North Carolina’s Wildlife Resources Commission is seeing an increase in firearm-related hunting incidents in 2023, including five fatal shootings.

What You Need To Know

  • Five hunting fatalities were reported in North Carolina in 2023

  • That’s way more than in 2020-22, when there was one hunting death

  • This year there have been 14 hunting incidents in the state, 11 involving firearms

That’s more than the past three seasons combined — from 2020 through 2022, there was only one fatality.

Wildlife resource officers are discussing some simple precautions that hunters can take to stay safe in the wild.

Capt. Branden Jones has been with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission for more than 13 years. He has gone through the harrowing experience of investigating a fatal hunting incident.

“Especially when we have to go out and investigate these hunting incidents or come on the scene," he said. "We have to talk to a loved one and tell friends and family that a loved one's not coming home due to a hunting incident."

He emphasized three things all hunters should do:

  • Only point a firearm in a safe direction
  • Verify the target. If hunting deer, make certain it’s a deer before shooting
  • Wear blaze orange clothing in the woods because it’s very visible

Wildlife officials say the state ranks seventh nationally for licensed hunters with almost 604,000.

In 2023, there have been 14 hunting incidents in North Carolina, 11 involving firearms.