Hunting Safety

[NFA-ADK]

I had a guy take a shot in camp after "unloading his gun" and putting the fire arm in his truck bed rack. As he put the gun in the rack he pulled the trigger and fired a round up in the air... This was his 1st and last year at my camp. I give people a chance and had a heated argument with the "new guy" about hunting and patterning deer in the ADK the 2nd day in camp. He had a argument with another hunter that came later in the week and with the person who invited him. I could have forgiven all that, but when I was informed of the accident AFTER he left the camp, I let everyone know that was his last strike. He will never stay at my camp again. No place for complacancy at deer camp when handleing fire arms. Hunt hard and be safe!!!

My question to other hunters is what accidents have you had and where do you draw the line. I will start to have younger hunters coming up to our camp in two years and will not tolerate any complacancy when handleing a gun. Call me safe but anyone who fires a round off by accident is not a person I want to hunt with... And I do not see myself giving this person a 2nd chance as he was supposed to be a hunter with close to 30 years under his belt.

PS: This guy was a compulsive liar, stating he shot more than 300 deer and telling me how he was above me at 2900 feet when I informed him I was at 2800 and telling me his GPS clocked over 28 miles in 3 days. All of which I disproved on the spot...

Edited November 17, 2011 by NFA-ADK

[Guides ForHire]

That depends on what their training is and their background as well as how well they were versed in the safety procedures of the camp.

I have never been in a military camp or hunting camp that had the same routine for clearing weapons, not one.

I well remember a fella hunted with my family as a client for better than 40 years and he always cleared his winchester lever action off by himself and with the muzzle in a safe position, one day he cleared his "last round" and hit the trigger and fired it in the target backing of the sight in target. Safe place, safe muzzle control, but he was so upset at himself for hitting the trigger he packed up and went home.

I remember two incidents hunting as a boy that were close calls, one was a winchester incident where I had shot a deer and ran forward to keep it in sight and looking down my hammer was back on a fresh round, that took my breath away and I never made that error again, to date anyway.

another I was even younger and had dropped my first grouse and was so proud of my wingshooting I ran forward and beat the dog to the bird, laying my shotgun down, a double 20 ga. I was admiring my prize when an older brother pointed to my shotgun on the ground with a dog on it and the safety that was not on, and reminded me , " ...this is why Dad won't let you load both barrels yet.."

I've never seen nor heard of any other safety issues ever come up in a camp of mine.

If no safety discussion was made by the camp chief then he is to blame for all that goes wrong in camp. Period.

The buck stops with the camp ramrod.

If an excuse is needed to run a fella out of camp dont look for one, be a man and simply tell him he is not a good fit for your camp, or 'the camp', whatever, and thanks for coming.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Guides ForHire

[biggamefish]

I guy once told me SAFETY is NO ACCIDENT. What if someone was standing on the other side of the truck and when he put it in the gun rack it went off and shot him? It didn't happen which is good but i think you did the right thing. Specailly if he was older and has been around guns. If he was a first timer I would still have a problem with whoever was suppose to be watching him. Guns and safty are not to be taken lightly things can happen to quickly and bullets can't be taken back.

Edited November 17, 2011 by biggamefish

[Jennifer]

I haven't had any close calls or accidents. My father drilled extreme firearm safety into me since I was probably 5 years old. He went as far as to scold me if I'd walk in front of the barrel on a gun that he'd removed the trigger assembly and was cleaning-- one that had no possible way of firing. Extreme? Yeah! But you know what, that stuck with me and now I am anal about control and safety. By the time I was old enough to start hunting, being safe about it wasn't even a second thought. My dad told me, every time we went out hunting, to remember: once you touch off the trigger, there's no taking it back. He made me stop hunting periodically and check my safety, etc. It was a constant safety lesson.

I had a younger cousin that was always swinging his shotgun around and not watching where he was pointing it. I'd get onto him about safety but it never stuck. Then, I tried to appeal to his sense of humor-- I told him to imagine that his gun was always firing, like a machine gun with endless ammo, and that he could only ever point it at things that were safe to 'shoot'. The idea appealed to him, video game generation (hey, I am too), and you know what.. he was a lot safer after that.

We all do have moments though-- no one is perfect. The biggest key, I think, is to slow down a little as the worst mistakes seem to be made when we are excited and loose our heads a little.

I think I am preaching to the choir, though!!

Please be safe, everyone!

[Steve7]

While small gaming, I had I guy who, thankfully, was walking ahead of me to setup on a field for pheasant. While pointing the gun down he pulled the trigger on his 12ga and blew dirt all over everyone in the party. I headed back to the car and left. He wont hunt with me any longer and told him so.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Knock on wood, Ive never had an accident with a gun. I have stopped hunting and shooting with certain people over the years due to them not handling guns properly.

[fisher2]

i made the mistake of not putting the safety on the first time i went hunting and my trigger finger was ahead of my mind the first squirrel that showed up i estimate i shot about 50 feet high at 10 yards that shot

[Fletch]

Only once had a miscue. I won't call it an accident because I was following my training and all turned out well besides some soiled britches.

I was still a teen and hunting up north in the Adirondacks with my grandfather. I was using my Dads old 35 lever action and was behind the truck loading it before heading in. Well when you chamber a round you have to put the mammer back forward as your safety. Well my fingers were cold and it slipped and pow. Scared the shit out of my pop in the truck. But I had the gun pointed out in front of me at the ground a couple feet and away from the vehicle as taught so no harm but pop was still a bit pissed. That never happened again.

I have a young son just starting with the BB gun thing so I am constantly going over the gun rules with him as I was when young.

Edited November 18, 2011 by Fletch

[NFA-ADK]

Fire arm's are no joke and being a hunter since I was old enough to get myself into hunting this has always been a big issue with me. I named our hunting club after David Boomhower was found our 1st year in moose river. My friend said this is "No F*ing Around back here" you get lost and you can die, and the NFA club was born.

I take pride in making sure everyone gets back to camp safe. I have rescued fellow hunters in time of need and make sure everyone knows what to do if a emergency takes place. Like you said Biggamefish "Safety is no Accident" and "Bullets can't be taken back." The guy who invited him said he spoke to the hunter and he was going to call me, I bet he will wait till next year to see if I cool off, not gona happen. Knock on wood, I have never had a accident but that is prob because I am a hunter who will not sacrafice safety. This guy will never hunt with me or stay at my camp again...

Last year some idiot did some target shooting right next to our camp, only problem was that I was in the valley he was shooting. Luckily I did not get shot but DAM their are some real idiots out thier... The woods are not a target range... A few years ago a guy with his son was doing the same thing till my hunting partners confronted him, he was shooting from the dirt road into the woods at nothing... Again I was in the area he was shooting... Scary, now when I go hunting I try to get back a few hundred yards before I start to hunt to get away from the roads... I though deep woods public land would be safe, not if your close to the road where any idiot can shoot. Dam I need to get my own properly, then I can deal with poachers and trespassers, lol.

[Jafo]

Some of the bigger camps around here designate one person in charge of arms when at camp.. When you come into camp you hand over your firearm to him and he unloads it and puts it away. Of course, they have like 20-30 guys there at a time, I am not sure it would work with 4-5 guys at a camp, but perhaps something to look into.

When I was 18, my cousin and a friend went hunting. While walking down a dirt state-land road my friends shotgun just went off out of nowhere.. It was facing the ground and nobody was hurt. My cousin went up one side of him and down another about gun safety while his friend swore up and down the safety was on and he didn't touch the trigger.. There were some hard words between the two.. A few minutes later almost the exact same thing happened with my cousins shotgun. He felt stupid. I dunno what was going on with their weapons, but I decided to walk behind them for the rest of the day lol..

[Marti375]

Treat every gun as if it were loaded, keep it pointed in a safe direction, & Never put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to fire it. If you can't remember those THREE THINGS you shouldn't have a gun in your hands.