scotty87 wrote:bigfellascott wrote:scotty87 wrote:Id pretty much implement NZ laws, seems to be the best balance of common sense and community safety and place a strong focus on Hunter safety with required shoots/competitions under supervision at approved clubs.
Why should we have to join a club to go hunting?
Limit it to public land hunters and once per year for sake of hunter education and to remove the need to sight in in the bush.
I wouldn't want to have the same problems as NZ with hunter deaths, it would be good to be able to say you took reasonable measures to prevent it from happening.
I thought you said NZ had had good safety measures in place? I'm confused.
We don't seem to have a issue really with hunter safety here, you get the occasional accident but on the whole it's a very safe activity to participate in, I'd say there are a lot more activities which are far more dangerous and less regulated that the shooting side of things in general.
Hunting is a common sense thing to me, don't shoot at something you can't identify clearly, check and know your backdrop as such for any potential dangers etc etc, I personally don't load the firearm until ready to shoot my intended target, I don't care if they run off and I don't get the chance to shoot them, so be it, safety is no.1 for me - shooting game comes 2nd.
Most hunting accidents come from a lack of due care and attention (ie stupid people getting back into vehicles with loaded firearms) or people shooting at what they thought was a deer etc only to find out they shot their friend (clearly didn't identify their target did they) or did they?
or people not having decent awareness re where their muzzle is pointed etc.
When out hunting with friends or spotlighting etc we have a simple rule and that is to notify each other when we are hot or cold and when in the vehicle we only load when we spot something that needs shooting and if no shot is taken for whatever reason we unload and notify each other of the state of rediness of the firearm, they are simple rules that have kept my and my friends etc safe, we didn't need some shooting club to learn this, it was just a natural instinct to want to live that helped us to work out what was safe and what wasn't
You treat the firearm like it's always loaded regardless whether it is or isn't is the way we role - always have and always will (ie keep that muzzle pointed in a safe direction always!)
