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Case: Hunt safely this spring, and for years to come

Staff photo by Robin Rudd / A male wild turkey, in breeding plumage, struts along Moccasin Bend Road as his harem remains at the edge of the forest in early March. Tennessee's spring turkey hunting season starts in mid-April, but that offers plenty of time for hunters to remind themselves of the rules for a safe and successful venture into the woods.
Staff photo by Robin Rudd / A male wild turkey, in breeding plumage, struts along Moccasin Bend Road as his harem remains at the edge of the forest in early March. Tennessee's spring turkey hunting season starts in mid-April, but that offers plenty of time for hunters to remind themselves of the rules for a safe and successful venture into the woods. Staff photo by Robin Rudd / A male wild turkey, in breeding plumage, struts along Moccasin Bend Road as his harem remains at the edge of the forest in early March. Tennessee's spring turkey hunting season starts in mid-April, but that offers plenty of time for hunters to remind themselves of the rules for a safe and successful venture into the woods.

By Larry Case 7 min read

My brothers and sisters in camo, I would start today’s little sermon to you with a heartfelt confession: I have been remiss in recent months regarding talking to you about safety.

I try to keep you informed about what is going on in the outdoors world with current events, the scoop on new shotguns and other gear, and I dare say that once in a while we have a little fun here. (I sure hope so!)

But the fact remains that I should remind us once in a while how to be safe out there. I hope you won’t hold all this against me. Please remember it comes from my background of 36 years as a DNR officer. I was around as many or more hunting-related shootings, boat wrecks, drownings, tree-stand accidents and other tragedies in the great outdoors as anyone I know. So I hope you understand that I feel it is part of my duty as your humble outdoors scribe.

Tennessee’s spring gobbler season starts April 15 (two weeks later than last year), and the Young Sportsman Hunt is taking place this weekend, so this needs to be said.

Several years ago, hunting accidents during the spring gobbler season in my area occurred far too often. To put a finer point on it, even one incident in a season is too many, but thank goodness we are nowhere near the number of turkey hunting incidents of 20 years ago.