Twenty accidents involving hunters and firearms marred an otherwise wonderful year of hunting in North Dakota.

The good news is that none of the accidents were fatal.

The bad news, though, remains the high number of accidents.

"That's the highest since I've been here," said Jim Carter, hunter education supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, who has 16 years in the job.

North Dakota recorded only three hunting-related accidents in 1999 and again in 2002, Carter added.

The first accident of 2007 came on the year's first day and involved a pheasant hunter posting in a ditch and being hit by a hunting partner firing at a rooster.

The year's last accident happened on Dec. 2 and also involved pheasant hunters. One eager hunter swung on a bird and failed to see his partner.

Of the 18 accidents in between, six involved rifles and the other 12 involved shotguns.

In all, a dozen accidents - or "incidents," as Carter prefers to call them - involved upland bird hunters, mostly hunting pheasants. Most of those involved either one hunter out of sight of his hunting partner or partners when he was shot or a hunter swinging on a flushing ringneck and failing to notice a hunting partner in the line of fire.

Deer hunters accounted for three accidents. Another three involved waterfowl hunters. A spring turkey hunter and a coyote hunter accounted for the other two.

Five of the accidents involved self-inflicted wounds, including one accidental discharge in a vehicle. In another "inside-the-vehicle" discharge, one hunter was placing a rifle in the vehicle when it discharged, striking a someone already seated in the vehicle.

The other four accidents came as a result of "careless handling of a firearm." Examples ranged from climbing a hay bale with a loaded firearm, rising from a layout blind and pulling the trigger prematurely, releasing the exposed hammer on a rifle and having it discharge and calling ducks under a burlap cover and having the shotgun discharge.

In the turkey hunting accident, one hunter was stalking a turkey in a hunched over position when his partner mistook him for a turkey and shot him.

In most of the accidents, the shooter and the victim were members of the same hunting party.

But in one instance, a farmer trying to move waterfowl out of his field, fired his rifle into what turned out to be goose decoys and hit a hunter.

Ages of the shooters and victims were all over the board. A 45-year-old accidentally shot a 20-year-old, and a 13-year-old accidentally shot a 48-year-old.

The oldest victim was 82, and the youngest victim was 17. The two oldest shooters were 58, and the youngest shooter was 13.

"Forget about double-checking. How about triple-checking. We need to make safety with guns a way of life," Carter said.

(Reach outdoor writer Richard Hinton at 701-250-8256 or richard.hinton@bismarcktribune.com.)