By Eric Nuse, EVP  International Hunter Education Association

How good an observer are you? Quickly read the following sign and cover it with your hand.

Turn the page and write down what it said in the margin of your book.

Now compare the two - are they exactly the same?

If you are like most people you missed the double "the." This is similar to what happens to a hunter looking for a buck. Mistaken for game shootings happen when a hunter only sees a few pieces of a deer and jumps to the conclusion that it is a deer. Most of the time they are right, but when they are wrong and have intentionally aimed and fired the results are catastrophic. Every year hundreds of intelligent and responsible hunters, just like you, get fooled.

Try this puzzle. Write down how many triangles you can find in the following graphic:

The definition of a triangle is a plane figure that is bounded by three straight lines and has three angles. So the answer is there are no triangles in this graphic. The human brain is pretty amazing. We ask it to find something and it does - even if it isn't there.

The take home message for you're students is you don't have to be crazy to "see" what is not there. Everyone can be fooled. I think the best way to drive this message home is to have them experience being fooled in a safe, controlled, non-threatening way, such as just happened to you. This is also a good time to relate a short, to the point, personal "war story".  Such as when you grew antlers on the stump near your tree stand and what you did next.

After experiencing the difference between perception and reality, your students should be ready for the following messages:

• Never shoot until you are sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that your target is safe and legal. The best way to do this is wait until it moves and gives you a new set of "pieces". Use your binoculars, move yourself, or wait for better light are also strategies you can use. One way to think of it is to assume every living creature is a person until you prove it differently.
• Hunt defensively - wear hunter orange, and if you see another hunter coming into your area- remain still, call out and let them know you are a hunter and where you are. Don't wave, whistle or make animal sounds. Remember safety first!
  We can all be fooled.  It is what you do after being fooled that makes all the difference between a great day in the woods and disaster.

This article was adopted from the New England Hunter Education Manual, 2nd edition with permission from Outdoor Empire Publishing