I agree it's lazy reporting, Chad. But it also brings up the interesting topic of the relative health of hunters and other sportsmen/athletes.

Just a fer instance...I go to my favorite local sporting goods store to buy a golf shirt, I take an L. Bicycle jersey, I take an XL or even XXL if it's a Euro cut. But hunting garb? I'm a Medium.

In Larry Benoit's old classic book, he wrote he ran 5 miles d day and did calisthenics to stay in top shape for deer season. Of course, Benoit hunted harder than 99% of the guys in the woods. But when I think about it unscientifically (pay me a buck a word and I'll do unlazy reporting), I'd say the hunters I know, on average, are decidedly not in the shape my cycling and running friends are.

Chad

I agree with your premise thet the 'reporter' took a lazy way out. I agree that stereotyping hunters as drunken yahoos who blast away; through alcohol-fogged eyes, at the slightest rustle of leaves is preposterous!

That said, Dr. Good made a few valid suggestions including not hunting alone and carrying a means of communication. Not exactly sure what they mean by having an exit plan though - I bet they heard it in some political rhetoric and thought it sounded good! Knowing your limitations would be another good peice of advice even if we do push ourselves a bit past them sometimes.
SA

Hmm. Despite the composition, the main claims -- that heart attacks are the chief risk for hunters -- and that some hunters add to their risk by stressful behavior like drinking seems well-supported.

Probably few do binge drink before a hunt (I don't drink at all when hunting), but I've encountered hunters, usually road hunting (which is illegal but probably not as challenging on their circulation) who were so "binged" that you could smell the whiskey from ten feet away.

Meant to add that I also believe that hunters ARE more likely to die of heart attacks than hunting accidents of any sort. There have been several well run studies which back that claim. I can't cite statistics from any particular study but all three hunters whom I have personally known of dying while hunting died from heart attacks.
SA

I do agree that heart attacks are a risk for hunters, but no more a risk than any other activity that requires physical exertion.

How many people die of a heart attack while shoveling snow in the winter?

Its CNN. Based on their biased election coverage I don't think you can count on them to be fair and balanced as any good journalist should be on any story they cover.

So ridiculous...my husband would never consider consuming alcohol before going hunting. A, it's always "safety first" with him. B, he's modeling appropriate hunting behavior for our two sons.

And the PETA-CNN thing is just silly. The most virile, masculine men I know are the ones who can confidently provide meat for their families without having to drive to Wal-Mart to do so. They are also the ones we women find most attractive. Isn't there some saying about pointing out supposed deficiencies in others to hide your own insecurities and, in this case, "shortcomings"? Hmmm...sounds like PETA to me...

I always thought that alcohol thinned the blood, therefore making it much easier to pass through my "clogged arteries". Thus my mentality of saving the beer drinking activities after hunting should possibly be changed to the night before the hunt (I guess this is the perfect reason to mix alcohol and guns, something I was taught well before my drinking years to never do). I am glad to see that CNN and the diehard PETA activists are looking out for my health which will make me a much more productive hunter for a much longer time.

Come on guys, it's really not that unheard of for people to drink it up the day/night before the season opens. If you put it into perspective it makes sense. For many people opening day is a vacation day. We take work off, sometimes drive long distances and have been looking forward to the hunt for most of the year. That being said the celebratory drinking the day before the hunt is not like Spring break in Florida. If you binge drink that hard you're not going to make it to your spot before light and not likely to be that alert either. I have a feeling it's only the rookies getting drunk to the point of having additional health risks. Us old timers tend to have a beer or two the night before and probably are more likely to pull beer out of the cooler to make room for a quartered deer.

I can't stop laughing. Two pithy thoughts:

1. Dr. Eric Good has a point on heart disease and increased risk factors associated with seasonal physical exertion, but the link to partying it up the night before opening day is silly. I've been hunting my whole life and never have had or gone to an opening eve kegger.

2. PETA is just being PETA. It's funny how they channel their aggression and project it on hunters. Their members' members must be really small and inadequate. I wonder what the gene looks like for overtly agressive vegans with pent up rage and disassociative behavior?

The article stated that a heart attack is 3 times more likely to kill than a gunshot wound. It didn't say that this statistic referred to the rate of hunters having heart attacks and dieing compared to firearms rates among hunters... just that given a gunshot wound vs. heart attack, the heart attack is harder to survive.

While hunters have been accused of going to the woods to play cards and drink by no less than Mario Cuomo, then governor of NY State, one accusation that appears more founded is that, as a group, we're getting older, and often aren't in great shape. And, yeah, getting drunk the night before does stress your system when you try to do physical activity the next day.

Bottom line is that, taken at face value and near-insults aside, the advice to watch ourselves and take heart attack symptoms seriously isn't bad advice.

I consider myself a pretty fit young hunter. 19, play hockey, socker, ultimate frisbey. I bike a few miles 4 times a week, and walk a few miles across campus every day. I'll whoop my Dad's butt on a jog anyday. But last weekend I got my first chance to pack a big steel climber into the woods. I only had about 300 yards in ad 300 yards back out, but my calves were sore all week. I could have however, sat atop my truck and shot at deer as my dogs ran them across the road. Hunting can be as lazy or physical as you make it. I usualy make it tough, but even what sounds easy can be hard. "Just walk 300 yard" sounds easy, but it beat me so much more than a "carry a pound and a half of ammo, a 6# shotgun and walk 4 miles waist deep in mud across the lake bottom" snipe hunt.