I made a mistake in gun safety..........

[First-light]

and got away with it. This boy wasn't so lucky.

http://rochester.ynn...nting-accident/

After shooting my buck Monday morning there were still two shells left in the gun. I walked over to the deer to make sure he was dead and placed the gun up against the tree. Never did I check the safety. We dragged the deer out 50 yards and only then before going to get the quad did I check my safety. I feel sick at what could of happened. I have been hunting for 30 years and make a big mistake like that. I could of been killed or maybe my brother who helped me drag the deer. I'm being honest here, think first, It's exciting to harvest the deer but you need to be around to tell the story. I got lucky that boy didn't.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Burt

[tughillhunter]

It sucks. It could happen to anybody. When i took my hunter safety, my insttructor told us something, i will never forget. Even if your safety is on, it dont matter. its a mechanical device, and mechanical devices fail. So i always unload coming out. Im a paranoid goofus anyways.

[Elmo]

It amazes me how careless and nonchalant people can be with such a dangerous weapon.

I never keep a bullet in the chamber unless I'm stalking. If I'm simply hiking to my spot or casually hiking, I will keep ammo in the mag but make sure the chamber is empty.

Once I was at the shooting range with the shotgun and when I was done for the day, I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to shoot the last shot. She pumped the shotgun (the empty shell ejected) but when she fired, it was empty. I thought I must have miss counted how many rounds I had fired. I checked the gun and it was empty. We packed up and went home. At home, I always check my gun again and this time I found the round in the magazine tube. Apparently when my girlfriend cocked the shotgun, she cocked it just hard enough to eject the spent round but not hard enough to chamber the next. The whole drive back, I had a live round not in the chamber but in the magazine and even that freaked me out.

[mossy725]

My first year of hunting, when I was 16, I made a HUGE mistake when I shot my first deer. I was so pumped with adrenaline and excitement, that after I watched the deer die, I started to climb out of the tree stand. As I was climbing, the barrel of the gun was swinging around. Something mid way down the ladder made me check my gun. Live shell in the chamber, and the safety was off. I almost pissed myself.

Like I said, it was my first year hunting, and my first kill. But there are NO excuses. I learned quickly after that. Now, I almost turn my safety on to a fault. Every single time I finish firing, I turn it back on. I missed a deer once, because I had the safety on walking through the woods, and fumbled turning it on with my gloves. However, no deer is worth the life of anyone.

Be safe out there.

[JJBat150]

I never keep a bullet in the chamber unless I'm stalking.

Shotgun hunting, since I was 16; my father always took the gun out of battery anytime he was walking; I remember sitting with him, and before we'd start walking, <click> and he'd move the action maybe a quarter to half inch out of battery, even if throwing it over his shoulder on the sling.

He never taught me this in all his safety lessons. But I find myself doing the same thing anytime I put the gun down.

[UpStateRedNeck]

My scare came when I was like 14, hunting Turkey alone with old mossberg. I had it idly pointed at a hillside to my left and then just idly pulled the trigger (thinking in my head that the safety was ON and there wasn't one in the tube) BLAM.

Excuse I'm looking for Ray Finkle................... and a clean pair of shorts.

[biggamefish]

I don't think all people become careless or nonshalant I think the correct word would be complacent. It happens all over the place at work in your yard etc. We all have to just go that extra mile to be safe

[Elmo]

my father always took the gun out of battery anytime he was walking; I remember sitting with him, and before we'd start walking, <click> and he'd move the action maybe a quarter to half inch out of battery, even if throwing it over his shoulder on the sling.

Pump action or break action? How do you pull the action back on a shotgun? I heard of keeping the bolt unlocked on a bolt action to prevent it from firing but wouldn't sliding the action back on a pump action open the ejection door to the chamber and then dirt and debris can fall into the chamber?

[MuzzyLoader]

My mistake came when I was also 14. I was rabbit hunting with my grandpa and using an old Mossburg bolt-action 16ga. I chambered a round and when I closed the bolt - BLAM! Luckly I had the barrel pointed at the ground albeit was about 1" from shooting out the tire on his car.

I've NEVER forgotten that moment and I've been extremely safety conscience ever since...

I felt so sad after reading about that accident - horrible tragedy!

[jr.deerslayer]

Luckily putting the safety back on after a shot comes second nature, there has been many times where I look down to put the safety back on and it has already been switched. But when I was 12 or so and and hunting with a lever action 22 I went to ease the hammer back down and my finger slipped off causing it to fire, scared me half to death. Luckily it was pointed in a safe direction were it should always be.

[ny hunter]

I was told if you hunt long enough you well discharge that weapon by accident.But if you also practice firearm safety as well the worst case you change your underware and beat your self up.Always check your guns TWICE.I hit the trigger on a 12 gauge while bird hunting,when that gun went off I was scared sh tless .It happens...

[JJBat150]

Elmo; it's Remington 870. Simply push the slide release and bring the bolt back about a quarter to half inch. The shell stays in the chamber and it's held in place by the extractor, so it keeps dirt and other debris from getting inside the chamber.

I suppose that if the action is cycled far enough back then the shell would be totally removed from the chamber, and in theory could be ejected, but I've never seen that happen.

[Elmo]

JJBat150: Thanks. That's pretty cool idea. I use a Mossberg 500. Will try it out next time I use tit.