Firearm hunting season ramps up; authorities offer safety tips

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - Firearms deer season kicks off this weekend around the Show Me State and the following weekend in Illinois.

If you’re in a tree stand during hunting season, safety should be a top priority.

“It’s a big weekend,” Captain Russell Duckworth from the Missouri Department of Conservation said. “People plan their holidays, their vacations around deer season.”

The Missouri Department of Conservation said it is essential to be safe when you’re hunting.

“We have accidents every year where people fall out of tree stands and hurt themselves,” Duckworth said.

Bringing alcohol to deer camp is fine, but being responsible is important.

“As long as you are not traveling anymore, you’re not going to be hunting anymore that day, then you’re all fine and good,” Duckworth said.

“Once you get to deer camp and you’re enjoying an adult beverage after the hunt, don’t go back out and try to climb a deer stand,” Sergeant Clark Parrott with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Parrott said this can impact drivers.

“The deer population is rapidly expanding,” he said. “Deer are going to be on the move, we just encourage people to put their phones down, don’t drive distracted.”

Overall, being safe requires smart decisions

“Do it in a safe manner,” Parrott said. “We want this to be a time people remember and celebrate and enjoy it.”

“We want you to have a good time while you’re out in the woods, but we want you to be safe while doing it,” Duckworth said.

Last year the Missouri Department of Conservation reported four firearm-related injuries during deer season. All were self-inflicted and one was fatal.

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