learn from my mistakes...please read!!
this is posted in the deer hunting forums but it was suggested that it be posted here as well so here is a copy and paste:
Now I know I'm going to get dogged on for this and I deserve all the mean and nasties y'all can come up with but i figured I'd share this one in hopes that it will make at least one of y'all think. Nothin' y'all can say isn't something that I haven't already said to myself.
As most of y'all know I am a safety freak...safety first always!! I mean I'm the one who will wear my harness 7ft off the ground,while climbing up and down, i bring orange when it's not required, i bring tons of precautionary things each trip, etc, etc, etc.
I'm always the safe one and have pride in myself for being that way but............
Yesterday evening I wasn't as safe as I thought I was. Almost took myself out on the walk and stalk back to my truck. I had my Knight Muzzleloader and the screw safety undone like most of the time. I was relying on the front push safety if needed. My arms started gettin' a lil worn out so I put it on my shoulder for a bit. I checked the safety and it looked like it was on. I walked a hundred yards, if that, and switched arms...crossed this lil wet area and as soon as I hit the dryer part of the trail I heard "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM". I screamed and next thing you know i'm on the ground rubbing my ear/head and hip. I knew something hit me but I didn't know exactly what happended. Scared me half to death. Even though the initial reaction wasn't fear. No time for fear to enter my brain which was kinda cool. I thought someone was shootin' at me thinkin' I was a deer but that's when I noticed it was my gun that was smoking and the emotions went into overdrive. I got the nerve up to check for blood. That's was probably the worst part. After searching and making sure I was still alive I realized the barrel had hit my ear and the bolt nailed me in the hip. In other words I got LUCKY...WAY LUCKY!!! Blessed beyond words. The top of the barrel was thankfully pointed away and up high enough to where the bullet went up and back a lil. I looked my gun over and realized that my trigger and safety were loose so my safety was not on. But for the life of me I can not seem to figure out how the trigger got touched. Only thing that makes sense is that maybe it got caught on my backpack but i'm not sure if I was moving it to the other arm at that time or not. The little details don't really matter at this point. They should have mattered more in the first place. All I know
I never thought I'd ever have something like happen to me. Never in a million years. Winning the lottery would be more feasable (sp?) and if it can happen to me it can happen to anyone.
A part of me wasn't going to tell anyone because I am ashamed, embarrassed, urked at myself beyond words, etc. but I decided that I have to tell y'all so hopefully next time y'all will think about how lucky I got and take that extra moment to make sure you are truly safe cause the next person may not be so lucky. Y'all please be safe!!