A deadly mix with alcohol

Press, 9 April 1981, Page 15

A deadly mix with alcohol

Every shooting season, some duck shooters bag their share of birds for the table. Yet some hunters never* get the chance to improve on their luck next season, falling victim to a fatal combination of guns, boats and alcohol. Some accidents are the result of drownings, others stem from a shooting accident, and some even involve both. All are tragically unnecessary where alcohol is involved. A tot of rum in a hip flask to ward off the morning cold is almost a traditional part of duck shooting. But it is one custom worth breaking, Drink seems to have a warming effect but this 5s mostly psychological; in fact, it increases the chances of someone who ends up in the water dying of exposure. The reason, as an accident investigating officer and adviser to the New Zealand Police Department explains:

“Blood vessels on the skin open up so there is much more heat loss.” Giving someone who is suffering exposure a good strong whisky far from warms them up. It is very dangerous and it could kill them. The tippling duckshooter is more likely to do something which, gets him into a hazardous situation because only a small amount of alcohol will affect his sense of sight, sound, and balance. Just a few swigs from a hip flask could be enough to cause a shooter to lose his balance and fall into a creek or lake and drown. A hasty shot at an unidentified target and he could end "iip shooting a friend. It is a worn-out phrase but a true one: Accidents do happen and they do not only happen to someone else. • Substitute a thermos of tea or coffee for that hip flask this season and survive the duck shooting.,