Fatal land hunting-related injuries in the Eastern Black Sea region-Turkey

BACKGROUND: Hunting requires the use of various weapons or tools as professionals according to the characteristics of the creature to be hunted. Deaths during hunting activities may occur as a result of different reasons (firearm wounds, falling from a height, wild animal attack, or natural, etc.). These events’ forensic reports are prepared by the physician who performed the first intervention. Identification of wounds, taking measurement photographs of the wounds before treatment, specifying the shape/sizes of foreign bodies in radiological imaging will be beneficial for determining the type of firearm, the number of shots, and the shooting distance. METHODS: The cases that performed autopsy between 2007 and 2016 at The Council of Forensic Medicine Trabzon Group Chairmanship were analyzed, retrospectively. Twenty-six (4.1%) deceased were examined. Crime scene investigation reports, hunting equipment, wound characteristics, and causes of death were investigated. RESULTS: All of our cases consisted of men (92.3%; n=24) with a mean age of 42.5 years (14–81; SD: ± 17.4). It was determined that 42.3% of the incidents occurred in winter, 80.8% (n=21) occurred in the daytime, 69.2% occurred in open areas such as fields, and 26.9% occurred in forested land. It was found that 88.5% of the deaths were caused by shotgun pellet/buckshot injuries, 7.7% (n=2) by falling off a cliff, and 3.8% by wild boar attacks (vascular injury). It was determined that 57.7% of the shots were made from long shooting distance, 19.2% were made from close range, and 11.5% were made from contact distance. It was found that 73.9% of the perpetrators were other hunters and 26.1% were the deceased person himself. It was determined that 42.3% of the injuries occurred in the chest and 38.4% in the head-and-neck region. It was determined that 96.2% of the cases did not undergo first aid intervention even though there were eyewitnesses in approximately ¾ of the cases. Ethyl alcohol was detected in only 3 cases (11.5%). CONCLUSION: It is thought that similar deaths can be prevented to a certain extent thanks to the hunting and medical first aid training to be given by the local governments. Risk control mechanisms must work properly. Besides, it is necessary to ensure that forensic experts can access the results of the proceedings in such cases. It is thought that this will be more beneficial in terms of developing new behavior styles in similar events.