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---- — On the day before about 700,000 or so Michigan residents head into the woods Thursday morning looking to bag a deer, a few words:
- Don't go outside without some blaze orange on.
- Unload your gun on your way to and from your blind or tree stand.
- Have your license with you, not back in the cabin.
- Put your rifle down before crossing a downed tree or a fence.
- Unload your rifle or shotgun before you climb down from your tree stand or step out of the blind.
- Don't, of course, take any alcohol into the woods.
- Don't overdo it the night before; hangovers make you clumsy and forgetful, things not to be in the woods with a deer rifle in your hands.
- Be sure you know what you're shooting at before you take aim.
- Take it easy. If you don't already walk a couple miles a day every day, don't expect to be able to do it loaded with gear and dragging a deer. More people die from physical problems like heart attacks than accidental shootings.
- Be happy to be out in the woods and have fun.
