Hunter Safety is Priorty One

     Hunting season is here and the deer widows are already planning how they are going to spend their weekends alone for the next three months. The hunters have stocked the cabin larders, filled the feeders, laid out salt licks, and have sighted in their weapons of choice. The race to be first to turn in Requested Leave forms was topped only by the race to be first to get their deer stand into the best tree.

     Hunting is serious business here in Arkansas, and in America for that matter; it’s our heritage. A report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 6% of the US population (13.7 million people) went hunting in 2011. This is only counting those 16 and older. The total revenue was $38.3 billion…BILLION, in licenses, travel, equipment, etc. If you break that down per hunter, that’s nearly $3,000 per person. There’s another estimated 2 million hunters under the age of 16 that were not included in the report. The best figure in the report was 680,000. This is the number of jobs that rely on hunters doing what they love. These are biologist, and shopkeepers, hotel managers, taxidermist, feed companies, clothing manufacturers, and gun and bow manufacturers. I personally think that’s a low number. How many people work at Bass Pro and Cabella’s alone!? In some communities, hunting season keeps small businesses in the black until the next hunting season. Hunting is also responsible for conservation of wildlife and lands. “In the past century, hunters and their dollars have been the driving force behind the strong resurgence of game and non-game wildlife species.” This is a direct quote from Hunting in America, and it is through the close work of the USFWS and hunters that we are able to see alligators and blue birds in Arkansas again.

We here at the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office have put together a few guidelines to help keep you safe during your next hunt. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Benjamin Franklin. Some of the tips came from the Arkansas Game and Fish website, which is a wealth of useful information.

• If you were born after January 1, 1969, you have to complete a hunter’s education course and carry a valid hunter education card to hunt in Arkansas. Arkansas does reciprocate hunter education cards from other states. Exceptions:
• 16 year olds under direct supervision of an adult 21 or older.
• Hunters at least 16 years old and born after December 31, 1968 can hunt without a hunter education certificate as long as they are in the immediate presence of an adult who does possess a hunter’s education card. There are other stipulations, so see the website for more information.  
• Treat every gun as though it is loaded!
• Never climb a tree or fence, or jump a ditch with a loaded firearm.
• Never go hunting without telling someone where you’re going and when to expect you back.
• Buy a compass and learn to use it. Attach it to your jacket. Use it.
• Keep a fire starting kit on you always while in the woods.
• Put your phone in a waterproof case and take it with you. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
• Bears have made a resurgence in Arkansas, carry bear repellant.
• Do not take off your blaze until you are back at the campsite.
• Wear your safety harness while in the stand. Use ropes to safely load and unload the stand.
• Check the weather forecast before you head out. Ryan Vaughn can tell you how many layers of clothes you’ll need!

     This is a dangerous sport. We have to be vigilant out there, because it may be hours before help arrives and we are on our own until then. It is always in our best interest to approach hunting with a clear head and safety as our main goal, not just sticking a 12 point, 275lb buck with a single broad head, which would be pretty nice, too.

Thank you for letting us serve and protect you. It is a job that each of us loves and it is our honor to serve.

Sincerely,

Sheriff Marty Boyd