Idaho Accident Average Low

Analysis of Idaho’s five hunting-related accidents in 1997 has found some encouraging points.

“A continued decline in both fatal and non-fatal accidents puts Idaho at the rate of four accidents per 100,000 hunters - half the national average,” said Dan Papp, Idaho Fish and Game Department hunter education expert.

The five Idaho accidents included one fatality. Two of the accidents occurred in the Panhandle, two in the Clearwater Region and one in the Upper Snake region.

The fatal accident involved a big-game hunter whose rifle became caught on brush, and he pulled on the sling to free it, causing it to discharge. The hunter’s guide, who was on the trail ahead, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.

None of the victims of the accidents were mistaken for game, which is usually the reason for serious hunting accidents, Papp said. All of the accidents were the result of careless gun handling.

A hunter was wounded in the thigh after placing the muzzle of his .22-caliber rifle against his leg so he could read the lettering on the barrel.

A deer hunter accidentally discharged his rifle into the ground, spraying bullet fragments into the partner’s leg.

A grouse hunter fired a shot from a .22 rifle that glanced off the ground and struck his partner in the abdomen.

A deer hunter stopped his ATV near the pickup of other hunters. As he dismounted, the rifle discharged, striking one hunter in the arm. The bullet then splattered against the pickup tailgate, sending bullet fragments into another hunter.

Idaho’s 1997 hunting accidents are down more than 60 percent from the 1980s, when fatalities averaged 3.5 a year along with 7.7 non-fatal accidents. The yearly average for non-fatal hunting accidents was 35 during the 1960s and ‘70s. In the late 1990s, the average is four, Papp said.

Clam-digging dates expand , The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will open the Long Beach Peninsula beaches for three days of razor clam digging in February and two in March.

The dates are Feb. 26-28 and March 27-28. Digging will be on the evening tides only.

In addition, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches will open for clam digging in late March and early April. Digging will be confined to the morning tides.

The dates are March 29-31 and April 1-3.

Residents of Washington, ages 15-69, must have a 1998 shellfish/seaweed license to harvest clams. The daily limit is the first 15 clams dug, regardless of size or condition.

, DataTimes