Thursday, March 2, 2023 – 19:44

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer

This tree standis in woods on the outskirts of Altamont. Four hunters in New York State died after falling from tree stands. The Department of Environmental Conservation says it is not always notified when falls occur.

The 2022 hunting seasons tied with 2021 for the safest year, with the lowest number of hunting-related shooting incidents since record-keeping began, according to a Monday release from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

The DEC’s environmental conservation police officers investigated nine hunting-related shooting incidents in 2022, including one fatality.

However, four hunters died in 2022 after falling from tree stands.

For the past several years, the DEC has tracked and investigated elevated hunting incidents, formerly called tree-stand incidents. These incidents are underreported, the release said, and the DEC is not always notified when falls occur.

In 2022, the DEC received reports…