Hunting Incidents

When in the field, it should be your priority above all else to prevent hunting incidents. For AZGFD purposes, a hunting incident occurs when a hunter directly or indirectly causes personal injury or death while using a firearm or bow.

There are four main causes of hunting incidents:

1. Hunter Judgment Mistakes

This would include mistaking another hunter for game or neglecting to check what is beyond or in front of your quarry before shooting. This could also include overestimating the distance another bird hunter is from you in the field.

2. Safety Rule Violations

Most commonly these violations manifest when a hunter points the muzzle in an unsafe direction or ignores proper safety procedures for crossing obstacles such as fences.

3. Lack of Control and Practice

When hunters are unfamiliar with their equipment and have not practiced enough, they are prone to safety incidents such as accidental discharges and misuse of equipment resulting in damage and injury.

4. Mechanical Failure

Failure of your equipment may result from the use of improper ammunition, misuse and lack of proper maintenance of your firearm or bow, from barrel obstructions or any other firearm or bow mechanism or ammunition failure.

Plan for what incidents you may encounter when afield and practice habits that will help you build automatic safe responses when confronted with any unplanned or uncontrolled incident.