Bowhunting Safety

The two most important things to remember are BE PREPARED and DON'T PANIC. You need to be ready for survival situations the minute you leave your home, your camp or your vehicle. If you wait until you are wet, alone and lost before you think about survival, you are already in deep trouble! Think ahead.

Basic Survival Rules
If you remember to follow these simple rules, you will be prepared to survive almost any situation.

• Rule number one: Remain calm in an emergency. Avoid panic. Stay put! This is the most important rule of them all. Don't forget it!
• Rule number two: Never travel or hunt alone.
• Rule number three: Tell someone where you will be hunting and when you should be returning.
• Rule number four: Know the weather conditions in the area you will be hunting.
• Rule number five: Dress for the weather....but be prepared for worse weather!
• Rule number six: Although in this area of Texas extreme cold is rare, certain areas are exposed to cold temperatures. Avoid hypothermia! Know how to treat it if it strikes!
• Rule number six: Always carry a survival kit.
• Rule number seven: Know how to build a fire even when everything is wet. Carry the materials you will need.
• Rule number eight: Carry a map and compass and know how to use them!
• Rule number nine: Be prepared to deal with the enemies of survival!

Stay put if you are lost. Don't wander around and get yourself into deeper trouble. If you let somebody know where you were going to hunt, they'll be looking for you in that area. Aimless wandering will only make the search more difficult. Rescue teams are trained to find you, so stay put!

Plan ways to signal for help. A signal mirror, smoke from a fire, anything available can all be used

Planning Your Hunt
You should always plan your hunt. Buy and study maps of the area. Try to visit the hunting area before the season begins so you can learn more about it.
You should never hunt alone. Always hunt with others, and always be careful when choosing hunting partners! Make sure your partners are safe hunters with the basic knowledge of how to survive in the woods!
Stay out of dangerous or unfamiliar areas, such as cliffs, slide areas and iced over lakes or streams.

Notify Others Of Your Plans
Make sure that other people know where you are hunting and when you plan to return. Search and rescue teams only look for people that they know are lost! If you should become lost, nobody will look for you unless they know you are lost. Tell friends and family about your hunting plans. When you are out hunting, you can also leave a note in your car, truck or camp about your hunting plans for that day. Be sure to note if you change your plans. If there is a place to register, such as a ranger station, do so.
Know The Weather Conditions In Your Hunting Area The weather at home and the weather in your hunting area may be very different! Check the weather forecast before you leave and be sure that your hunting clothes are suitable for the weather. Some of our worst weather is during hunting season. Be prepared for it! Cotton clothes and blue jeans are terrible to wear in wet, windy weather. Cotton actually makes you feel colder in such weather. Wool clothes, and some modern synthetic fabrics, provide warmth even when wet.

Be Prepared For Worse Weather!
Weather conditions can change quickly during the hunting season. A light rainfall can turn into a freezing rain in just a few minutes. Three feet of snow can fall overnight. Temperatures can drop 30 to 40 degrees in just a few hours or even a few minutes in some places. You need to be prepared to survive the worst weather conditions.
Weathermen forecast the weather, but the forecasts can change very quickly. Choose clothes that will handle the weather. One way to prepare for the worst conditions is to use the layering principle. You wear or carry with you several layers of clothing.

• As weather conditions change, you add or remove additional layers.
• Remember: Clean wool clothing has open air spaces to hold in warm air.
• Overheating causes perspiration and wet clothing means cold!
• Layer your clothes. Control your body temperature with easy on, easy off clothing.
• Dry wool clothing is your best insulation.

Hypothermia is usually caused by one of two conditions:

• Exposure to body sweat, cold, wet, and wind; or
• Falling into water.

1. Keep warm,
2. Keep hydrated (drink plenty of liquids), and
3. Keep eating (to maintain body warmth).

• Violent shivering
• Difficulty in speaking
• Stiff muscles
• Unconsciousness/fatigue

Mild Hypothermia

• Cover the victim's head.
• Provide dry clothes; remove wet.
• Provide warm liquids (if victim is conscious).
• Provide rest in a shelter near a heat source.

• Send for qualified medical help.
• Provide warm liquids (if victim is conscious).
• Handle gently! The victim is very sensitive during this stage.
• Cover victim's head.
• Cover victim with good insulation.
• Place warm objects near the victim's chest, neck and head. Use your own body (skin to skin, if necessary) to help warm the victim.
• Continue to provide warmth until EMTs, doctors or other qualified medical aid arrives.
• Don't give up even if the victim appears dead!
• Watch for signs of shock.

A basic survival kit could include the following items:

BASIC SURVIVAL KIT

• Water-proof matches/lighter
• Signal mirror
• Fire starter/candles
• Pocket knife
• Wire saw
• Whistle
• Flashlight/extra batteries
• Tube tent/large
• Plastic bag
• Rope/string
• First Aid material(s)
• Emergency blanket
• Map/compass
• Emergency food/water
• Deck of cards
• Cup/pot/water tablets

Fire Building Skills
If you are alone, lost or in a survival situation, fire is really man's best friend. A fire can keep you warm, and you can use it to signal for help. A good fire will also help keep you calm and allow you to cook. It will keep you busy as you wait for help to arrive!
Of course, you will need the skill to build a fire. You will need three things to start a fire: (1) A source of heat to start a fire; (2) Tinder and kindling to get the fire going; and (3) Fuel to keep the fire burning. In your survival kit you should have at least one ready source of heat either waterproof matches or a disposable lighter. You should also have some type of fire starter in your survival kit. You will need to find kindling and fuel to build the fire. You should find these items before you start to make your fire!
You will need about ten large armloads of firewood to keep a small fire going all night. Collect your firewood before dark! It's often very wet during hunting season, but there are many materials which will burn in such conditions. If you do not have very good fire building skills, you may need to add some additional materials to your survival kit to help you get a fire started in wet, hunting season conditions.

Disease And Illness
"Don't drink the (untreated) water!" is a good rule of thumb when hunting or hiking. Bring your own, safe supply of drinking water, or boil or treat water before drinking it. You may think that the water five miles from the nearest road has to be pure....but both man and animals carry disease! 'Beaver fever' (giardiasis) is a very unpleasant illness that is easily avoided: Drink only water that you carry in or treat.
Wild animals serve as the host to a variety of parasites, but very few of them become problems for hunters. However, wildlife transmitted diseases have been reported in Washington in recent years, including Lyme disease and bubonic plague. While these are not common, they are potentially present. Check your body for bites and unusual marks if you notice a large number of ticks on an animal you have just harvested. Visit a doctor if you have come into contact with wild animals and experience unusual symptoms after returning from a hunting trip.

Fight The Enemies Of Survival
People who are unprepared for outdoor emergencies may be beaten by these "enemies of survival". Don't let them beat you!

• Loneliness
• Pain
• Cold
• Fear
• Thirst
• Boredom
• Hunger
• Fatigue

Plan your hunt, prepare your survival kit properly, be prepared on every front and have a great hunt this season! See you there!

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