For specialty insurers covering hunting clubs and camps, claimsinvolving the accidental shooting of anyone walking on two legsrather than four are uncommon, professionals in this recreationalinsurance niche note.

Indeed, while there certainly could be coverage implicationswhen one hunter unwittingly shoots another, as in the infamous caseof Vice President Dick Cheney, buyers hunting for coverage worryabout far more mundane exposures, like slips and falls or accidentsinvolving traps and all-terrain vehicles, experts say.

Buyers fall in two general categories-- hunting camps andhunting clubs.

o A hunting camp has a guide who takes one hunter or a smallgroup of hunters on a hunting trip.

o Members of hunting clubs use owned or leased land for huntingand possibly other activities.

"They are going to be looking for liability [insurance],"according to Morris Nelson, director at R.B. Jones, part of theH.W. Kaufman Financial Group--which also includes wholesaler andmanaging general agency Burns & Wilcox.

In addition, "they might be looking for some property coverageif they have property on the site, and they might be looking forsome sort of inland marine coverage," Mr. Nelson noted.

Tom Gillingham, president of Gillingham & Associates, adivision of Philadelphia Insurance Companies, said inland marinecoverage, for example, will protect equipment owned by a hunting orgun club, such as trap machines, ATVs and various equipment used tomanage the club's property.

A hunting club or camp that owns its own property will likelyseek property insurance as well, noted John Doyle, vice presidentof the commercial lines division at Philadelphia InsuranceCompanies.

However, he said many insurers are not eager to write this typeof property "because it's obviously out in the woods," noting thatmuch of it is unprotected, while structures on the property tend tobe older and more susceptible to damage from wind and other forcesof nature.

Certain companies, Mr. Doyle said, have developed expertise inwriting this kind of property, noting that Philadelphia Insuranceoffers the coverage as part of an overall package to hunting campsand clubs.

The main concern for such facilities, though, is generalliability, players in this market agree. Coverage options will varyby insurer and depending on the type of operation seekinginsurance.

Chris Heavrin, an underwriter specializing in agribusiness andfarm insurance in Markel's Markel Agriculture Division, said hiscompany offers coverage to camps and certain clubs that areregistered, have established bylaws and aremembership-based--preferably those with open membership.

For clubs, Mr. Heavrin said, the intent of the liabilitycoverage is for exposures to the public. "We have amember-to-member exclusion," he said, noting that all members arepart of the named insured. Thus, he explained that if a huntingaccident were to occur between two club members, the incidentshould be excluded under the policy.

Mr. Heavrin said this is a common exclusion for companies thatwrite insurance for hunting clubs.

However, if an accident occurred between a club member and aguest, the club would be covered against an injury sustained by theguest, he added.

Mr. Nelson also noted that, for the policies he sells, if ahunter sets up a tree stand, or if another member of the club setsup the stand, and the hunter falls out, coverage would be excludedbecause if one member of the club built the stand, then, forinsurance purposes, the club built it, and responsibility lies withthe club.

However, while many companies write their policies with amember-to-member exclusion for clubs, not all do.

Glenn Sudol, vice president of underwriting for commercial linesat Gillingham & Associates, said via e-mail that for hiscompany, "member-to-member accidents are not excluded, so onemember can sue another for an at-fault accident. Members can alsosue the club."

He added "one last point: Since all members are insureds, theycannot receive the benefits of medical payments. This [coverage] isfor the benefit of third parties."

When rating clubs for underwriting purposes, Mr. Heavrin saidMarkel looks at how the club is exposed as far as public activitiesgo.

The company does not have to worry about member-to-memberactivities, he explained, because of the exclusion. But he saidthat sometimes clubs will host an open shooting tournament withtheir town, or they will go into schools to hold a clinic onfly-tying to increase interest in fishing. Mr. Heavrin said themore a club holds public events, the more underwriting isrequired.

Mr. Gillingham said a club's special events could even includeweddings and fundraising functions. He said his company will coverall of these special events under a policy. "We do consider that atthe time of the application, and just offer coverage for the annualexposure," he noted.

He also said a club that leases land could be rated differentlythan one that owns land.

"The typical type of a lease that we see is a southeasternhunting lease, where a guy or group of individuals will hunt forthe deer season--which is a couple of months long--and for the restof the year that property is vacant."

This risk, he said, is priced lower than a gun club that ownsland that is open year-round for club members to use for variousoutdoor activities.

For hunting camps that use guide services or outfitters, Mr.Heavrin said the coverage is crafted a little differently. He saidliability is a bigger issue for these operations, and they look forpolicies that will cover them in the event a guest or client isinjured.

Because the risk factors are greater for camps, coverage isgenerally more expensive than it is for clubs, he explained.

Mr. Heavrin said that for camps, if an accident occurs betweentwo clients under the care of a guide, the policy will cover theguide and the camp for liability purposes.

Mr. Nelson said if a hunting camp guide built a tree stand and aclient fell out because of a defect in the stand, then the policywould cover the camp.

When underwriting camps, Mr. Heavrin said the focus is on theactual guides--particularly whether they are qualified to leadguests on hunting trips, and if they have instituted the propersafety protocols.

Mr. Gillingham said the degree of care owed to paying members ishigher for a camp with a guide than for a club. "When you go out ona paid hunting excursion, I think you have an expectation thatyou'll be returned in one piece and without any injury." The burdenin camp situations, he explained, "is placed on the operator,whereas club members are by and large responsible for their ownconduct and that of their fellow members."

Location also plays a role in underwriting. Mr. Heavrin said ifa guide is taking clients onto public land where the camp has tofile information with the U.S. Forest Service, that risk is rateddifferently than if the clients are taken onto a tract of privateland that is thousands of acres and no one knows exactly where theyare.

For both clubs and camps, Mr. Gillingham said the type ofterrain and the means of pursuing game also come into play forunderwriters. Hunting whitetail deer out of a tree stand, heexplained, is considered more dangerous than hunting mule deer inColorado, which is typically done on foot.

Ultimately, the professionals interviewed agreed thatunderwriting these risks requires a high degree of understanding,and that has made insurance for hunting clubs and camps a nichemarket that is generally avoided by larger, national companies.

Both Mr. Heavrin and Mr. Doyle noted that the soft market hasbrought with it more competition for this niche, along with someadditional capacity. But Mr. Doyle said the new capacity tends tobe from smaller, regional companies that write in a specific area,rather than larger, national companies.

Mr. Doyle said larger carriers will typically look to writecommodity products in the soft market, rather than a specialtyniche like outdoor products. "The specialty risk underwriting thatneeds to take place for outdoor products prevents a lot of [thelarge carriers] from entering that market."

"It's really not low-hanging fruit," he explained.

Mr. Nelson said that while he has not seen a greater appetiteamong insurers for smaller and average-size risks in the outdoorniche, the bigger policies are beginning to attract companies thatwould normally not write this type of business.

He said that in the soft market, risks with premiums at $25,000,or possibly as low as $15,000, may attract some interest amongcarriers not normally associated with insuring hunting clubs andcamps.