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"Feb. 13, 2006, 12:05AM

Hunting-related accidents rare, state data show

29 incidents were reported in 2004, which had the lowest rate on record in Texas


By DOUG PIKE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Media feathers flew after the South Texas quail-hunting accident that involved Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday, but such incidents are rare, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department records show.

In 2004, Texas' 1 million-plus hunters were involved in 29 hunting-related accidents, four of which were fatal.

The overall accident rate, 2.7 per 100,000 licenses sold, is the lowest since TPWD began keeping accident records in 1966, when the rate was 12.6. From 1999 to 2003, the accident rate was 4.02 per 100,000 licenses.

The incident involving Cheney occurred at a South Texas ranch where the vice president and two companions were quail hunting. Cheney accidentally shot Austin lawyer Harry Whittington in the cheek, neck and chest after Whittington went to look in tall grass for a bird he had shot.

Statistically in Texas, shotgunners tend to be involved in the most hunting accidents — 19 of the 29, or 65 percent, in 2004.

That's because they typically are hunting in close proximity to others and shooting at low-flying, fast-moving targets. Their shotshells contain an average of 250-300 pellets (each barely the size of a pinhead for quail or dives) that scatter in an expanding, cone-shaped path after leaving the barrel.

Dove hunting resulted in more accidents than quail hunting this past year by more than a 3-to-1 margin.

Although Texas doesn't require them to do so, most quail hunters wear bright orange clothing to make themselves more visible.

Cheney and his two hunting companions all were wearing the orange vests when the accident occurred Saturday. Dove hunters, conversely, tend to wear camouflage or drab-colored clothing. Most bird-hunting accidents occur because the gunner swung on a dove or quail that was not in a safe firing zone.

Alcohol was a factor in only two of the 101 total hunting accidents reported during the past three years, TPWD records show.

Because these types of events are classified as "accidents," said John Rao, TPWD game warden, no charges are filed.

"The media may want to turn this (incident with Vice President Cheney) into something, but the fact remains that hunting is an extremely safe sport," said Slaton White, editor of SHOT Business magazine and a lifelong hunter."