Oh, what the heck. Here is the latest information on Hunting Related Shooting Incidents during Pennsylvania' s two-week rifle deer season:

" One pleasing development in the 2002 deer seasons has been the dramatic decline in the number of hunting-related shooting incidents (HRSIs) involving one hunter shooting another hunter in mistake for game, or where the victim was either in the line of fire or struck by a ricochet or stray shot. Of the 10 reported HRSIs, only one was a fatal incident involving a hunter shooting another in mistake for game and one non-fatal incident involving a hunter who shot another hunter who was in the line of fire. The remaining incidents involved hunters who were handling a firearm in an unsafe manner or accidentally discharged their firearm."

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/press/2002/nr115-02.htm

Now, we have nearly a million (that is 1,000,000) licensed hunters in Pennsylvania. Most of them hunt during the rifle deer season. With 10 HRSIs, that gives an accident rate of 1/100,000 hunters. Your chances of knowing someone who had a serious car accident are much higher. With only one (1) fatality, that makes it safer than walking down the streets of Philadelphia or New York, where it is much more likely that you will be killed by a knife-wielding assailant than it is that you would be killed during a deer hunting trip. Please note that Philadelphia has strict gun control, so I used a knife for comparrison. Since Phila has gun control, criminals don' t use guns, do they?

In summation, hunting is a safe sport. You are more likely to die while fishing, than to die from being shot while hunting. Fishermen drown much more frequently. Hmmmm. Could we have some fishing control?