20 injured, no deaths in 2011 hunting seasons

DES MOINES (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigated 20 incidents involving injured hunters in 2011, virtually unchanged from recent years, but there were no hunting-related deaths in 2011, down from a single fatality last year.

Megan Wisecup, a DNR recreational safety program supervisor, says most of the hunting incidents happened during shotgun deer season when a hunter focused on a deer and not on what’s beyond their target. As a result, she says people get shot.

Several injuries happened without shooting at an animal.