Summary
Fifteen hunting accidents occuring during the past twenty years were investigated from North Rhine-Westfalia. Thirteen of these hunting accidents were firearm fatalities. All accidents happened during the legal hunting season with a peak in the main small game season. Most of the responsible parties (86 %) and victims (73 %) of the accidents were over 41 years old and experienced in hunting.
Thirty six per cent of all accidents were caused by the victims themselves; seven times the fatal firearm injuries were caused by rifle bullets (54 %), and six times by pellets (46 %). Accidents caused by shotgun bullets or handgun bullets were not registered. The most frequent factors responsible for the fatalities were: covering the victim while swinging on the game (31 %), the non-discharging of the firearm while descending from the raised hide, non-discharged firearms in vehicles (31 %), mistaking the victim for game (15 %), further carrying loaded firearms while beating down brush or otherwise negligence in the manipulation of the firearms (23 %). In no cases were defective firearms or ammunition responsible for the fatalities. In conclusion various aspects of accident prevention are discussed.
The victims of the man-slaughter incidents were mainly between 20–30 years of age (50 %) though no specific age was primarily represented. In 83 % of the cases the weapons used were illegally possessed handguns. In all cases several shots were fired at the victims, mainly to the head and chest/back. No injuries to the limbs of the victims were recorded. Also described is an incident of self defense ending in the death of the attacker.