NWTF At-A-Glance: Turkey Hunting—Safer Than Ever
The NWTF Turkey Hunting Safety Task Force is composed of hunter safety coordinators and instructors, wildlife biologists, educators, legal experts, conservation officers, state agency administrators and representatives from the International Hunter Education Association, the NWTF and outdoor products industry. The Task Force first met in 1991 to develop a plan to complement the hunter safety efforts of state wildlife agencies, NWTF chapters, the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Though the Task Force is unable to gauge how much influence their actions have had in reducing turkey hunting incidents, numbers from their 1997 meeting, held at the NWTF's Wild Turkey Center, indicate that they are successfully reaching hunters with safety awareness. While turkey hunting is one of the safest hunting activities, and in fact one of the safest outdoor activities, this group met again in January 2005 to discuss how to make turkey hunting even safer.
- The NWTF formed the National Turkey Hunting Safety Task Force in 1991.
- Spring turkey hunting incidents resulting in emergency room visits have decreased since the formation of the task force from approximately 8.1 per 100,000 participants in 1992 to a low 2.95 per 100,000 participants in 2000. This decrease is phenomenal considering that the number of spring turkey hunters has increased by 60 percent during the same period.
- The NWTF has distributed more than one million pieces of hunting safety literature developed through the Task Force.
Turkey Hunting Success and Safety Curriculum—To further educate hunters about becoming even safer while turkey hunting and increasing their success in the field, the NWTF created a turkey hunting safety curriculum. The Turkey Hunting Success and Safety Curriculum is available to hunting safety instructors, JAKES educators and more. This state-of-the-art curriculum is available on CD and DVD. Educational tools include videos, Power Point presentations and lessons that teach students about turkey hunting and safety in a fun and active way.
Turkey Hunting Incident Report Form, developed by the NWTF and the International Hunter Education Association, has enabled more detailed record keeping of turkey hunting incidents. State-to-state comparisons of incident rates have helped safety experts determine the safest hunting practices. The NWTF also funded the creation of templates to standardize and improve accuracy of reporting incidents.
