DNR credits drop in hunting accidents to safety courses

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says fewer Iowans are being injured or killed in hunting accidents. Sonny Satre oversees safety programs for the D-N-R and says a law requiring hunter safety education is paying off.He believes the hunter safety law that took effect in 1983 is the reason for the decrease in accidents and deaths. Satre says the number of hunting deaths has dropped from double to single digits. The law requires anyone born after January 1st of 1967 to take a hunter education course.Satre says there are 17-hundred volunteer instructors teaching the courses.The hunter education courses cover safe gun and bow handling, wildlife management, wildlife identification, survival, first aid and game care.