Please be careful

[GreenDrake]

I just got a call from my neighbors wife. Her husband left their second home on Skaneateles Lake...about a mile from their home a bullet came through his car and went clear through his neck. He had a successful surgery and should be home in a dew days. State Police and DEC have the hunter and are investigating. Sounds like he shot at a deer and you know the rest.  Once that bullet leaves the gun we have a responsibility to know where it is going. Please be careful out there !!!

[grampy]

There is no excuse for this "hunter" !! He should be prosecuted, and do hard time!

My grandson and I had a monster buck standing on the top of a ridge on Saturday. Only thing we could see behind him was sky. I called off the shot. Easy call. No idea where that bullet would have ended up had my grandson missed, or had a pass through. This non shot, is stressed at every hunter ed course we give!

I sincerely hope your neighbor fully recovers. My prayers to him and his family.

[Nomad]

You can get a lot of do overs in ,life . You can get another job if you lose one , you can get remarried, flunk out and go back to school , but every bullet you fire is gone for ever  , and you own it .

[doebuck1234]

^^^what @grampy and @Nomad said!!!!

had 6 out in the field yesterday afternoon and prob could have made a move to sneak up to change my shot angle but chose to pass with the neighbors back yard so close.never know when one of their kids could be out there along wood line etc,just not worth it!!!hope he has a speedy and full recovery!

[greensider]

I am in Hyde Park it’s been mostly ice here 

[GreenDrake]

Thank you for your kind concern. I am at the point that I quit hunting the SZ 10 yrs ago. I stick to the quieter NZ and hunt exclusively out of box blinds. SZ becomes a frenzy to so many that just want to kill a deer. Too many people packed into small areas they should not even be hunting with rifles just to shoot a deer. I was always on edge and flinched when I heard shots. 

[moog5050]

One of the reasons I much prefer hunting from stands at height.   Not that every shot is ok from a stand but shooting down helps to minimize concerns.  

[DirtTime]

I'm glad he will be OK GreenDrake. Very sorry to read this

 

I have been scoffed at a few times because I will not shoot at a running deer. This is a big reason why! You get caught up in the lead and bad $^&% can happen.

I also always try to set up my spots to sit so I am just a bit higher then the area I am watching. When my wife hunts with me I set her up the same way, and I tell each and every time ( she gets frustrated with me repeating it ) the roads that way, there's a house in this direction, ++++++'s camp is that way.

 

 

[crappyice]

Damn GF, I am sorry to hear that but glad that surgery was successful. I could not imagine, minding my business driving down the road and then being shot. I assumed he somehow drove himself to the hospital- amazing.


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[GreenDrake]

He was able to tend to himself and call for help. There is not a whole lot of room in the human neck to get of it without paralysis or other significant damage.  By all accounts he is expected to make it without any long term effect...at least thats what I’m told. 

The guy hunting was only 150 feet off the road. Morons like him make us all look like a bunch of goons. 

I hear you on the harping on safety. My nephew wanted to shoot me bf every hunt because I would give the same safety briefing until he was 25  I still do it on occasion to this day

 

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, moog5050 said:

One of the reasons I much prefer hunting from stands at height.   Not that every shot is ok from a stand but shooting down helps to minimize concerns.  

The areas that I hunt in the southern zone are extremely flat, with a total change in elevation of less than 4 feet over an area of approximately 100 acres.   In that situation, getting up in the air a bit, not only makes me feel safe from others stray rounds, but also gives me confidence that the ground will form a backstop for my own shots.   With ground that flat, just 10 feet up is more than enough, and most of my stands are only about 7 feet up.   

Many years ago, I walked to the edge of our farm, to shorten the range to a doe which had stepped thru a hedgerow at the border.   The next field was owned by a neighbor, who did not hunt, but gave permission to me and the neighbor on the other side.  When I stepped thru that hedgerow, my hair was parted by the first of (5) slugs fired at that doe by a "guest" of the other neighbor.  I hit the dirt, and the dirt started hitting me, as (4) more slugs landed nearby.   The doe was out in the middle of the field, half-way between me and that neighbor's guest.   I was wearing blaze orange, but all he saw was that deer.   That was all it took to drive me up into a tree most of the time, where I am far more comfortable than on the ground.  

Feeling the pressure wave of a bullet, before hearing the report, is something that makes quite an impression on you.   Many of those, who have been in combat situations, have a good understanding of that feeling.   If there would be some way to demonstrate that feeling, in the hunter safety training course, there would likely be a lot less accidents.

My fear of being shot by accident only applies to flatlands of high hunter density.  I am comfortable hunting from the ground in hilly areas, of lower hunter density, such as exists thru most of the northern zone.  For me, 7 ft is the perfect height.  High enough to get out of the crossfire, and make a backstop for my own shots, but low enough that a fall would hopefully not result in serious injury.  That being said, my most comfortable stands are 7 feet up and have a three foot high combination safety rail/shooting rest/wind break/cover fence, all the way around.             

[luberhill]

I drive the NYS Thruway all the time and see stands RIGHT NEXT to the road !

[Culvercreek hunt club]

9 minutes ago, luberhill said:

I drive the NYS Thruway all the time and see stands RIGHT NEXT to the road !

Actually I prefer that those stands are right up against the Thruway. Only leaves them one way to shoot. It's the ones I see 50-75 yards off the Thruway that give me concern. 

[Salmon_Run]

There have been many a discussion over "hunting accidents" and I stand by what I have posted in the past.

NEVER point a weapon at anything you would not want destroyed and never take a shot unless one is positive of the trajectory.

It's a miracle that the victim was able to survive a neck wound and wish him a speedy physical and mental recovery.

[Chef]

I too fear this and a phone conversation I had with My neighbor really got to me. Some of you may remember but on opening day I heard my neighbor shoot and then watched a buck run towards the line I was waiting for him to cross and then I saw the neighbor shoot again this time he was walking chasing the deer.


Fast forward a few days and him and I spoke on the phone... he said to me the rifle has a scope on it and he should probably start using it. He said at 75 his eyes aren’t as good as they used to be... wait what you don’t use the scope... now I have seen this rifle up close and he does not have a see through mount on it so he’s not using iron sights... what the Fok seriously... and that last shot he took was within 80 yards of me while he was on the move


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[OtiscoPaul]

This happened 2 miles as the crow flies from the county parcels I hunt in bow season or occasional weekdays in December.

Just found out about it yesterday when my buddy told me after I gave him my routine safety lecture people endure when they gun hunt with me.

1 of the many reasons I prefer bow season 

[GreenDrake]

My neighbor came home yesterday. He called me from his office last evening. Amazes me. Shot clear through the neck Sunday and back to work Wednesday. Other than a little hoarseness to his voice, he sounded fine. Will go over and visit tomorrow so I can get the full story. What he was able to tell me is as he was driving he heard a shot....then a second which seemed much closer, and next thing he knows his passenger window shatters and he was hit. He was able to pull over, where a woman walking her dog assisted him. She saw the deer running after the shots. He is a man of God....was on his way home to play guitar in the folk group at the 4:00 p.m. mass......he has good angels indeed.

[GreenDrake]

Ohhh....and my smartass wife offered to make him neck "gauges" from the ends of the brass of some of my spent casings. He got a good laugh out of that.