Here in IL we have our firearms opener next Friday. I thought I would start a thread where I will add a few safe hunting tips here and there.

Today I will offer these 2 tips.

1. Plan your hunt and hunt your plan.
Essentially what this means is let atleast one responsible party know where you are hunting and what time you plan to be safely out of the woods or back home. If you don't show up back home or call to let them know all is good, they will know where you were supposed to be and can start trying to locate you and save valuable time by not looking elsewhere.

2. Keep a whistle on yourself attached in an easily accessible location.
Use tornado type whistles with no moving pea as the peas type can freeze up in freezing temperatures due to moisture from your mouth. Keeping the whistle readily accessible allows you to more effectively signal for help should you need it as a whistle will carry much further than yelling. 3 blasts on a whistle is an international signal for help.

Hunt safe!