Results From Minnesota DNR’s Hunting Incident Report
The Minnesota DNR has released its hunting incident report and the numbers from 2023 don't look bad. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says in total there were 11 reported incidents and no fatalities. Schmitt says of the eleven, 6 were self-inflicted which included accidents with loading and unloaded guns and dropping of a gun. He says the DNR always says 1 is too many so 11 isn't great but the amount of incidents could have been worse. Schmitt explains the average number of incidents in the past 5 years has ranged from 5-11 per year.
The DNR has their listings out now for firearms safety classes. If you are born after December 31, 1979 you are required to possess a firearms safety certificate in order to purchase a hunting license. Glen Schmitt explains there is also an online version of these safety classes. He says these classes tend to fill up fast so sign up quickly.
With the lack of people still participating in ice fishing due to the weather, there are some silver linings. Schmitt says there are a lot of fish that have been saved with panfish being the biggest benefactor. He says there are a lot of deep basin fish that weren't fished this winter because people couldn't put their fish house on that location. Schmitt says going into the spawn there will be a lot of fish that were just untouched. He says that could make for even better fishing once we get into the open water fishing season.
If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Glen Schmitt it is available below.
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