Injuries while out hunting or fishing! What's your story?

[caddisguy]

I don't recall ever being injured other than minor cuts, burns, a few minor tumbles and a falling rock that bruised me up. I smashed my shin and think (I never got it checked out) broke a toe fishing but that's about it. My wife has had a few fairly minor ones... broke her nose while hunting, took a lengthy tumble off a bench down to the next one that needed a few months of physio, crushed her whole foot and busted her big toe on Friday.

It got me thinking though... there must be some insane stories right here on this forum... stories of injuries and resulting predicaments, getting back to camp / safety.

Let's hear some stories... the trip you were on, your mission, terrain, how you messed up, mitigation actions and the limp back to safety...

*puts another log on the fire* ... this one should be a gooder.

[NMO]

Shattered my humeral head (ball of the shoulder) in a horse wreck 54km from the nearest road 5 years ago. Road 2hrs back to camp after the wreck, and another 7hrs of shitty trail back to a lake to get flown out of 3 days later. 7 months of physio 3 days a week before I could lift my right arm above my head. Learned a lot about horses since then, and it seems like most folks that work with them have broken a thing or two. Still beats the hell out of hiking when it comes to covering big distances.

[wildcatter]

No serious injury, other than bleeding shins (seamed to hit the same spot every time) while goat hunting at Chilco Lake.
However once on Yalakom Mountain got myself trapped on a rock face like a spider on the wall and nowhere to go.
I thought this is it, but somehow managed to extricate myself out of that rather shitty situation.

[caddisguy]

Shattered my humeral head (ball of the shoulder) in a horse wreck 54km from the nearest road 5 years ago. Road 2hrs back to camp after the wreck, and another 7hrs of shitty trail back to a lake to get flown out of 3 days later. 7 months of physio 3 days a week before I could lift my right arm above my head. Learned a lot about horses since then, and it seems like most folks that work with them have broken a thing or two. Still beats the hell out of hiking when it comes to covering big distances.

Holy crap that sounds like agony. Can't imagine the ride back or the walk out, let alone the recovery. Horses are worth it though

[russm]

Shot a buck just before dark a few years back, got it skinned out and cut in half, while carrying the first half out I had to come down a bit of a hill, part way down a planted my left foot and instead of bending forward my knee bent backwards and I could feel somethignlet go in my knee that felt like an elastic band snapping. Made it to the truck and got back for the second half and then drove the few hours home, when I got out of the truck I basically collapsed, ended up having surgery last arch and it seems to be good now.

[decker9]

Shattered my humeral head (ball of the shoulder) in a horse wreck 54km from the nearest road 5 years ago. Road 2hrs back to camp after the wreck, and another 7hrs of shitty trail back to a lake to get flown out of 3 days later. 7 months of physio 3 days a week before I could lift my right arm above my head. Learned a lot about horses since then, and it seems like most folks that work with them have broken a thing or two. Still beats the hell out of hiking when it comes to covering big distances.

Ouch man! Tough riding with one arm down I bet!

[caddisguy]

No serious injury, other than bleeding shins (seamed to hit the same spot every time) while goat hunting at Chilco Lake.
However once on Yalakom Mountain got myself trapped on a rock face like a spider on the wall and nowhere to go.
I thought this is it, but somehow managed to extricate myself out of that rather shitty situation.

Bleeding is a thing worth keeping an eye on :) I really felt that bit about the rock face and about getting stuck on steep things... never a full on rock face, but some mossy benches where I went down one bench to the next a few times, ledged up trying to creep along some ledge that gets more and more narrow, gets steep and starts rounding out, all of a sudden I'm pretty much just hugging ground scared to move. Similar feeling when I made some mistakes wading around in rivers... sometimes you get stuck there to trying to chose between 1 or 2 very unfavorable options.

[decker9]

A few years back, I learnt the sharpness of the havalon. While breaking down a goat on day 5 of a 10 day goat/moose fly in hunt, I stuck it in one side of my shin, it bounced off my shin bone and poked through a few inches over from the entry. Funny thing is, I thought it was just a poke, until my foot started feeling wet. By the time day 10 came, and a lot of miles moose hunting, my leg got infected and swelled nearly double in size. 5 days of IV antibiotics took care of it.

On day 2 of the hunt, my back arthritis and spasms flared up. The cut infection was minor, to the 3 weeks of bedridden backpain I suffered afterwards. But hey, we got a goat!

[whitlers]

A few years back, I learnt the sharpness of the havalon. While breaking down a goat on day 5 of a 10 day goat/moose fly in hunt, I stuck it in one side of my shin, it bounced off my shin bone and poked through a few inches over from the entry. Funny thing is, I thought it was just a poke, until my foot started feeling wet. By the time day 10 came, and a lot of miles moose hunting, my leg got infected and swelled nearly double in size. 5 days of IV antibiotics took care of it.

On day 2 of the hunt, my back arthritis and spasms flared up. The cut infection was minor, to the 3 weeks of bedridden backpain I suffered afterwards. But hey, we got a goat!

Now that doesn't sound fun.

Few years back a friend of mine planted an axe into his right foot while chopping wood for camp. He was a good 80km off the nearest paved road and another hour past that to William's lake. Thank God his cousin who is a firefighter was there. Tourniquet, a few towels and a speedy drive to the hospital probably saved his foot or worse.

I was not there but that's how I remember hearing it at least.

[digger dogger]

I dislocated my shoulder 2 hours from the truck.
What an awful walk that was, and at least an hour drive to a closed hospital to beg for some morphine.

[bensonvalley]

Rhododendron branch went into my left eye. Thought it was one of those scratches ive got over the years doing block layout but it was much deeper and now the vision in that eye is fairly hazy. Think ill probably try eye protection glasses from work this year.

[Kopper]

Severed/torn extensor tendon in the hand finishing up a goat late Nov, alone. Took hours getting down in the dark and managed to sprain a wrist, bust open my lips and chip a tooth before the bottom. Memories.

[ncurrie]

I have never been injured out hunting. But I just finished listening to ed’s Pod cast on meat eater and then watched his documentary called charged. It was quite insightful about being electrocuted while hunting.

[charlie_horse]

skinning a bear 5 years ago now my buddy was skinning around the neck hit a tough spot and used some strength to force through. well the knife went through alright and didn't stop until the blade was stuck in the knuckle on the middle finger after cutting my extensor tendon clean in half. surgery two days later and a few months of rehab later and I was good to go.

[Wagonmaster]

Disaster is always just one slip up away. Good reason to carry an inReach.

[dakoda62]

Nothing other than scrapes and bruises, but do carry a bottle of morphine sulfate pills in my pack.

[decker9]

Now that doesn't sound fun.

Few years back a friend of mine planted an axe into his right foot while chopping wood for camp. He was a good 80km off the nearest paved road and another hour past that to William's lake. Thank God his cousin who is a firefighter was there. Tourniquet, a few towels and a speedy drive to the hospital probably saved his foot or worse.

I was not there but that's how I remember hearing it at least.

Man! The bigger the blade the bigger the owi! There’s some force behind an axe, glad to hear he made it out quickly.
One thing that is always in my first aid kit now, are those steri strips for closing up a wound. All I had were bandaids, if I woulda been able to close up my puncture holes, I think I would have saved the infection. Another lesson I learnt, don’t sit around with a serious injury, Iv never had much for infections before, my leg was a real eye opener for me. I should have called it quits and flew out for stitches, it’s not worth the risk.

[caddisguy]

Now that doesn't sound fun.

Few years back a friend of mine planted an axe into his right foot while chopping wood for camp. He was a good 80km off the nearest paved road and another hour past that to William's lake. Thank God his cousin who is a firefighter was there. Tourniquet, a few towels and a speedy drive to the hospital probably saved his foot or worse.

I was not there but that's how I remember hearing it at least.

I did the axe thing once, but no where near as bad, though I was also quite lucky. Not really a hunting or fishing story either... just camping. I was using a large dull axe trying to cut small kindling. I lifted up the piece of wood, along with the axe to plop it back down and start a fine cut. Unfortunately the axe bounced instead of penetrating... it bounced right onto the last section of my index finger. Luckily it hit the bone instead of the joint... had it have been the letter, I would have myself a stub. I cringe thinking about it LOL. Lesson !

[whitlers]

Man! The bigger the blade the bigger the owi! There’s some force behind an axe, glad to hear he made it out quickly.
One thing that is always in my first aid kit now, are those steri strips for closing up a wound. All I had were bandaids, if I woulda been able to close up my puncture holes, I think I would have saved the infection. Another lesson I learnt, don’t sit around with a serious injury, Iv never had much for infections before, my leg was a real eye opener for me. I should have called it quits and flew out for stitches, it’s not worth the risk.

Yeah infections aren't something to mess with. I would say you got quite lucky Haha. That's a tough situation to be in for sure. Don't envy you one bit.

[cmurdoch]

Last September I had a plate removed from my left clavicle and after a month of rest I was itching to go deer hunting. On thanksgiving weekend I decided to get out for a few days solo. I was lucky enough to find a nice 4x4 on day one and dropped him. Getting close to dark I figured I could drag him whole back to my truck as it was mostly downhill. while dragging the deer my clavicle snapped with about 2km to go but still managed to get there. Not being able to pick it up into the bed I ended up quartering it with mostly one arm and loading it in the bed. I then drove 4 hours home and went back to have surgery again a week later. It turns out that I should have given my shoulder more time to heal haha.

[steel_ram]

Had my jugular ripped open while fighting of a band of wolverines . . . but it got better.

[whitlers]

I did the axe thing once, but no where near as bad, though I was also quite lucky. Not really a hunting or fishing story either... just camping. I was using a large dull axe trying to cut small kindling. I lifted up the piece of wood, along with the axe to plop it back down and start a fine cut. Unfortunately the axe bounced instead of penetrating... it bounced right onto the last section of my index finger. Luckily it hit the bone instead of the joint... had it have been the letter, I would have myself a stub. I cringe thinking about it LOL. Lesson !

Oh geeze that's scary! You definitely got lucky. It's funny how sharper the axe or knife the safer it can actually be...well until you cut yourself Haha

[Gateholio]

I've hurt my back and cut myself a few times. When I was a kid we were on a 2 week hike and about day 3 I sunk an axe into my shin. No such thing as a sat phone or Inreach back then so we just patched it up and continued on. I stitched up another kid with dental floss and a sewing needles once, too. My brother got giardia on one trip, and we were about 10 days away from civilization and a drug store. :)

It's amazing the misconceptions people have about the dangers of hunting and shooting. People are always saying to me "wow, you must have some crazy stories of people shooting themselves at the range" and I'm like "the most dangerous part about going to a gun range in Canada is the drive to and from! " :)

[Fella]

Old timer me and a buddy shared camp with shot one of his friends one time. He was hunting with a group, they all came across a herd of elk with a couple legal bulls. Apparently they were hunting along either a rail line or they were on a bridge, I’m a little fuzzy on the exact details. Anyways they all setup to shoot on whatever it was, guy had the elk in his scope pulls the trigger, and the guy to the left of him yells out in pain. Turns out he could see the elk in the scope but the muzzle wasn’t clear of whatever they had set up on and the bullet richochet back at his buddy.

[Wild one]

Nothing to crazy for me some twists, sprains, busted fingers, and cuts patched with tape and crazy glue. Uncomfortable during the hunt and at times slowed me down a little during the hunt but no big deal

[Petros65]

Last year as I was packing my hunting camp up I managed to crush a section of my little finger off while folding up my camp cot. Good friends got me to the hospital quickly - but I now have a minus pinkie which I still get teased about.

[BCHunterFSJ]

.375 H&H Mag blew up in my face while shooting at a cape buffalo in Zambia.

https://i.postimg.cc/mr47bvP7/DSC-0816.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Already told the story in a previous post several years ago...
Airlifted to a jungle hospital by helicopter! Could have been lots worse...

[whitlers]

Old timer me and a buddy shared camp with shot one of his friends one time. He was hunting with a group, they all came across a herd of elk with a couple legal bulls. Apparently they were hunting along either a rail line or they were on a bridge, I’m a little fuzzy on the exact details. Anyways they all setup to shoot on whatever it was, guy had the elk in his scope pulls the trigger, and the guy to the left of him yells out in pain. Turns out he could see the elk in the scope but the muzzle wasn’t clear of whatever they had set up on and the bullet richochet back at his buddy.

Well that's a good lesson. I have seen to many videos of guys shooting the hood of their trucks or stuff like that.



Last year as I was packing my hunting camp up I managed to crush a section of my little finger off while folding up my camp cot. Good friends got me to the hospital quickly - but I now have a minus pinkie which I still get teased about.

Ouch!!!

[hawk-i]

No real injuries but back in the 80's while hunting alone in the Berlin river area out of Hinton, probably 50 miles from the nearest person. I rolled my Big Red down a 30 foot bank getting tangled up and pinned under it in a swamp area. Luckily I was just able to keep my face above the water level. Took 20 minutes or so to work myself free and roll the bike off me.

[hawk-i]

.375 H&H Mag blew up in my face while shooting at a cape buffalo in Zambia.

https://i.postimg.cc/mr47bvP7/DSC-0816.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Already told the story in a previous post several years ago...
Airlifted to a jungle hospital by helicopter! Could have been lots worse...

Ouch, That looks like it needs ice! What was the cause of the rifle failure?

[todbartell]

nothing too crazy but did pile up in a heap a couple years ago on opening day of elk season and partially tore my ACL. Hobbled a couple KM back to the quad and was laid up for a few weeks. Bad timing with a LEH California Bighorn in my pocket!

[tuffcityhunter]

Trout fishing with dad, he had a nice one on. Went to jump off the log he was on to the water edge, and tore the quadricep off of his knee cap ( could see it further up his leg). Hell of a thing to watch your father crawl out of the bush screaming to get to the samurai to drive to the nearest cell reception.

A miss diagnose resulting in a mostly dead muscle. A well needed surgery, with a full leg cast for a whole year. As well as being on his death bed with a sever case of pulmonary embolism, from blood clots with his leg that travelled on ward. With two different physiotherapist and many hours spent trying to get mobility again. We have been back on many trout trips, goat and bison and moose hunts.

[robert05]

Not hunting or fishing but out for a day of quad riding, back at the trailer loading the quad which I had done many times and the ramps buckle sending myself and the quad over backwards. Yup broke 8 ribs as the quad landed on me. Neadless to say not fun!

[BCHunterFSJ]

Ouch, That looks like it needs ice! What was the cause of the rifle failure?

outfitter claimed I had plugged the barrel. With over 50 years of hunting and shooting experience I disagree. The failure occurred at the breech...
Did the PH load a wrong caliber round??? Guess we'll never know. Just glad that I did not loose an eye or finger!

[Bugle M In]

Rolled my ankle sheep hunting on some large shale rocks, but liucky I was carrying some tension bands.
I do take pain killers in my back pack for that "just in case" moment.

Uncle was busting up branches to start a fire (cold as hell) while out hunting, and a big splinter of the branch went flying right into my eye, which stuck itself in the eyeball slightly, but I got lucky.

Smashed the hell out of my knee while still hunting when I stepped on a snow covered rock (I didn't see)
and fell smack down on another rock and knee, and that was it for that hunt (took me forever to get back to camp)

And once while trying to look for an elk I had hit, on the 2nd day of looking and dead tired, I went down an embankment, lost my footing, and spun and fell, and impaled myself partially on a fallen tree where the branches had broken off.
Basically "speared" myself, but was lucky into was to long of a branch so it didn't go in "too deep".
But had it been longer, I might still be stuck on the tree, as I was by myself!

I always wear eye and ear and hand protection when using the chain saw.....always!
And I always take along a varied assortment of bandages, surgery style, not just band aids.
And I take along knee supports and tension bandages.

You never know what is going to happen, and safety is always first.
Remember that.

[Brew]

I had my ring and pinky finger tips crushed off breaking down a fishing lodge at the end of a season. luckily i got picked up close to dark by a plane that heard my calls on the radio in the area. Got dropped off in Port hardy and called a cab to take me to the hospital. No doctor on duty there so the nurse cleaned me up as best she could and kicked me out. Stayed at the airport inn until the next day and flew to Vancouver where it took another day and a bit to get into surgery. Coming out of surgery was worse then the initial injury as far as pain goes. I dont want to feel that kind of pain ever again. Took a few surgeries to finally fix them up proper but all is good now. They just get real cold during hunting season. I swear I can tell when the weather is going to change just by how my finger tips feel. Kinda strange

[Squamch]

The worst I've had was getting stabbed with an antler. I had one scary cliffed out experience hunting solo, and am VERY cognizant now of where I'm headed and escape plans when I'm crawling around in the bush.

[walks with deer]

I was twelve and dad took me on a two week moose trip.
we all drew tags that year but only managed to harvest one bull.

Camp packed up trailer in tow headed home about two km from where we leave are area a moose steps out at 75yards right in the middle of the road.
Dad steps out and shoots the moose it drops in its tracks.

moose gets up and slips down the steep hill.'

dad says we will give it 20 minutes than go get him.

It was torential rain as we entered the steep timber as we proceeded down the hill there was tracks every where. dad slipped on a log and through his hip out..

Me at twelve had to drag dad back up to the truck.. to young to drive home and we had over 1000km to make it home... ouch for dad.

another time i broke a tooth and the pain was so bad i couldn't drive myself out. after 9 Tylenol i still couldn't see straight through the pain i dug out old faithful (bottle of whiskey to numb out the pain.)

[tyreguy]

1. Tore my Quad muscle (dehydrated, cramp - rriiiiippppp while walking down a log) Jet boat trip but close to boat
2. Knee - stepped on a stick that twisted my knee, meniscus between joint and couldn't put any weight on it. Moose hunting trip which meant 2km walk back to truck.
3. Brother rolled quad - sep shoulder. Had to move throttle controls to other side so he could drive out in a sling.
4. Cuts / stitches - took a while but only 1 knife on an animal at a time. And i wear gloves all the time for almost everything around camp.

It looks bad, but this is over a 35yr period so not too bad really - i did OFA3 couple of years ago as i figured we're not getting any younger and at least one of us in our group had better know some first aid!!!

[jtred]

First five minutes of a ten day sheep hunt in the Wilmore Wilderness my pack horse went one direction around a tree while my horse and I went the other. Due to my inexperience I tried to guide the packhorse around the tree while backing my mount instead of just dropping the line. Neither horse was impressed and my left hand ended up in a bad spot. Got everything under control and then we rode another seven or so hours before camp. Did all the camp stuff then when it was finally time to enjoy the fire and a well earned scotch managed to pull off my glove to survey what I had done. My ring finger was purple, bent funny and hurt like a son of a bitch. My buddy who is an xray tech had a look, asked if I could move it, I could but it wasn't a good feeling. He said I was good. It was obviously broken he later said but what can you do. It bothered me for a long time and still does since it never really healed right and the knuckle has arthritis now. Other than that just the usual cuts, bruises, abrasions that happen when you spend time in the mountains backpacking.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Great idea for a thread!!

Tons of adventures in remote places and I can say that neither myself nor my partners have had any note worthy incidents.

Avoid horses and quads. Those things both have weight and power. I prefer boots

SSS

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Love this classic thread from Mattb

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?1260-My-04-Mule-deer

[wildcatter]

Bleeding is a thing worth keeping an eye on :) I really felt that bit about the rock face and about getting stuck on steep things... never a full on rock face, but some mossy benches where I went down one bench to the next a few times, ledged up trying to creep along some ledge that gets more and more narrow, gets steep and starts rounding out, all of a sudden I'm pretty much just hugging ground scared to move. Similar feeling when I made some mistakes wading around in rivers... sometimes you get stuck there to trying to chose between 1 or 2 very unfavorable options.

For sure never want to be stuck like that again.
The spot was pretty well vertical, but somehow got into a large crack between rocks and was able to go up.
I was trying to make a short cut you know;)
Never a good idea.

[two-feet]

My friend had back spasms while we were out on a moose hunt, he could basically not move so we laid him by the fire but he still got hypothermia, we eventually got him in a cot in the tent in his bag where he warmed up.

It is so important to plan for the worst, have a good 1st aid kit and a way to communicate with the outside world. Guns, knives, axes, bears, rough terrain, weather all lead to risk. On a fly-in you could be locked down by weather for days at a time.

One safety item I never skimp on is a very warm sleeping bag, if all else fails at least you have a warm place to lay down.

[hawk-i]

Forgot about this one...shot a nice bull moose about 1/2 hour before the end of legal shooting time about a dozen years ago. When 1/4ing it up in the dark I tripped and had a sharp stick about a 1/2 inch in diameter go through my left hand in the soft tissue between my thumb and index finger.

[Buck]

Very painful kidney stone attack while in my treestand figured i was dying in some way.It was a long crawl out of the bush and the 2 hours into the hospital.Ouch

[Buckaroo]

Passenger in a high speed off an old snowy skidder trail barrel roll in mid air landing on the roof 50' below last day of last seasons "2018" Mule deer season Reg 8, Nov 10. Severe concussion, slight brain bleed, neck, upper, mid and lower back, compression injuries to knees, nerve damage and some other stuff. Still in rehab. Good times... Oh and no deer...

[Striksfromabove]

Dislocated my right shoulder when I slipped on a snowy ramp loading my quad in my truck. Truck was stick shift, had to shift with left hand to get home, try it, not easy. Thankfully the quad was already loaded and I wasn’t too far from town. Doc had issues trying to get arm back in the socket, had to put his foot in my armpit and reef on it, while I screamed in narcotic euphoria. Physio separated it in therapy and had to get it repaired, good now.

I also tested the sharpness of a Havalon last spring while skinning a bear and watched in what seemed like slow motion as I sunk it into the side of my pointing finger til the tip hit bone. Went in like butter, absolutely no force. Be damn careful with Havalons. I was whining like a little bitch about getting trichanosis and my wife and buddy still raz me about it!

[browningboy]

Passenger in a high speed off an old snowy skidder trail barrel roll in mid air landing on the roof 50' below last day of last seasons "2018" Mule deer season Reg 8, Nov 10. Severe concussion, slight brain bleed, neck, upper, mid and lower back, compression injuries to knees, nerve damage and some other stuff. Still in rehab. Good times... Oh and no deer...


wow! Best of luck recovering

[mpotzold]

Eve & I were preparing to fish in Gaspard Creek(2007 summer) when charged by a grizz. Both of us screaming changed his mind only feet away.
I yelled-run,run to the camper quickly. I was running for the gun that was hanging on the camper jack. Eve was holding a stool in one hand & running as fast as she could. She wore some loose sandals & wiped out 2 times falling into some sharp rocks & boulders. The stool was for protection said Eve! :biggrin:

I was back quickly to the creek area with the loaded 375 H&H but the bear was gone for good.

Her left leg up to the knee was badly bleeding & swelled to about 2x the size(have it on a video). Also her hands were badly bruised.
We went back to Vancouver the same day. She saw the doctor & no bones were broken.

[Firstblood]

Always a good read to remind us that we are very fragile pink bags of very important water. We puncture easily I have found out many times and bleed like heck, even from the smallest holes. Injuries wise, not too bad, some big fish hooks and one good puncture last season, slipped, hand down on a broken base of a branch, couple cms into the soft spot between thumb and fingers.

Last coupe years safety has become something I care about. OHSA/FR/EMR/Wilderness first aid has all taught me we are very fragile. Truck has two first aid kits, Big one for people, Smaller one for doggos. In my pack, medium first aid kit, CAT tourniquet, water, fire. On my person, CAT, knife, fire. Training has taught me lots, Number one - CARRY A C.A.T TOURNIQUET IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. Improvised TQ attempts have a failure rate of over 75%, even with a windlass (spinny thing) they fail over 90% of the time. C.A.T- Combat Application Tourniquet-- buy the real one not the fake ones and once its on a person actually being used its on until a DOCTOR takes it off end of story. Planning and prevention cant be overlooked, tell someone where you are going who knows where that actually is, usually my brother 6 hours away because my girlfriend doesn't know that tree way back there where we saw that chicken one time back a few moons ago....

[Bugle M In]

Always a good read to remind us that we are very fragile pink bags of very important water. We puncture easily I have found out many times and bleed like heck, even from the smallest holes. Injuries wise, not too bad, some big fish hooks and one good puncture last season, slipped, hand down on a broken base of a branch, couple cms into the soft spot between thumb and fingers.

Last coupe years safety has become something I care about. OHSA/FR/EMR/Wilderness first aid has all taught me we are very fragile. Truck has two first aid kits, Big one for people, Smaller one for doggos. In my pack, medium first aid kit, CAT tourniquet, water, fire. On my person, CAT, knife, fire. Training has taught me lots, Number one - CARRY A C.A.T TOURNIQUET IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. Improvised TQ attempts have a failure rate of over 75%, even with a windlass (spinny thing) they fail over 90% of the time. C.A.T- Combat Application Tourniquet-- buy the real one not the fake ones and once its on a person actually being used its on until a DOCTOR takes it off end of story. Planning and prevention cant be overlooked, tell someone where you are going who knows where that actually is, usually my brother 6 hours away because my girlfriend doesn't know that tree way back there where we saw that chicken one time back a few moons ago....

Good stuff, good advice^^^^

[whitlers]

Always a good read to remind us that we are very fragile pink bags of very important water. We puncture easily I have found out many times and bleed like heck, even from the smallest holes. Injuries wise, not too bad, some big fish hooks and one good puncture last season, slipped, hand down on a broken base of a branch, couple cms into the soft spot between thumb and fingers.

Last coupe years safety has become something I care about. OHSA/FR/EMR/Wilderness first aid has all taught me we are very fragile. Truck has two first aid kits, Big one for people, Smaller one for doggos. In my pack, medium first aid kit, CAT tourniquet, water, fire. On my person, CAT, knife, fire. Training has taught me lots, Number one - CARRY A C.A.T TOURNIQUET IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. Improvised TQ attempts have a failure rate of over 75%, even with a windlass (spinny thing) they fail over 90% of the time. C.A.T- Combat Application Tourniquet-- buy the real one not the fake ones and once its on a person actually being used its on until a DOCTOR takes it off end of story. Planning and prevention cant be overlooked, tell someone where you are going who knows where that actually is, usually my brother 6 hours away because my girlfriend doesn't know that tree way back there where we saw that chicken one time back a few moons ago....

Very sound advice indeed. If on a long term hike in hunt, what does your first aid kit look like? There must be a balance between necessities and weight. I'd like to hear what you would carry from your experience!

[Firstblood]

My big first aid kits dont leave my truck along with some other safety gear that lives there. I don't do much hike in hunting becuase I live 5 minutes from bunnies to moose but my day pack kit is based on big problems, major trauma, breaks and what not. Many first aid kits contain a large variety of medical supplies for small injuries, I replace the small stuff with stuff for bigger problems like bandaids with sterile gauze that can be used for a larger variety of things like packing deep wounds, burns, and larger problems. I added a few things that make life easier for performing first aid on yourself which is much harder than it looks, Id suggest trying it out a few times. As well as a few things that you dont find in your standard little kits. Not everything is listed but this is what I add to the basics. St.John ambulance has the best kits for the money.

1x CAT tourniquet
2x rolls of vet wrap -stretchy self adhesive wrap/roll, one hand application and it holds tight no safety pins or clips.
2x rolls Electrical tape because it still works covered in blood and you don't have to cut it.
1x SAM splint (try making a splint out of sticks at home....good luck)
1x Wound packing syringe/long gauze roll. Designed for gun shot wounds, a long thin empty "syringe" with no needle, that is packed with a single long piece of gauze and inserted/injected into the bullet wound channel to pack it as deep and tight as possible and stop deep bleeding.
1x Compact tac light, can hold it in my mouth, full battery never used for anything else.
1x never used Opinel N0.7 knife, sharp as can be and clean, it is never used for anything else....think 127 hours

[whitlers]

My big first aid kits dont leave my truck along with some other safety gear that lives there. I don't do much hike in hunting becuase I live 5 minutes from bunnies to moose but my day pack kit is based on big problems, major trauma, breaks and what not. Many first aid kits contain a large variety of medical supplies for small injuries, I replace the small stuff with stuff for bigger problems like bandaids with sterile gauze that can be used for a larger variety of things like packing deep wounds, burns, and larger problems. I added a few things that make life easier for performing first aid on yourself which is much harder than it looks, Id suggest trying it out a few times. As well as a few things that you dont find in your standard little kits. Not everything is listed but this is what I add to the basics. St.John ambulance has the best kits for the money.

1x CAT tourniquet
2x rolls of vet wrap -stretchy self adhesive wrap/roll, one hand application and it holds tight no safety pins or clips.
2x rolls Electrical tape because it still works covered in blood and you don't have to cut it.
1x SAM splint (try making a splint out of sticks at home....good luck)
1x Wound packing syringe/long gauze roll. Designed for gun shot wounds, a long thin empty "syringe" with no needle, that is packed with a single long piece of gauze and inserted/injected into the bullet wound channel to pack it as deep and tight as possible and stop deep bleeding.
1x Compact tac light, can hold it in my mouth, full battery never used for anything else.
1x never used Opinel N0.7 knife, sharp as can be and clean, it is never used for anything else....think 127 hours

Thanks!

That's some good info right there. I have basic 1st aid experience from my days as a lifeguard (insert jokes I know) but that basic training has helped on a few occasions already. I like the CAT and vet wrap, I'll be adding that to my kit. Good call on the sharp knife although I wish I'd never have to do what he did.

Thanks for the insight!

[tigrr]

Add to firstbloods list is a dollar store 3 pack of crazy glue. It will seal some big cuts till you get to the stitch factory.
Mine was a frost bitten ear and cheek. It still goes numb quicker that the rest of me after 35 years.

[Arctic Lake]

Vet wrap ? Is that like 3M Coban which adheres to itself ? Really great stuff ,think it came to be during the Vietnam war .
Arctic Lake

[Firstblood]

Vet wrap=3M coban. Great stuff and tons of uses. Tigrr Is right super glue is spectacular stuff always have it in both my kits. Have a stapler in my doggo kit but glue is much less painful and easier to apply.

[btridge]

A couple packs of steri strips (butterflys), weigh nothing, but close a bad cut quickly.

[Arctic Lake]

Oh yea forgot about SteriStrips . Had more than few cuts that needed stitches . When I arrived at the hospital for stitches the doctor would look at the SteriStrips holding things together and say” I’m just going to leave that as is “
Arctic Lake

[tipper]

aed would be a nice addition.

[Ltbullken]

(1) Shot a moose in ugly terrain. Ugly pack out. Twisted my knee in an awkward way. Found out eventually that I tore cartilage. Surgery required.

(2) On a moose hunt. F'ing around with a trailer. Strange tweak to my shoulder. Bothered me for a couple days. Then went to pick up my pack and tore my bicep. No surgery required, it eventually settled.

[Jrax]

i was going after a stone ram about 14km from nearest road and going across steep and cliffed out ground on same level as the sheep. I was using my left arm to stabilize myself against a rock face with fissures in it when suddenly a large loose rock dislodged and pushed me over a small cliff where I landed on a mix of fine and coarse shale. The rock hit the ground right above me, not on me luckily, then over my leg and back. I felt crushing weight kind of like being at the bottom end of a dog pile lol. I could hear the rock crashing down the mountain while I laid there trying to figure out how bad it was.

My leg probably would have been crushed and broken but the shale allowed some give so only a few deep punctures, a lot of blood and a chip out of my shin. When I got up I could see the indent my leg left in the shale. My pack saved my back and my pack frame was broken, metal dragonfly stove broken and fuel bottle punctured. I was not able to put weight on my leg so my partner helped my hobble back to camp, 4km took about 7 hrs and well past dark. I was laid up for 2 more full days then spent 2 days getting out slow with T3's and whiskey. Went to doctor - small fracture, bone chip and bruised bones. very lucky overall.

Somehow even when this happened I was more concerned about what the ram was doing... is he still there? check to see which way he heads etc... my partner was much more reasonable and focused on getting back to camp. The 2 full days laid up were spent glassing looking for more rams even though the hunt was done for me.

[Fella]

Jrax I seem to recall a similar story on this forum a few years back, not sure if you told it or not but I seem to recall the guy smashed the hell out of his rifle scope and the company sent him a brand new one. I don’t know why that sticks out for me...

[caddisguy]

I didn't get injured (other than a big bruise) but had an encounter with a falling rock with rifle involvement LOL

I was climbing up one of our ropes we use to get around one of our BT spots. I speculate a rock from up above had rolled down and ended up somewhere between the top and then uphill about 10 yards where it's tied to a tree. When I was half way up, this football size (maybe a bit bigger) comes tumbling down (presumably it was on or close to the rope which bumped it and allowed it to continue rolling down). I was half way up the rope when I heard something coming. I see the rock come bouncing down from over the top. It was coming right for my head, so I tucked myself in best I could. It ended up smacking into the stock of my rifle. In the grand scheme of things, the rock "grazed" the rifle (it could have been a lot worse) but it was still a good smack and gave me a stock-shaped bruise on my hip

Picture of the place it happened (caddisgirl heading up the hill)

https://i.imgur.com/5JlBfVB.jpg

[Jrax]

Jrax I seem to recall a similar story on this forum a few years back, not sure if you told it or not but I seem to recall the guy smashed the hell out of his rifle scope and the company sent him a brand new one. I don’t know why that sticks out for me...

not me, have yet to bust up a scope /knock on wood … come to think of it, I was lucky that both my binos and gun made it through that fairly unscathed.

[Rayne]

Yesterday I took a brand new hunter out and he harvested his first big game animal. While I was in the process of showing him how to skin and gut the bear my knife slipped while I was cutting around the bears ass and ended up in my leg ( It wasn’t very deep, a couple cms and a few wide just a few stitches). Luckily I didn’t hit anything major. So a couple bandages later we got back to skinning the bear and loaded up. Only a 30 minute drive back to town a quick hospital visit and I’m good as new. Any one ever heard of trichinosis being transmitted through blood contact? I’m going to have the bear tested either way.

[caddisguy]

Glad you're ok Rayne! I'm not a doctor, but will pretend :)

Trichinella (like most parasites) lives a very specific life cycle. When the cysts are ingested, your stomach acid releases them and they begin to reproduce in your stomach before migrating to your muscles.

I would go out on a limb here and say that it would be impossible to acquire trichinosis through a cut.

I knick myself at least once or twice on every bear, as I suspect half of all other hunters do as well.

Regarding the testing of bear meat for trich, I wouldn't bother. Here in southern BC, 20% of bears carry trichinella. That number gets higher for further north you go. Even if it tests negative for trichinella, you still need to handle and cook the meat with the same precautions due to other parasites such as tapeworms which exist in virtually all bears.

The only risk I see here is the potential for bacterial infection from the cut. If you had it looked at by a doctor, they would have assessed whether or not antibiotics or a tetanus shot were warranted.

I think you're all good. Congrats on the bear! I hope you'll post up a story thread if you haven't already (I'm just catching up now)

[huntcoop]

Smashed my pride and got soaked when we flipped our canoe fishing many years ago. Lost a fair bit of tackle but managed not to spill a drop of my Lucky nor did we lose any beer.

[Knute]

My kid has been pestering me to share my encounter with a 3 oz. bouncing betty.

No injuries that required treatment but let's just say I came by the nickname "Splitnut the Fisherman" honestly.

Big spring on the line in heavy current, hook straightens. It was like it was in slow motion as I watched this dastardly chunk of lead come flying back toward me at supersonic speed. Yup, straight to the ball sack. DOWN GOES FRASIER!!

Our spot wasn't popularly known so we were alone, allowing me the luxury of laying on the rocks for 5 uninterrupted minutes whilst my scrotum and the associated pain localized instead of engulfing my entire being. Like I said, no lasting damage but an instant in time that will never be forgotten.

[Rayne]

Thanks caddisguy. That makes me feel much better about the situation. And I’ll talk to buddy and see if he will write it up otherwise I will. It was a short hunt. But quite memorable for him. Can’t wait to get back out and cut my own tag!