2014 2nd Best Year for Safe Hunting in New York State

New York state officials say last year’s hunting season had the second-lowest number of shooting-related accidents on record.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says there were a total of 22 hunting incidents in 2014, including one fatality. Eight of the accidents were self-inflicted, 11 involved members of the same hunting party and three involved situations where the victim and shooter didn’t know each other.

The lowest number of hunting incidents, 19, occurred in 2013.

DEC officials say the state’s hunting incident rate continues to decline, with the past five-year average down to 4.3 incidents per 100,000 hunters.

Only incidents involving firearms, bows and crossbows are included in the state’s hunting accident statistics.