Firearm safety - part 2

by Technical Advisor Brendan Atkinson

This is the time of year when many shooters take a break from work and head off to a favourite hunting spot. Many of these trips are planned months in advance and no detail is left to chance. Safety issues must also play a significant part of the preparation and execution of any hunting trip, as no-one wants their trip to end in tragedy.

The more people that there are in a hunting party, the more care that needs to be taken. While it is true that ‘you are your own safety officer’, when it comes to your own equipment (and the handling of it), some thought needs to be given as to how the hunting is to be conducted. It’s when hunters split up to cover more territory that accidents can happen.

It is imperative that hunters know exactly where all members of the party are at any time in the field. There are several ways of achieving this and visual contact is the most effective. Obviously when hunting pigs or goats in bushy situations, this is not always possible and extreme care must be taken.

The use of maps is strongly recommended and, if possible, keep a hill or ridgeline between shooters. In addition, carry UHF radios and keep track of everyone’s location. There are a number of small UHF units available from Dick Smith Electronics and Tandy that are very effective and economically priced.

Some hunters carry a GPS to log points of interest and perhaps mark the site of a downed animal when several trips to recover meat may have to be made. In the case of an accident, a GPS would be very handy to mark the site of an injured shooter as well.

Above all, establish safety rules before the hunting starts.