HuntingNet.com Forums - Explosion In GOEX Containment Unit

Greensburg, LA / 20 Nov 09: Shortly before dark on Friday evening a violent explosion just three miles north of the rural community of Greensburg resulted in the death of a two and a half year old 168 lb. whitetail buck. The explosion occurred in a mobile GOEX containment unit manufactured by the Lyman Corporation and commonly known as the “Great Plains” model.

The storage unit is owned and operated by a man known only as “Semisane”. He states that he stored 85 grains of FFFg grade GOEX in the unit on the 14th of November and secured it at that time with a felt wad and a lead sphere of approximately .54 inch diameter wrapped in an olive oil soaked cloth patch. The unit remained in a safe and stable condition during the seven days prior to the explosion, even though it was transported many miles and had been set up on several sites prior to the incident. However, on the evening of the explosion an unlikely chain of events occurred.

Investigators determined that an appendage of the unit’s main storage cylinder was struck by a small rock, causing a spark. That spark ignited a minute amount of FFFg GOEX outside of the storage cylinder, resulting in a flash fire. The flash would have been harmless had it not entered a small hole in the main cylinder of the containment unit and ignited the GOEX stored within. It is uncertain as to whether the hole through which the flash entered is a design flaw.

Semisane told investigators that immediately prior to the explosion he saw the buck standing in an open foodplot approximately 90 yards from the containment unit (later determined to be 88 yards by laser measure). He said the buck departed the area in a hasty manner, entering the woods twenty yards away. Though there was no immediate evidence of injury, a four-man team of investigators located blood evidence in the wooded area and, after a forty-five minute search, located the body of the whitetail 190 yards from the injury site.

Two whitetail does that were on the foodplot at the time of the explosion knew that the buck was “checking them out”, but did not believe he deserved to pay with his life.

Forensic examination determined that the lead sphere used to seal the containment unit had been blown out by the explosion and entered the buck’s frontal area near the base of the neck, just left of the center line. It traveled through the brisket and front part of the chest cavity, puncturing the lower lobe of the right lung, and exiting the chest cavity between the second and third rib. The sphere stopped under the skin of the right side. There was massive hematoma of the connective tissue between the right shoulder and chest wall – though little actual flesh was destroyed.

As a show of respect for the deceased, Semisane volunteered to care for the buck’s remains and will hold several traditional services which he expects to be well attended.

The Deceased & The GOEX Containment Unit

The Fatal Sphere

The Scene Of The Incident (Photo taken from site of GOEX containment Unit - X marks the deer's location when struck)

It's hard to see the brow tines with this picture angle, they are small - both are 1 & 3/4" long.