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Show YOU CAN HELP: To catch a f Iiiof or trunk of their car. Since a shot is not possible unp-those unp-those circumstances, it is only asking for trouble to keep the gun loaded. When in doubt, always take the safe, conservative action. When you wonder whether you should unload unload! un-load! When you wonder whether you should shoot or not don't! 5. Quit when you get tired The safe hunter is alert at all times. He kows that fatigue creates accidents through clumsiness and carelessness. It can make you see things which are not there or which are not what they seem to be. When you are tired and realize that your reflexes may not be all they should be quit. 6. Store all firearms and ammunition safely. When not in use, firearms fire-arms should be stored in a locked compartment. Ammunition Am-munition should also be locked away, but stored separately from the guns. When different types of am -munition are stored together, togeth-er, each kind should be kept in a separate container to avoid the danger of mixing. No gun should be brought into the house unless it is unloaded, and it should be stored that way. The prin -ciple of safe storage is simply that it should never be possible for the gun to be fired accidentally or for the wrong person to get the gun and ammunition at the same time. 7. Always carry a first aid kit. There should be no question ques-tion as to whether a hunter going into the field should carry a small first aid kit. Anyone with experience in the outdoors knows the value of this precaution. The kit should be basic, effective and the contents completely familiar to the hunter. It is also a good idea to carry along a pocket pock-et -sized first aid manual. 8. Know how to handle your gun. No accident was ever prevented pre-vented by a rule of firearms fire-arms safety. Firearms accidents ac-cidents are averted when the people who handle guns care enough to behave in a safe, cautious manner. This assumes that the hunter knows what the safe thing to do is under the circum -stances and has the physical physi-cal skill to do it. the violators have disappeared, disap-peared, your good report will aid significantly in following fol-lowing up on the transgression. transgres-sion. -Proper Handling of Gun-The Gun-The Proper handling of a gun is the key to hunting hunt-ing safety. Hunters could substantially reduce the number of hunting accidents acci-dents merely by employ ing the principles of sensible sensi-ble and safe gun handling. Most mishaps could be avoided if hunters knew and observed the simple safety rules of holding and pointing point-ing a gun. Here are a few rules which can helpelimi-nate helpelimi-nate most hunting tragedies: trage-dies: 1. Treat every gun as if were loaded, at all times. A safe gun -handler will always check every firearm fire-arm by opening the action and feeling inside the breech or chamber to make sure it's unloaded. Never take another person's word for safety. Assume the responsibility re-sponsibility youself. 2. Always keep the muzzle muz-zle in a safe direction. Never forget the possibility possi-bility of an accidental discharge. dis-charge. A careless move, a sudden fall, and the gun could go off. But if the gun isn't pointed at anyone, no one will be injured. A safe hunter will never allow the muzzle to point at himself him-self or members of his party and is constantly aware of muzzle direction. 3. Be sure of your target tar-get and what's beyond. Before you aim and fire a gun, you must have identified iden-tified your target absolutely. abso-lutely. Make sure that you have full view of the target, tar-get, if necessary, and never nev-er shoot at a sound, movement, move-ment, or patch of color. A safe hunter is willing to pass up a shot rather than take the slightest chance of being wrong. You should also be certain cer-tain of what lies beyond the target. I f you miss, will the bullet land safely? Be familiar with your surroundings sur-roundings and know general gener-al locations of houses, livestock live-stock and roads. 4. Unload all firearms when not in use. Consideration must also be given to unloading the firearm in situations where it seems more "convenient" "conven-ient" to keep it loaded and "ready." careless hunters have been known to put a loaded gun in the back seat If a thief took your silverware,, sil-verware,, you would, no doubt, be, more than ready to prosecute. If the hunter hunt-er illegaFtakeS j-A' deer or too m&mjj birds- hes taking your property; and you can help stop him. First of all, yoik must be aware that anyone who I blatantly disobeys wildlife laws will,in all probability, have a weapon with him. Because of that, a citizen's arrest may be a bold move, but could be dangerous. Don't be foolhardy. What you should do is this: Observe and record as much detail about the incident as possible. That should include full description descrip-tion of those involved: race, sex, color of hair and eyes, clothing,' height, weight (estimate the best that you can) and age; types of weapons; wea-pons; kinds of animals involved; in-volved; and, if possible, location lo-cation and time. If a vehicle is used and you see it, write down the license plate number, the make and model, and the. color. Again, if someone else is driving, he (or she) is an acessory and his (or her) description is important. im-portant. The next important step is getting imformation to law enforcement authorities. authori-ties. If you are hunting with someone, have them stay at the scene to deep an eye on the situation. Get yourself to the closest telephone. Dial the operator opera-tor and ask to be connected connect-ed with the nearest law enforcement agency highway patrol, sheriff's Office or local police. Be sure to say you are reporting re-porting a "... . crime in progress." This gets action. ac-tion. These agencies will get the information to the area wildlife officers, or they may be able to assist until wildlife officers can come to the area. When talking to the agency, give the who, what, when and where. Don't hang up. Other information may be needed. When all the details de-tails are given as requested, request-ed, return to the general area of the offense and wait for the officers to arrive. ar-rive. Stay inconspicuous. When the officers arrive, ar-rive, stay out of the way. If more information is needed, you will be asked for it. Whichever officer arrives first will know what j action to take under the existing conditions. Even if |