There were 12  hunting-related incidents last year that were reported to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, with 2 of them resulting in deaths. 

        Hunter Education Coordinator Mike Streeter says all the incidents occurred because one or more participants were not following safety rules

        Streeter says 11 of the incidents involved firearms....7 with a shotgun, three a rifle, and one a hunter shot by an unknown person with an unknown firearm. The other incident was a fall from an elevated stand

         The incidents were almost evenly divide among the types of animals being hunted.

      Four occurred while hunting upland birds, three while hunting deer, two while hunting waterfowl, two while hunting furbearers, and one while hunting nongame animals.

      Street says that historically, the most common cause for a hunting incident in Nebraska is a shooter swinging a shotgun on a flying game bird and firing but hitting a hunting companion instead.

       The full Nebraska 2011 Hunting Incident report is available online at huntsafenebraska.org. Just click on the link for Hunting Incident Report.