Hunting Accidents
#31
Spike
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 36

Want to know an even easier way to get into a "hunting-related accident"? Point out to an unsafe hunter that what he is doing is unsafe. People who are willfully unsafe with firearms, or recklessly careless in general, tend to be very hard to correct. You might have luck with younger hunters and women, but tell a grizzled old man who is off on a hunt that he is doing something wrong... well, good luck with that!
#32
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Marriottsville, Maryland
Posts: 1,058

When I first started rifle hunting for whitetails --- many years ago --- my deer hunting uncle once told me about a couple of accidents that happened on public hunting land in Western Maryland.
One deer hunter sat up against a large diameter tree --- somebody shot --- the bullet entered the back of the tree where the hunter was sitting....and traveled in an arc, just under the bark; that went halfway around the tree and exited out of the bark, hitting the hunter in the back and killing him.
One deer hunter claimed he shot at a fox that missed, but the bullet ricocheted off a rock that hit and killed another hunter.
One deer hunter sat up against a large diameter tree --- somebody shot --- the bullet entered the back of the tree where the hunter was sitting....and traveled in an arc, just under the bark; that went halfway around the tree and exited out of the bark, hitting the hunter in the back and killing him.
One deer hunter claimed he shot at a fox that missed, but the bullet ricocheted off a rock that hit and killed another hunter.
Last edited by Erno86; 10-02-2018 at 11:21 AM. Reason: spelling
#35

No one should ever shoot at "movement" or "noise." Not in the field hunting, not in your house in a home defense scenario, and not on the battlefield either.
Positive identification and an awareness of your backstop is critical before you send a lethal projectile hurtling off into the unknown.
Positive identification and an awareness of your backstop is critical before you send a lethal projectile hurtling off into the unknown.
#38

Want to know an even easier way to get into a "hunting-related accident"? Point out to an unsafe hunter that what he is doing is unsafe. People who are willfully unsafe with firearms, or recklessly careless in general, tend to be very hard to correct. You might have luck with younger hunters and women, but tell a grizzled old man who is off on a hunt that he is doing something wrong... well, good luck with that!
#39

It absolutely was not the fault of your friend that he got shot in mistake for a deer but what in Hades was he doing walking around with a white handkerchief hanging out of his pocket in the woods in deer season! While the onus is on the guy with the gun, the rest of us need to use some sense in what we do and understand the consequences. In my state in 1975 a man got killed in bear season in mistake for a bear. He was wearing a black quilted jacket and a black trooper hat, the ones that are leather or vinyl that the ear flaps fold down and have a strap with a snap on them to keep them up or tight on your ears when down. The ear flaps were half way down so they looked like black furry ears. He was walking through mt laurel when he got nailed. Orange was not mandatory and he wasn't wearing any. I saw the hat and jacket and the first thing that went through my head was how stupid can a person be.
I think it is an apocryphal cautionary tale. One that I doubt has ever actually happened. But definitely something one should NEVER do.
#40

Actually I saw the quilted black coat and the black trooper hat the victim who was killed for a bear was wearing with the ear flaps unsnapped when he got shot. A good friend of mine was one of the investigating officers. These things do happen, just because you never saw it or saw the consequences does not make it untrue.