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Safe hunting is no accident; be prepared for the woods

With Indiana’s deer firearms season now open, Indiana’s conservation officers would like to remind hunters of some safety tips to help prevent hunting accidents.

•Treat every firearm with the same respect due a loaded gun.
•Control the direction of your firearm’s muzzle. Carry your firearm safely, keeping the safety on until ready to shoot. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

•Identify your target and what’s beyond it. Know the identifying features of the game you hunt.

•Be sure the barrel and action are clear of obstructions and you have only ammunition of the proper size for the firearms you are carrying.

•Unload firearms when not in use. Leave the actions open. Firearms should be carried unloaded when traveling to and from shooting areas.

•Never point a firearm at anything you do not want to shoot. Avoid all horseplay with a firearm.

•Never climb a fence or tree, or jump a ditch or log with a loaded firearm. Never pull a firearm toward you by the muzzle.

•Never shoot a bullet at a flat, hard surface or water. During target practice, be sure your backstop is adequate.

•Store firearms and ammunition separately, beyond the reach of children and careless adults.

•Avoid alcoholic beverages or any mood-altering drugs before and while hunting or shooting.

The above tips form a basic foundation for good firearms safety. By following them, a hunter significantly increases the chances for an accident-free hunt.

One of the deadliest forms of deer hunting accidents comes from tree stand falls. In addition to following the tips about firearms, hunters using elevated tree stands or platforms should use a full-body safety harness to protect themselves in case of a fall.
Falling from an elevated stand or platform is the most common hunting accident in Indiana. During the 2008 hunting season, 24 hunting accidents were reported to conservation officers. Falls from tree stands led to 15 injuries, resulting in two deaths.

For information about locations offering a Hunter Safety Course, e-mail dnr law@dnr.IN.gov

Waterfowl hunting begins at Kankakee Fish & Wildlife
Waterfowl hunting began in the corn units at Kankakee Fish and Wildlife Area (FWA) Nov. 17. Other areas (Ks and Ys) will be hunted sometime around Thanksgiving.

Managers at Kankakee FWA will be designating a volunteer day to help brush blinds and haul boats once they start flowing water into the areas. The channel blinds (9, 10, 11, 12Y) will be hunted when the rest of the K and Y blinds open and they will be hunted every day this year. The addition of blinds will allow four more parties to hunt every day.

If you would like to receive updated hunting information for Kankakee FWA, send an e-mail to KankakeeFWA HunterInfo@dnr.IN.gov

Sportsmen’s Benevolence Fund pin sales feed the hungry
Sportsmen and -women and concerned citizens can help feed the hungry through the Sportsmen’s Benevolence Fund, by purchasing the fund’s lapel pins.

The pins are available from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Law Enforcement Division at a cost of $5 each. Proceeds go to organizations such as Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH), helping pay for the processing of deer donated to the program by successful hunters. The venison is given to various food banks across Indiana.

In 2008, more than 75,000 pounds of donated meat to FHFH was processed into 300,216 meals. To order a 2009 SBF lapel pin, visit www.sbf.IN.gov

Four new counties host to EAB
The death march of Indiana’s ash trees advanced a little further with the recent findings of forestry biologists. Four new finds of the ash tree-killing emerald ash borer (EAB) were recently detected in Delaware, Harrison, Jay and Miami counties.

The new locations of infestation resulted from insects found in the EAB survey and trapping program. The EAB survey, which includes the hanging of purple panel traps in trees and girdled trap trees, is a cooperative effort of the Indiana DNR and the USDA.

Robert E. Carter Jr., director of the DNR, declared the four counties, in their entirety, quarantined for EAB. The pest has been found in localized areas of each county and the state entomologist, Phil Marshall, recommended movement within the county be limited in an effort to reduce the spread.

To view quarantined areas and EAB sightings in Indiana, go to the Interactive EAB Map online at www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/5349.htm
An EAB quarantine means regulated ash material may be moved within the affected county, but cannot be moved out of the county unless the shipper has entered a compliance agreement with the DNR or the material has been mitigated so it is incapable of spreading EAB.

Regulated materials include the EAB in any living stage of development, any ash tree, limb, branch or debris of an ash tree at least 1 inch in diameter, ash log or untreated ash lumber with bark attached or cut firewood of any non-coniferous species.

EAB, first found in Indiana in 2004, has now been identified in 30 Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, Blackford, Brown, DeKalb, Delaware, Dubois, Elkhart, Floyd, Grant, Hamilton, Harrison, Huntington, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lawrence, Marion, Miami, Monroe, Noble, Orange, Porter, Randolph, St. Joseph, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, White and Whitley.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments may contact Jack Spaulding by e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.

11/25/2009