Turkey hunting accidents & near-misses that you were involved in?

quiksilver · 04-21-2008, 11:24 AM

Bawanajim's discussion on turkey hunting safety really got me thinking...

Just to demonstrate how nobody is averse to a hunting accident - let's talk about ourselves, and how we have been involved in real hunting accidents (or near-misses).

I havethree stories - each involving turkey hunting.

#1. Spring, 2003 - I'm softly calling to a really big tom that I'd been hunting for a while. He comes in with a huge harem of hens, and my calling is so soft, so subtle - that nobody could've possibly heard it. I'm pinned down amidst the flock, and finally the boss walks right in front of my barrel at maybe 6 yards.I squeeze. At least 80% of the load hit him, and he was nearly decapitated.

As soon as I stand up to retrieve my prize, I hear a guy screaming. He's yelling for help at the opposite field corner. He steps out into the field, holding his face.

Apparently, he saw the turkeys from the road, and had been stalking into position for an ambush. He was about 80 yards out when I shot. The overspray peppered his face and upper body as he was slipping around the field edge.

He was okay, save for a few pretty nasty welts and lacerations. We were both pretty shaken by the whole experience. I had no reason to know that there was another hunter in the area.

Something tells me that he'll never stalk another turkey ever again. He couldn't have possibly felt any worse. He realized that his actions put both of us in a really hairy predicament.

The distance between myself and him provided ample time for the energy on the #5 shot to degrade, and not do too much damage. However, if I had been using a bow - the result could have been different. Scary, just knowing that there was a person right in my sight window and I never saw him.

#2. Spring, 1998 - About 10 years ago, I'm set up in a clearing in a brushy cow pasture. My jake decoy was positioned prominently, and there was a tom nearby that was shocking occasionally. It was around 10:30 or so, and I was waitingfor him to leave his hens. Subtle calling. Just kicked back playing the waiting game.

After a short calling sequence, the silence was broken by a shotgun blast immediately to my right, and from behind. It was a hunter void of any orange- and my decoy was d.o.a.

He immediately knew what happened, and was apologetic to say the least. I'm just glad I didn't get peppered in the line of fire.

#3.Spring, 1999 - I'm guiding an out-of-stater for turkeys. We call in a jake and hedecides to takeit. 3 shots, and the bird was still alive. I stood up to get on the bird before it got away and BAM - shot #4was merely inches fromripping my right shoulder off.

Apparently, this gentleman wasn't aware of the 3-shot max rule in PA - and had 3 in the mag and one-in-the-hole. I heard 3 shots and presumed "empty gun." Wrong.

It was close, and I felt the concussion of the gun. My ear rang for about 3 days.

Scary.

__________________________________________________ _____

The moral of these stories is that, even if you THINK you've got every base covered - things can go haywire at any given second. There are elements in play that will always be outside your control, and you are always huntingat their mercy.

With Turkey season starting for most of you - I think it's important to remind y'all to be careful and mind your surroundings as much as possible.

And if you're bowhunting - don't fool yourself into believing that you're averse to beingstuck on the wrong end of a gun-related accident. It happens.

MGH_PA · 04-21-2008, 12:40 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: quiksilver

Bawanajim's discussion on turkey hunting safety really got me thinking...

Just to demonstrate how nobody is averse to a hunting accident - let's talk about ourselves, and how we have been involved in real hunting accidents (or near-misses).

I havethree stories - each involving turkey hunting.

#1. Spring, 2003 - I'm softly calling to a really big tom that I'd been hunting for a while. He comes in with a huge harem of hens, and my calling is so soft, so subtle - that nobody could've possibly heard it. I'm pinned down amidst the flock, and finally the boss walks right in front of my barrel at maybe 6 yards.I squeeze. At least 80% of the load hit him, and he was nearly decapitated.

As soon as I stand up to retrieve my prize, I hear a guy screaming. He's yelling for help at the opposite field corner. He steps out into the field, holding his face.

Apparently, he saw the turkeys from the road, and had been stalking into position for an ambush. He was about 80 yards out when I shot. The overspray peppered his face and upper body as he was slipping around the field edge.

He was okay, save for a few pretty nasty welts and lacerations. We were both pretty shaken by the whole experience. I had no reason to know that there was another hunter in the area.

Something tells me that he'll never stalk another turkey ever again. He couldn't have possibly felt any worse. He realized that his actions put both of us in a really hairy predicament.

The distance between myself and him provided ample time for the energy on the #5 shot to degrade, and not do too much damage. However, if I had been using a bow - the result could have been different. Scary, just knowing that there was a person right in my sight window and I never saw him.

#2. Spring, 1998 - About 10 years ago, I'm set up in a clearing in a brushy cow pasture. My jake decoy was positioned prominently, and there was a tom nearby that was shocking occasionally. It was around 10:30 or so, and I was waitingfor him to leave his hens. Subtle calling. Just kicked back playing the waiting game.

After a short calling sequence, the silence was broken by a shotgun blast immediately to my right, and from behind. It was a hunter void of any orange- and my decoy was d.o.a.

He immediately knew what happened, and was apologetic to say the least. I'm just glad I didn't get peppered in the line of fire.

#3.Spring, 1999 - I'm guiding an out-of-stater for turkeys. We call in a jake and hedecides to takeit. 3 shots, and the bird was still alive. I stood up to get on the bird before it got away and BAM - shot #4was merely inches fromripping my right shoulder off.

Apparently, this gentleman wasn't aware of the 3-shot max rule in PA - and had 3 in the mag and one-in-the-hole. I heard 3 shots and presumed "empty gun." Wrong.

It was close, and I felt the concussion of the gun. My ear rang for about 3 days.

Scary.

__________________________________________________ _____

The moral of these stories is that, even if you THINK you've got every base covered - things can go haywire at any given second. There are elements in play that will always be outside your control, and you are always huntingat their mercy.

With Turkey season starting for most of you - I think it's important to remind y'all to be careful and mind your surroundings as much as possible.

And if you're bowhunting - don't fool yourself into believing that you're averse to beingstuck on the wrong end of a gun-related accident. It happens.

Wow, you've had quite the experiences. What came of incident #1? Any legal action/paperwork?

We had a guy get shot quite badly on a neighboring property back in the late 90s. He called the guy in who shot him. The guy who did the shooting fled, but was soon arrested. It's scary because you never think things like this can happen on private land, but this was private land, and private land that was nearby.

Matt/NC · 04-21-2008, 12:44 PM

A friend of mine was walking out of the woods just after sundown on public land. He had gone abou 45 yards around the hillside from his stand and caught a muzzy in the leg. He lost alot of blood, but survived. Made it back to the truck luckily. He still walks with a limp to this day. Worst part isTHEY NEVER CAUGHT the guy that stuck the arrow in him. How do you shoot someone with a bow by accident and then just sneak out of the woods?

FLboy77 · 04-21-2008, 12:51 PM

Its not a turkey story but a dovehunt.

I was a bout 8 or 9 and had a youth model 20 gage870. We were walking back to the car and a huge flock of doves came pouring out of a near by orange grove we duck and wait for the birds. My dad would always set "zones" for me to shot but he didnt this time because it happend so quick. I was squating behind my dad and the birds were in front of him at about 20yds flying right to left. I start my swing to the right of his head and shoot about two inches over his head. He was shaken but ok and his ears rang for a couple of days. It haunts me to this day to think of what could have happened.

mauser06 · 04-21-2008, 01:30 PM

quit using decoys because of fear for my life....

had a bird roosted down the pipeline 100yds away or so...hen decoy on it..i was 10yds back in the woods..the bird saw the decoy and heard my calling and was going nuts..pitched down and started coming...then he shut down..."what the heck..." i heard crunching...looked across the pipeline and saw 2 hunters belly crawling to setup on that bird!!! i looked and my decoy was directly between me and them!! i dropped to the ground and threw on my orange hat and waved my 2nd one around and hollered...grabbed the decoy and left...just could been REAL ugly if i had a jake or longbeard decoy out...or if they just saw my hen decoy and just blasted it....they had no orange and clearly were sneaking into the bird

another time dad and i were setup...grassy gamelands trail above us...i look up and seen a turkey bouncing real funny...it got closer and i could see it clear and KNEW it was a decoy...they got farther down the trail and i could see it was a dad, a young son and a young daughter...both kids had decoys in their hands trying to pretend they were real turkeys......

another year dad and i had a bird coming in hot and heavy...all he had to do was round the OLD logging road and he would been in range and visible...he shut down...never hung up..just shut down..hmmm something aint right! not a minute later we spotted a guy, no orange on, practically crawling across that logging road stalking the bird we had going hard....

quiksilver · 04-21-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: M.Hensler/PA

Wow, you've had quite the experiences. What came of incident #1? Any legal action/paperwork?

No, he was okay - just sporting a fewnasty welts. We talked it over and went our separate ways. I guess we were each partly to blame - he was trespassing with no orange, stalking birds. I hold myself a little bit culpable as well, b/c I wasn't as aware of my surroundings as I'd thought when I squeezed the trigger.

Just a one-in-a-million event. One of those things where you're just happy towalk away and think about how it could've been avoided.

Weird - but he said he saw what looked like a camera flash behind the tom's head and a few BB's slammed him hard across the head/shoulders a split-second before he heard the audiblemuzzle blast. I guess that jives with the whole "speed of sound" thing... Just crazy man.

If I'd told the landowner or reportedwhat happened, he'd have wanted to drag the guy through the coals. I'm not like that. Getting pelted with a few #5's was enough. He didn't need any fines and earbashings stacked on top of it. He was scared and thought he was gonna be in big trouble. I never even asked his name.

rybohunter · 04-21-2008, 01:53 PM

Only one hairy adventure for me. I took a day off during the week to hunt figuring less chance of running into someone on the private land. I was setup on a gas line with a single hen out, calling sparingly, when I caught movement on the other side of my decoy. It was 2 guys (I could only see one though) that just happened in on my setup. I immediately started waving my hat and stood up. Well fortunately for me & my deke that I did, because upon talking to them, the guy I didn"™t see, reveals that he was about ready to shoot my decoy until he saw my hat waving. We all had permission to be there, I also found out that the one guy was retired and the other worked afternoon shift. So much for hunting during the week to avoid them.