I was lucky enough to have a father who taught me the utmost respect for firearms. Thats not to say that anyone ought to have more, merely that I was allowed to carry a gun at a very young age (unloaded with bullets in my pocket at first), because my father trusted me.

The biggest mistake I ever made was snicking the safety off the gun while walking into a grouse on point behind our setter. My dad and my grandfather were both there, and they both heard it. I don't know which one of them whipped my ass first, but it was the last time I ever did that. I have tripped over my own two feet and over hidden snags walking in behind points, but I've never had the safety off and shot a man or a dog. It was a mistake I'll never make again. I was 7 when that happened.

The other mistake that stands out in my mind was bow hunting deer from a treestand that had arms that stuck out. I wasn't paying attention to my bow limbs relative to my treestand arms. Went to smoke a doe... SMACK! Smoked my bottom limb instead.