Originally Posted by
Alsatian
I may be all wet (sorry, I couldn't help myself!), but I have never heard that it is unsafe to shoot a high power centerfire bullet with a body of water in the line of fire. What about firing a high power centerfire bullet with a rock in the line of fire? Don't rocks likewise deflect bullets? Perhaps the key question is what is the backstop rather than whether water is present. If an elk is standing in a 100 foot diameter lake, I'm not suppose to shoot at it, but it is OK -- safety wise -- if it is standing on the shore beside the lake? I'm not sure I understand.
I thought someone would come back with something like that. I just went through the Utah Hunters Safety Course with my 12 year old daughter and my with my wife last year. (I also took the course when I was a kid) One of the shooting safety tips they cover (and is a test question) is never shoot at anything in or around a body of water due to bullet ricochet. Heck they even made em watch a video and take a quiz called "Shoot or don't shoot" and after each scenario in the video they had to mark whether it's safe to shoot or not. My daughter brought it up the other day when a hunting video was on and they were near water.
Now to discuss it like big boys rather than looking at it from a childs view. Water is always flat and you will typically hit it at a pretty shallow angle drastically increasing the risk of ricochet causing the risk of hitting something on the other side, like an unseen hunter in the trees for instance. Rock ricochets should be considered when taking a shot but generally the direction of the rock face (meaning which direction will my bullet likely ricochet), the angle of the shot and the back drop would dictate whether it is a safe shot. A water ricochet will not destroy a bullet or slow it down much due to the angle where rocks usually will destroy a bullet and slow it way down.
Again this would be in and AROUND water. Rock ricochets are something else to consider when taking a safe shot but the circumstances are generally safer but left to the shooter to decide. This is all in the same realm as never shoot at something that is on a ridgeline from your vantage point. You never know what's on the other side.
Amazing how safety is rarely discussed on these boards.