Also, will allow younger hunters to shoot deer
The state Department of Environmental Conservation on April 9 released statistics for the 2020 hunting season.
The DEC said that while more than 600,000 people had obtained hunting licenses, it documented only 22 gunshot injuries, including three fatalities. Thirteen of the injuries were self-inflicted, including the fatalities, and nine involved two parties. The agency also recorded 13 tree-stand injuries, including a fatality.
Gunshot injuries were up from 2019, when only 12 incidents were reported, although that was a record low. “All of these incidents could have been prevented if hunting safety rules had been followed,” the DEC said. In seven of the nine incidents involving two people, the victims were not wearing orange or pink.
The state this month expanded its licensing to allow 12- and 13-year-olds to hunt deer with a firearm or crossbow under the supervision of an experienced adult in upstate counties that pass a law to permit it.
