To improve outdoor safety in general and the Hunter Safety Program in particular, 879 reported search and rescue incidents involving lost outdoor recreationists conducted by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department for 1974 to 1979 were studied. Data indicated that most incidents involved hikers (45%) and hunters (18%), occurred on clear sunny days during summer and fall, and resulted from persons becoming disoriented in the woods in late afternoon or early evening, and that only 5% of all lost outdoor recreationists, 17% of hunters, and 1% of hikers had graduated from a hunter safety course. Questionnaires returned by 83 of the 151 lost hunters indicated percentages who were deer hunting (83%), in familiar territory (54%), with companions (74%), and graduates of hunter safety classes (46%) when becoming lost. Recommended improvements in New Hampshire's Hunter Safety Program that might reduce the number of lost hunters were: map and compass training; slide programs on shelter building, firemaking, and medical self-help; guest appearances by lost hunters; and role-playing of actual lost hunter incidents. Suggestions for increasing public awareness among all outdoor recreationists of the need for exercising caution in the woods; conservation officer and hunter questionnaires; and tips and personal narratives from lost hunters are included. (NEC)