New York State officially went one year without a fatal hunting accident for the first time in decades.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced that for the first time in more than 60 years, the 2015 hunting season in New York had no hunting-related shooting deaths.

People in the U.S. hunt 228 million days per year, and very rarely do fatalities not happen at least once or twice in that time.

New York State began keeping record on hunting statistics in the 1950s, and every year since then there has been at least one hunting death.

Basil Seggos, the DEC Commissioner, told the Democrat and Chronicle, “Hunting is a strong and economically important tradition that continues to be safely enjoyed by many in New York state, and I commend hunters of all ages for maintaining high standards in hunting safety.”

“The trend of declining hunting accidents is proof that our hunter safety education programs are working,” Seggos said.

In all of 2015, only 23 hunting incidents were reported, which is the third-lowest on record for the state. Rochester only reported three incidents. DEC officials believe that these incidents are declining because of a steady decrease in the number of people actually hunting.

Over the last 50 years, the number of hunters dropped by 20%, and the total incident rate has declined by almost 80%.

Hunter safety is still the most important aspect taught by hunting instructors, and they are hopeful these incidents will continue to trend downward.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a person is more likely to be injured while playing volleyball, cheerleading, or riding a bicycle than while hunting.

Hunters should wear orange reflective gear, keep fingers off triggers until they are ready to fire, identify their targets before they shoot, and assume every firearm is loaded at all times.