usually friends or relatives, Cousins said.
In one exercise during education class, Cousins said, he takes his students outdoors and uses Frisbees and foam balls to represent birds and rabbits.
Cousins said he works with students on keeping a constant cone of safety.
“Then I bat a Nerf ball into the middle of the group and yell ‘Freeze!”‘ Cousins said.
One of the trainees almost always ends up with his or her fake gun pointing at a companion.
Staff writer Katy Human can be reached at 303-820-1910 or at khuman@denverpost.com.
