
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 2, 1994                   TAG: 9412020075
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HUNTING SEASON DEADLY FOR HUNTERS

Charles Gee was dressed from head to toe in camouflage as he crept through a forest west of Richmond on the morning of Nov.16, hoping to bag a wild turkey. Instead, he became one of seven fatalities that have made this hunting season the most dangerous in Virginia in nearly a decade.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Gee blew his turkey call and a shot rang out, striking the 49-year-old hunter in the back and killing him. State game officials said the shot was fired by Gee's hunting partner, who had mistaken Gee for a turkey.

The other hunter ``heard the turkey call and saw movement in the wooded area,'' said Rex Hill, head of hunter education for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. ``He is very shook up over this situation.'' No one has been charged in the Powhatan County incident, which is still under investigation.

Gee was one of seven Virginia hunters who have been killed in the last three weeks while stalking deer, turkey and small game. That is the largest number of hunting fatalities in Virginia since 1986, and the official hunting season doesn't end in most of the state until January.

``If people would follow the safety rules and the laws as well, that rate would be down,'' said Larry Hart, assistant director of the state game department, which regulates the estimated 381,000 hunting licenses sold each year in Virginia. ``If they do that, we probably won't have six or seven deaths; we'll have none.''

At least four hunters in rural parts of the state were shot by other hunters - usually friends or relatives - who mistook the victims for game animals, officials said. In the other three cases, hunters were killed when their weapons discharged accidentally. More than two dozen nonfatal hunting accidents also have been reported this year.

State game officials said they haven't seen this number of hunting deaths since the General Assembly began requiring hunters to wear bright orange clothing during the six weeks or so of the season that are reserved for hunters using rifles and shotguns.

During the ``primitive weapons'' seasons, which start earlier in the fall, hunters are not required to wear bright orange when using bows and arrows and old-fashioned guns called muzzleloaders. Most of this year's deaths, including that of Gee, occurred during the primitive-weapons seasons. Gee's hunting partner was using a muzzleloader.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB