2009 IHEA Hunting Incident Academy

For immediate release: October 8, 2009
Contact: Tim Lawhern (608) 266-1317 timothy.lawhern@wisconsin.gov

Watch the news media coverage from ABC affiliate WTXL by following this link: 
http://www.wtxl.com/Global/story.asp?s=11276371

FWC: ‘CSI in the swamp’

The scene is disturbing. A lifeless body is in the woods. A 12-gauge shotgun is next to the dead, middle-aged man. Conservation law enforcement officers are notified and when they arrive, a man tells them he was hunting when he came upon the body. He had heard shooting prior to the discovery, but observed no one – other than the deceased. It is up to the officers to determine if this death is a result of natural causes, suicide, murder or an unwanted discharge of the victim’s firearm.

This is an actual case, which occurred in Iowa, re-created by the International Hunter Education Association (IHEA) for training. In the humid, damp woods of north Florida, the scenario is played-out by actors to help educate conservation officers on how to investigate hunting-related incident scenes in the field. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) hosted the training at the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy (Quincy) and the Joe Budd Aquatic Education Center (Midway), just outside of Tallahassee. The class of  36 is made up of fish and wildlife officers from around the country.

“Last year, hunting incidents in Florida doubled, and we want to change that,” said Bill Cline, director of hunting safety for the FWC. “We call this training ‘CSI in the woods’, or in Florida, ‘CSI in the swamp.’ This training helps us look for clues as to what happened at a hunting incident. If an injury or death could have been avoided, we want to pass on what we learned to hunters so they know how to avoid similar behavior.”
Like most any outdoor activity, there is the risk of injury. With firearms involved, the injury may be more serious. Nevertheless, nationwide, for every 100,000 hunters, there are only five hunter incidents. Overall, hunting is safe and Tim Lawhern, president and co-director of the IHEA, stands by this.

Lawhern has been with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for more than 20 years and knows a thing or two about hunting safety.

“International statistics indicate that the chance of a hunter getting killed while hunting is exactly the same as the chance of any person getting struck by lightning,” Lawhern said.
He also knows that not everything is as it appears.

“Sometimes a murder, suicide or attempted suicide is disguised as a hunting incident,” Lawhern said.

As was the case of the hunter finding the body. Evidence at the scene revealed that the man had committed suicide. He attempted to make his death look like a hunting accident so his wife and two children could collect on his life insurance policy. He was also religious and his religion forbids suicide.

In another re-created scenario, a Georgia conservation law enforcement officer is shot by a turkey hunter. The officer was checking to see if the hunter, accompanied by his unarmed daughter, was hunting over bait – which is illegal. The shooter shot at the officer from 28 yards away, believing he was shooting at a turkey.  The officer was hit on the lower part of his body and he nearly bled to death. Due to his injury, he was forced to retire. The hunter broke one of the cardinal rules for hunter safety – be certain of your target.

“There are four rules that every hunter, or anyone else with a firearm, needs to follow,” Lawhern said. “First, treat every firearm as if it were loaded, even if you think it is not. Second, always point the muzzle in a safe direction. Third, be certain of your target and what’s beyond it. And fourth, keep your finger outside of the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.”

For one instructor at the IHEA training, hunter safety is particularly personal. On two separate occasions, a decade apart, a hunter shot Capt. Mike Van Durme of the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation. The 34-year veteran was shot in 1986 by a man in a boat who was shooting frogs with a .22 rifle. The shooter didn’t see Van Durme who was in uniform and in plain view, standing on a dike. When the man shot at the frog, the shot ricocheted off the water and struck Van Durme in the ear.

Van Durme was more seriously injured when he was shot a second time in 1996 while he was hunting, off-duty. As Van Durme was walking through short grass, a deer ran between him and another hunter. Though Van Durme was wearing the required bright orange vest and hat, the hunter failed to look beyond the deer and fired. In an instant, Van Durme realized he was being shot at and turned away. The slug ran along his left shoulder. His injury could have been fatal, but his instantaneous reaction likely saved his life.

“It was my crime scene, but I was the victim,” Van Durme said. “The shooter was with four other people and when he realized what he did, he tossed his shotgun into the woods. I had to sort that out and make arrests – two of the hunters were felons and it is unlawful for felons to possess firearms.”

Though Van Durme made arrests and collected evidence immediately after being shot, nearly 24 hours later it hit him how close he had come to death.

“I was in my church choir the next day, singing the closing song,” Van Durme said. “Then I thought, I don’t want to be a part of this anymore – a victim, or having people congratulate me and telling me how great I was. I just felt my life energy leave me. Being shot is traumatic.”

It took a while for Van Durme to get back to hunting, but eventually he did. He uses his near-death experience to improve hunting safety.

“I’ve been instructing since 2000,” Van Durme said. “I instruct at every academy in my state and my incident has lead to a comprehensive 12-page report on hunting incidents.”

Though a stranger shot Van Durme, IHEA president, Lawhern says that in the majority of cases, a friend or family member shoots the victim. He also stresses that in one-third to one-half of the time, hunting-related shooting injuries are self-inflicted. These are the things that Lawhern and others who investigate shooting incidents have learned.

“Every crime scene should be investigated as if it were a member of your family,” Lawhern said.

FWC’s Cline agrees. “Hunting is a great sport,” Cline said. “We want everyone to come home from hunting safe and sound; bagging something is secondary to that.”