Close Call Hunting

[whitetail2009]

Has anybody ever had an incident like this before???
While I was up hunting north of Quesnel , with two friends looking for an leh moose.We pulled into a clearing and had a look around. after checking the slash , we came back to the truck, I noticed that he was pointing his gun at the other guy, I quickly said what the hell you doing!!!!!
He apoligized and started to unload his gun, which was a bolt action Parker Hale 30-06 with clip. When all of a sudden boom , the gun went off , three feet in front of me into the ground. Well, I went BALLISTIC, I won't repeat what i said, but you all could imagine.
Needless to say it was a very quiet ride back to camp. We never did get a moose. I never hunted with him again, and he has since sold his gun. So we are all safe hunting again.I know he feels bad, but that was too close for comfort....Life is way too short, and can been even be shorter with stupid behavior like this....:evil::evil::evil: Be carefull out there.....

[Deadshot]

Father-in-law had the same gun & it done the same thing when he was unloading it one time. Mauser action on it. Too sloppy for my liking.

[BearStump]

YIKES!!!!!
I had almost the same thing hapen to me.
took my dad to long island, out in the middle of harrison lk. to find a deer. He hadn't hunted in probably 10 yrs, so I thought I'd get his ass off the couch. Well, we arrive in good time. 50 mph in my ski boat. We get off the boat and start gettin our crap together and loading up our packs and stuff, when...............BOOOM!!!
apparently his old 30-06 pump had no red paint left on the cross-bolt safety and he forgot which way was "safe". scared the crap out of me.I had some choice words as well. fortunately he was smart enough to at least point it at the ground.

[Lee]

I noticed that he was pointing his gun at the other guy, - Apparently his CORE training didn't take?

Mauser action on it. Too sloppy for my liking. X2

he has since sold his gun - if he doesn't get retrained before he picks another one up, punch him in the head

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[ElkMasterC]

I was walking down a logging road one time many years ago with a buddy, and his 12 Ga went off into the road between us, blowing a colander-sized crater into the packed gravel.
I, quite naturally, almost shit my pants and screamed like a frightened schoolgirl.
"What the FU.KK was THAT?" I asked, quietly and in full control.

The reply?

"I was just checking the safety."

[.300WSMImpact!]

i had a guy try to spin his 4 10 around on his finger like a hand gun, loaded of course, almost shot his foot off, i dont hunt with him anymore,

[Podman]

I learnt my lesson when I was about 8 my buddy and I were walking down the street with our pellet guns and his went off and hit my toe. I don't remember saying any choice words just dancing around for a while. Ever since then I have been very careful where I point my gun. But also never have one chambered unless you are going to shoot.

[Riverratz]

Took an acquaintance across a lake to do some duck hunting in a 16ft. inflatable boat. At destination, as he was removing his 12 G. from the scabbard, it went off.........blew the end out of the hard plastic scabbard, and drilled a thumb sized hole through the aluminum floor boards. Shell was a 3" Magnum with #4 shot. How or why it didn't go through the hypalon outer hull is anyone's guess. Still can't believe I stayed so calm..........just stared at him and asked him if he always took his gun out of a case with his finger on the trigger ? He was too stunned to answer. Finished the hunt in silence, but haven't hunted with him since.

30 yrs. ago, guy I knew of had finished his hunt for the day, loaded his gear into the back of his p/u and placed his rifle on top of everything else. When he got home, wife greets him and assists him bringing stuff into the house. She opened the rear door of p/u, grabbed the rifle by the barrel and started to pull it out. BOOM ! Took her arm off above the elbow in chunks, never to be seen again. Terrible. How do you live with that for the rest of your live ????

[hardnocks]

i watch my older brother shoot is friend in the leg unloading a 30-30 win . I don`t think he has ever fired a gun since. I was twelve and never forgot that lesson.

[ElkMasterC]

Holy crap..the posts here........ I could write a book.

[elmerfudd!eheheh]

When I was younger and dumber, before getting my hunting lic. I was invited to go duck hunting with a buddies older brother. We were out in the ladner delta when he shot at and hit a duck flying over head. He went and retrieved the duck and stayed crouched hoping for another one to fly over. When the birds had passed I worked my over to him. When I was about 10 ft away he stood upright turning in my direction when BOOM! the blast hit about 4 ft in front of me sending dirt straight up over my head. I still remember that quite vividly some 30 yrs later. Turns out he had tied a leather shoe lace on as a strap which somehow got around the trigger. I have always been quite particular to guns being pointed in my direction, ie. at the backs of my heels etc, ever since and have stopped hunting with people for that very reason. Better safe than dead.

[bigbear350]

i started hunting deer and ducks when i was 5 years old, and my father drilled gun safety into my head. and when i was 17 or so... a buddy and i decided to go out grouse hunting. we walked maybe 4 kilometers down some old grown up roads and me being ever so mindful of the muzzle on my friends shotgun i finally asked him... the safety is on your gun right??? he replied with a dumb look... ahhh yeah.... alright i said.. we continued walking, i was to his right and he swung the gun so it was facing in my direction.. made me pretty nervous so i stepped back and with my gun facing straight up, pushed his gun barrel forward and booom! just where i was going to step a small crater in the ground from his 12 gauge and his gun went flying into the ditch! safety is on eh!! needless to say i never hunted with him again... i don't know if he still hunts, i haven't talked to him pretty well since that incident. i couldn't imagine what would have happend to me out in the middle of know where with a whole through my side or a leg blown off :S

[Riverratz]

I was about 14 and my brother about 10.......Dad took us out hunting bush chickens. We traveled in his brand new Oldsmobile (yeah your hunt rig can be like that in the prairies). At the end of the evening, as we're getting into the car, last words out of Dad's mouth were "you guys make sure those guns are unloaded"......we both had 22's. I'm in the front passenger seat, brother in the back seat. Dad fires up the big 455 cu. in., and a huge explosion from the back. I look back and see my brother with this terrified look on his face. Smell of burnt gunpowder. Black hole in the white leather inner door panel and out thru the door outer skin. He got a thrashing that today would send a man to jail.......but he's never had a gun accident since either.

[todbartell]

had a buddy accidently discharge my 223 when getting back to the truck. Apparently the trigger will go off if your glove snags it while removing round from chamber with safety off. Muzzle was pointing the other way at a steep angle

[Riverratz]

OK, one more. We were in our early teens, (60's) Manitoba small town......buddies and I were in the bush at every opportunity shooting rabbits and chickens. One day in the winter, buddy decides he can see more game by climbing up into a spruce tree with his Cooey single shot 22. After ten minutes he decides to come down, but climbing with the rifle is a pain, so he simply drops it. It hits the ground butt first and goes off. He fell out of the tree, started moaning on the ground. Bullet entered his back, right side, just above his hip bone and exited out the front. He wasn't bleeding too bad, so we humped it for town, straight to the local clinic where the Doc. bandaged him up. He lived, no problems or complications, but he wasn't allowed to come hunting with us for the rest of that winter. Back then it was no big deal, no police investigation, nothing..... just another story.

[Jagermeister]

What is fairly common is that over time, the sear will loose the nice sharp edge and have a slight "rounding". If you happen to unknownly touch the trigger with the safety on, the bolt will creep and when you take the safey off, the firing pin will release. I could see that happening on a Parker Hale and other rifles that use mass produced WWII vintage actions. It's probably not a bad idea to test your older shotgun or rifle for this under a controlled condition.

[OutWest]

2 years ago we had a friend who had just got his hunting and gun license. He was 18. Myself and another one of my friends were both 19 at the time and took him out with us one day. We got out of the truck to start the hike before splitting up. We both asked him to make sure his safety was on and he told us both times that it was. All of a sudden he goes to sling his rifle over his shoulder with one hand as he was walking behind us. His 7mm shot straight up into the air. Needless to say we both tore into him and have not hunted with him since.

[Nimrod]

Years ago a fly fishing friend of mine wanted to get into hunting. He took the courses got his rifle, he was busy and didn't have much time to get out so I made him a nice handload.
first time out it was late Friday,we drove into a cut block, I got out and walked to the edge of the landing to glass the bottom corner. all of a sudden I hear kafkn BOOM?? I think holy shit he shot a deer!! turn around and there he is in the passenger seat eyes big a saucers with a dust cloud coming out form the bottom of my truck...then the sound of liquid running!!!!
the bullet missed his foot ,went true the floor board, thru and aluminum gas line and punched a hole in the frame.
now we were in far and the thought of walking out didn't sound good. After we were sure there was no fire I got in and took the break off and on the slope we were on back the truck to a steeper area to keep the gas in the tank.
after that it got dark so with the head lamp I go inside the wheel well with my Swiss army knife wood saw and sawed the ragged gas line ends flush, just so happened that the rad overflow rubber hose fit nice and snug over each end of the gas line. fired the truck up no leakes so drove out. Actually drove on that repair for the next week until I could fix it.
when this happened Buddy said how sorry he was and that he'd pay to replace the line...when he heard the cost he said "can't you just get some fuel rated rubber tubing and some hose clamps" ??
Needless to say that was the last time we hunted or did anything together. the guy actually contacted me a couple years later to make him some more bullets...LOL yeah right.

[hunter1947]

I know exactly what you felt ,this happened to me about 25 years ago http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif here is my story.

I and two of my friends where sitting in my truck waiting for daylight to come.
As it started to get light I said well lets get out and get going ,the 3 of us got out of my truck with the rifles of course back then I had a gun rack in the back of my rear window.

I was at the rear of my truck talking to my other partner about where he should work an area.
I said I got to go get my binoculars out from under my floor boards as i opened up the truck door I saw my other friend rifle laying on my seat with the muzzle facing me.

I got the binoculars out from under the floor boards from under the seat ,I then locked the door and closed it as I was walking to the rear of the truck BOOM I turned around and walked back to look I saw a huge hole right through my drivers door I opened up the door and the front seat was all ripped up as for the door man I was steaming :evil:.

I walked around to my partner that had this rifle in laying on my seat I said what the hell did you have a loaded gun in my truck for he said he just layed it down on my front seat in order to put his jacket on then when I got my gun out I put my finger into the trigger guard and pulled it to remove the gun from inside the truck.

I said to him friend or no friend you will never hunt with me again after what just happened I said you never put a loaded gun of any kind in any car ,truck etc.
It still gives me the willies up to this day that I was facing that gun that was loaded with the safety off ,If I had stayed there for 5 sec longer I would not be telling this story of what happened today.

[Dirty]

I was moose hunting once, and we had a cow down. I went back to camp to get help. So I come back with help, and we dress the moose out, and leave it for the night. So we are heading back to camp and the unnamed hunting partner gives me his rifle. I being young and stupid made the first error. I failed to determine the gun as safe when it was handed to me in the truck. So we drive back to camp with it between my legs the hole way. When I get back my hunting partner tells me to remove the magazine????? It was an A-bolt. So i proceed to try and open the floor plate with the muzzle in a safe direction. Ka-boom. Gravel spraying. There was one in the pipe the hole way to camp.:?
What I learned from that lesson... never trust a firearm as safe until you have proven it safe and an open action is a safe action.

Had another incident where I was duck hunting and we were bored. So my hunting partner is kneeling or standing and rests his chin on the barrel of his gun with both hands underneath. I look over at him and ask just what the **** he is doing? He says what? We also have one in the chamber and two in the magazine. So I asked him if he had one chambered. He denied it, but I knew full well he placed his head on the barrel of a loaded shotgun with the safety on. Stupid through and through.

[frenchbar]

Holy shit! no wonder i hunt alone:mrgreen:

[SHACK]

I guess Ill post up my bad one.

I was about 10 years old when my uncle and I headed out to the dump, with the .22 pistol in tow to shoot a few crows or whatever I could find to shoot while he was unloading the truck. I made the mistake of holstering the little ruger in my waistband. Needless to say, the gun fired, bullet entered my tighty whiteys, exited them just a few .000ths to the left of my junk, enterd high into my left thigh, and settled a few inches above my inner knee.
To this day I still have the bullet in my leg.....its a very good reminder of what stupidity will get cha!

[Dirty]

Holy shit! no wonder i hunt alone:mrgreen:

Yup the Duke's gun was always going off around other people. Especially around women.:mrgreen:

[huntinnewbie]

Here's 2 for ya,

Hubby invited a friend from work to come duck hunting with us. This guy had the unnerving habit of resting his shotgun butt down and with both hands clasped over the end of the barrel he leaned his chin on his hands.
I finally said, "what the hell are you doing. Not that I care but watching you blow your face off would really ruin my day."
He did his best to stop the annoying habit for the rest of the hunt and the next time he showed up ( yes, we gave him one more chance) with a custom made gun rest, that sticks in the ground, and used it the whole day.

2nd close call was many years ago. My husband went hunting for grouse with my nephew. My nephew was using his 22.
They came back from the hunt with my nephew saying there's something wrong with my gun as it keeps jamming.
Grandpa, my dad, took the 22 from him and of course the first question was is it unloaded?
My nephew swore on a stack of bibles that it was. So there we were, me, hubby, nephew, his brothers, his Mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa all sitting around the kitchen table while Grandpa tries to figure out what is wrong with the gun.
Grandpa fiddled with the gun for quite sometime and then asked the nephew one more time, is it unloaded, can you account for every round you put in it. Yes was his reply, so Grandpa hd a look up the barrel to see if there was an obstruction, a couple of more minutes later out popped a live round.
Well if looks could kill, my nephew died a thousands deaths that day!

My nephew went on to become a successful hunter and trapper with no more incidents other than a bad run in with a very angry black bear sow with cubs but that's another story.

[frenchbar]

Yup the Duke's gun was always going off around other people. Especially around women.:mrgreen:

The Duke could of hunted with me tho...

[deer nut]

At the range one time a guy was shooting a semi-auto .22 next to me. He had a jam & was fiddling with it trying to clear it (and waving the F***ing muzzle around!). I saw all this out of the corner of my eye and quickly got up from my bench and stepped back seconds before he blasted a round into the dirt, just missing the edge of the concrete platform! He silently cased his gun and left while I just stared at him, aghast.

This is why I: 1. hate semi-autos & 2. prefer going to the range when no one else is around!!

[ROEBUCK]

I shot my buddy in the leg with an air rifle when we were kids!!

and it wasnt an accident!! we used to play fight with the damn things!!

[oddsix]

My opa and his buddies were out moose hunting in the 60's i think it was. So its about 7am and his friend and his son were out and it was still half-dark. All of a sudden the son says, MOOSE. The son is wearing a brown sweater. He gets out and stands in front of the driver side corner of the truck, and then his dad gets out. His dad thinks he has the moose in the cross-hairs and fires one off, and he shot his son dead on the spot. He got back to camp and they poured a 26 of jack down his throat to put him out for a bit.

[Spokerider]

Had a trigger on a rifle lightened by a gunsmith to about 2.5 lbs.
One day,[ out hunting alone ] while closing the bolt on a cartridge in a hurried fashion, a slam fire occured.
Never did trust that rifle after that.

[bad arrow]

I had an incident I thought I had forgotten, my buddy and I were going outto plink with the 22 cals, buddy went upstairs to get his semi-auto from the closet when I hear this thing go off upstairs, the bullet go's through the floor into the basement where I am missing me by several feet. I guess buddy never realized the chamber was occupied with a live one, I got rid of my semi-auto 22 and replaced it with a single shot 22 which I figure was more practicle for grouse hunting anyways.

[tooley]

Me and my dad were sighting in his 243 one day and as he was closing the bolt it went off. Thankfully we do practice safety while in the field.

[sawmill]

I had a friend who didn`t understand semi autos following me once down a trail and he fiddled with the trigger and he punched a .22 round between my legs.It cut the inseam of my pants right at knee level and kicked up dirt in front of me.I never took him out again either.

[7mag700]

I was going to contribute the story of the time my cousin clocked a guy in head with the stock of a shotgun for having it pointed at my leg.

I've now got the willies so bad from reading this thread the above is about the best I can manage :shock:

7m7

[proguide66]

once was guideing a sheep hunter...he was squatting on my left , I was standing hunched over glassing some rams...told him to put one in the tube and shoot the ram...barel was 10 inches to the left of me , 12 inches below my left ear pointing up , magnaported 300 weatherby mag..bolt closes gun goes off...felt like I was kicked in the head REAL hard..ears still ring like hell non stop...6 yrs ago:icon_frow

Was 18 in the Victoria highlands bow hunting , heard a 'wizzz' and a crossbow bolt zipper in front of my waist from left to right , stuffs in the ground...3 steps fatser I woulda bin harpooned in the guts...some guy came out saying he just shot a doe....he missed , she was on the top of a hill , he shot at her..I was on the other side....

yrs back a freind brought a new hunter with him to MY spot:evil:...first light we are standing together at the trucks , new hunter is loading his 3006 and puts one in the tube...I ak him why and ask him if the safety is on , he pulls the trigger to see if the safety is on...boom..waist hieght missed me by inches...:roll::roll:


Know a guy who shot his son on the island yrs ago and killed him....driving along cowichan , buck ran out , dad jumps out with his gun..gun goes off in the truck while he was pulling it out , shoots his kid in the leg , femoral artery , bleeds out and dies....:cry:

[blindguy]

white tail 2009 a buddy of mine was hunting up that way for moose this year same story same gun ,sounds very close to the same story that gun even got sold when he got back,My buddy was very pissssssed and won't go back .

proguides i remember that happening i was up there that morning had a sick feeling in my stomach for a long time after that.

[BimmerBob]

Never had a firearm discharge so far in any of my excursions but the story of a friend shooting his buddy with a pellet gun brings back a memory from my childhood.

Here it is:

My cousin (4 yrs older than me) had 2 BB guns that we would take into the bush around "hangman's tree" in Lillooet shooting anything we could find but mostly just songbirds by the dozen. When I was about 9 or so we decided to try shooting each other in the back from a distance, we discovered it didn't hurt too much and one thing led to another where finally we were having a BB gun fight.

We were about 50 feet apart, hiding behind trees taking potshots at one another, my cousin came out from behind a tree to take a shot at me and I quickly fired back. The shot hit him right between the eyes, just above the bridge of the nose. He let out an awful holler and that ended our BB gun fighting forever.

The thing we were most worried about was trying to explain the round pellet sized broken skin welt between his eyes to his mom when we got home. If I remember correctly the story was he ran into a branch which worked but I will always remember my aunts questioning look as he told her the untruth of how it happened.

Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good and we were sure lucky on that one. Sounds like a lot of us have had Lady Luck on our sides for a time.

Cheers, Bob

[johnes50]

When I was about 16 a friend and I were out pheasant hunting with our shotguns. I was to the left and a little downhill of buddy when a grouse flushed to my left about 30 yards away and downhill. It was flying left to right. I remember thinking, "Dave, don't shoot", when boom my idiot buddy fires over my head at the bird. This happened even after I told him not to shoot at anything to the left of center. I felt the blast at the back of my head and he parted my hair. Needless to say, Dave got a quick sharp lessons in hunting safety that day. His mom couldn't figure out how he had got a big fat lip while out hunting. I never trusted him enough to go hunting with him again.

[bearhunter338-06]

I thought I had to fart once.....that was scary

Had a buddy step in front of me while out pheasant hunting.......almost blew his head off......******* shot my pheasant....told him next time if he wants I wont hesitate if he wants his head blown off.

[yamadirt 426]

All these guns going off in trucks are a scary thing since your not suppose to have a loaded gun in the truck. I was walking with my buddy duck hunting this year. Me with my browning a5. We had took a few shots and as we just started to walk .I was fummbleing to put the safty on while talking and looking at my buddy. Gun goes off and he looks at me very funny. "That didn't just happen" Yes it did and holy fack am i sorry. Gun was facing away from us both as per my common sense/core . But now i look directly at my safty when its switched on/off. As we see lots of accidental discharges out there. Rule #1 keep gun pointed away from people unless you want to kill them.

[KodiakHntr]

All these guns going off in trucks are a scary thing since your not suppose to have a loaded gun in the truck. I was walking with my buddy duck hunting this year. Me with my browning a5. We had took a few shots and as we just started to walk .I was fummbleing to put the safty on while talking and looking at my buddy. Gun goes off and he looks at me very funny. "That didn't just happen" Yes it did and holy fack am i sorry. Gun was facing away from us both as per my common sense/core . But now i look directly at my safty when its switched on/off. As we see lots of accidental discharges out there. Rule #1 keep gun pointed away from people unless you want to kill them.

Why were you walking with your gun loaded and the safety off in the first place?

[BearStump]

ROEBUCK I shot my buddy in the leg with an air rifle when we were kids!!

and it wasnt an accident!! we used to play fight with the damn things!!Today 07:25 AM


that reminds me of a time when I shot my buddy in the face with his own .177 cal pellet gun.:twisted::???:
we were not so carefull with guns back then and I lobbed one at him from what had to be 200 fricken yards. not thinking that a pellet can even travel that far let alone penetrate skin. well...... I thought he was joking when he started swearing and yelling, untill he threw my pellet gun in the river. the pellet entered just under his bottom lip and his teeth stopped it from actually making it into his mouth.

OOOPS!

[weatherby_man]

Holy crap, this is a dangerous bunch.

Back to basics guys.

[Iron Glove]

My late Father-In-Law Fred told me a story about when he was in the Coastal Navy early in WW II.
A native trapper had gone missing in the woods in the central coast area and Fred was told to go ashore and look for him.
He found the body, back of the guy's head blown off. Shotgun with a rope sling slung over his back, branch got caught in the trigger and boom.
:(

[RiverOtter]

WOW.........

And to think that most here would scoff at anyone who hunted with a a cold chamber. Priceless!

[bigben]

AFTER HEARING ALL THESE STORIES about guns going off I would like to inform everyone on the recall for RUGER rifles go on the site to ruger recall and read if you have a ruger without a t stamped under the bolt handle it would be wise to ask for the screw that will prevent misfires when you load the gun.........I just don t want to see anyone get hurt out there and if there are more recalls of guns I don t know about maybe the members should put some up ........Happy hunting and a safe new year

[jaywill]

AFTER HEARING ALL THESE STORIES about guns going off I would like to inform everyone on the recall for RUGER rifles go on the site to ruger recall and read if you have a ruger without a t stap under the bolt handle it would be wise to ask for the screw that will prevent misfires when you load the gun.........I just don t want to see anyone get hurt out there and if there are more recalls of guns I don t know about maybe the members should put some up ........Happy hunting and a safe new year

thanks for the tip, thankfully its just for pre-91 m77's .

[stanway]

The scariest thing I have ever experienced happened this past October while on a moose hunt with my father & a 'new hunter'. Dad & I were waiting for this guy to get ready...watched him load a round in the chamber...close the bolt...and while trying to insert the detachable magazine, sweep the muzzle of his loaded 300WSM right past both my father & I. That was the last day of the hunt and the last time I hunted with him.

It is amazing (****ing scary) to hear about how many people don't follow basic gun safety - they think 'nothing will happen' or 'it's okay, the safety is on', etc, etc.

This thread is reading like a 'horror story', but I think it is good to get these stories out. Accidents DO happen, but many don't NEED to happen. A 'close call' is a tragic accident that didn't happen - thankfully.

Stay safe everyone.

[Billyisgr8]

My neighbor is lucky to be alive, he has one glass eye and 5 - 10 shot still imbedded in him, he was hit in the face while duck hunting from his buddy who followed the duck in his sights and forgot where my neighbor was.

[stanway]

AFTER HEARING ALL THESE STORIES about guns going off I would like to inform everyone on the recall for RUGER rifles go on the site to ruger recall and read if you have a ruger without a t stamped under the bolt handle it would be wise to ask for the screw that will prevent misfires when you load the gun.........I just don t want to see anyone get hurt out there and if there are more recalls of guns I don t know about maybe the members should put some up ........Happy hunting and a safe new year


This is for the 'tang safety' models. The newer MKII's are a totally different design. Nonetheless, a good tip for those owners to look for.

[BlacktailStalker]

I nearly took one in the guts at 5 feet this year :mad:
It felt like being hung over, food poisoned and sea sick all at the same time.

[tmarschall]

It seems the most common question and the stupidest question is... "Is it loaded?" Why would you trust your life or someone else's life on that, the only way to answer that question and be sure you have the right answer, is to look for yourself. Years ago I was guiding at Ft Hood, taking a load of 8 or so guys out every morning and afternoon. I never asked any of them if their gun was loaded, I required a visual inspection before they got in the vehicle. Anyone who would object to such an inspection has no business hunting or handling firearms. At least one other guide did not use that inspection process, and someone put a hole in the roof of the pick-up, fortunately no one was hurt.

The other big lesson I learned early was to never point a gun where you wouldnt shoot it. One morning after climbing into my deer stand, I loaded the rifle and put on the safety... BOOM. Was a mauser action with a modified trigger set too lightly... had that problem fixed right away.

Another story from Germany, the battalion was on maneuvers and was payday, so a LT was assigned as Pay Officer, pay officers were required to carry loaded weapon M-1911 45 colt. After finishing her duties, the Sgt Major asked the LT if she knew how to clear the weapon. Of course she did... pull back the slide to see that the chamber is clear, release, remove the clip and pull trigger.... BOOM... file cabinet never saw it coming. The Sgt Major informed the LT that removal of the clip was first step, not 3rd!!

[stitch]

I was about 14 and my brother about 10.......Dad took us out hunting bush chickens. We traveled in his brand new Oldsmobile (yeah your hunt rig can be like that in the prairies). At the end of the evening, as we're getting into the car, last words out of Dad's mouth were "you guys make sure those guns are unloaded"......we both had 22's. I'm in the front passenger seat, brother in the back seat. Dad fires up the big 455 cu. in., and a huge explosion from the back. I look back and see my brother with this terrified look on his face. Smell of burnt gunpowder. Black hole in the white leather inner door panel and out thru the door outer skin. He got a thrashing that today would send a man to jail.......but he's never had a gun accident since either.

Although it's not funny...I got a real chuckle from this one!

[Mrs.SKS]

If I had a close call like that I dont think I would go out with others, well besides my hubby as I know hes a safe hunter. Dont be pullng a stunt like that Ciskman! HAHA

[Big Banger]

Close call for a grouse: While grouse hunting my buddy accidently grabbed a roll of Certs and tried to load them into his 16 guage, the grouse got away.

[30.06 Hunter]

Had a couple close calls while duck and goose hunting in blinds with people swinging their guns too close to my head. A shotgun blast 6`` from your ear is not pleasant. Probably why I am not such a keen waterfowl hunter. And why I will not hunt with certain relatives.

[yamadirt 426]

Why were you walking with your gun loaded and the safety off in the first place?

First off don't get all high and mighty on me. This better be a legit question even though its none of your business. We were in his field. Ducks flew. We shot. Then we turned to start walking home. I went for the safety. As quick as I wrote this, it happened. Lesson learned. Have any more questions Mr Nosey ? We are sharing experiences here not explaining details.

[CanuckShooter]

Was shooting a pellet gun at an old petrified stump [honestly not at the squirrel] and the damn pellet hit the stump and proceed to do a 180 degree turn and buried itself in my thigh. Although it's not as bad as some of the horror stories on here there are more than a few that don't know high powered guns can do this also..with deadly results!!!

[ruger#1]

Was shooting my 25 cal Raven at the wood pile , hard maple and the lead kept bouncing back and hitting me. Never buy one of those again, Real piece of shit.

[Riverratz]

Not a bad ending to this story, but it serves as a good warning to others in what is actually a very common circumstance.
Many years ago, buddy and I are crawling along an old bush road in my truck to our moose spot, I'm driving. Both rifles are unloaded and bolts open. As we are rounding a bend in the road I spot a legal bull standing on the side of the road about 50 yds. away,....."Moose" !!!! Because of the angle of the curve in the road buddy can't see the moose. Instant stop, we're both out of the truck in a flash. I fish a round out of my shirt pocket, as I'm stepping sideways away from the driver's side of the truck. Drop the round in the pipe of my 338, close the bolt.....I'm gonna shoot "single shot". I raise the rifle. Just as I have the moose in the cross hairs I have a bad feeling about buddy......still don't know why, or what, ....call it 6th. sense or whatever ??? but I hesitated and moved my eye from the scope, looking slightly to my right along side of the scope .........there was buddy standing almost in my line of fire about 6 ft. in front of me. In his panic to see the moose he got out the passenger door, ran around the front of the the truck gawking at the moose and stepped right in front of me. I yelled "look out", as I swung my rifle away to the left. He looked back at me with a shocked look on his face, instantly realized what he had done, ducked and did the fast back track to the other side of the truck. Despite that slight delay, the moose cooperated and I got him, but that was a close call.
We talked about it later, decided that was too close for comfort, and it was both of our fault because we had never discussed the scenario before that time. Much older and wiser now, our group still has a lot of fun, but we always make time for some serious discussion about safety stuff.

Moral of this story is discuss with buddies what the "rules" are in different circumstances, especially this one........very common to see game and everyone bails out at once,........ all adrenaline - no brains. Same goes for splitting up in an area on foot, or walking together.......get the rules absolutely clear in everyone's minds. There are usually no second chances.

[crazy ducker]

A guy in the ladner marsh 25 years ago got shot by his dog put his gun in the boat and his dog was bouncing around the boat and it stepped on the trigger while his master was in front of the barrel. so much for mans best friend

[Big7]

Obviously it's terrible when an incident like any of the previous posts happens but....completely freaking out on the person and not ever going out with them again may not be the answer. The person obviously needs training. I think as stewards of the "shooting" world, we should take the opportunity to carry these folks under our wing and turn the scary close call into the best learning experience with gun safety they will ever get. Not addressing the incident immediately and having them learn from it, you could be sending them off on their marry way to perhaps have a repeat with not so fortunate results.

When you go out with a "new" hunter or "new to you," they aren't going to be offended if you cover off some basic firearms safety points before you even leave the truck. Might prevent potential issues that day and in the future, keep a person who just needs some extra training in the shooting sport. The ones that had a close call and learned from it will probably be one of the most anal firearms safety folks out there!

[Hunterguy]

When I first started hunting I was taught that if you were going to hunt alone or with a partner with one in the chamber and your safety on than you should check to see if your safety is actually working. Have asked people who I hunt with to put one in the chamber with the safety on, aim at something and pull the trigger, most will flinch, safetys are mechanical and there is room for error, and there are no second chances with a failure, get used to checking your safety.

[flyhigh_206]

Was shooting a pellet gun at an old petrified stump [honestly not at the squirrel] and the damn pellet hit the stump and proceed to do a 180 degree turn and buried itself in my thigh. Although it's not as bad as some of the horror stories on here there are more than a few that don't know high powered guns can do this also..with deadly results!!!

This reminds me of a video clip i saw now this is a VERY CLOSE CALL. this guy probably had to change his shorts after this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc

[Jelvis]

Do you get nervous when your in a field and some kids got a bow and arrow there, shooting around, the arrow pulled back.
Or loading and emptying a rifle is when most accidents happen.
I seen so many people blast off by mistake and do stupid things it's normal when you start out shooting to make mistakes, remember that song, We were born to make mistakes. Unless your perfect then it would be redundant.
Jel -- Hair Triggerz -- Slipped Hammerz -- Gear Jammerz --

[Bowtime]

I make a habbit of not having a loaded gun when I am hunting with someone. But when I hunt alone I often have a loaded gun. Never know what one might run into.

[husky30-06]

first story: My grandpa when he lived on the island was hunting with a buddy who used a shotgun...... (I guess they were hunting birds) he stepped into a bee hive and in the turmol of swipping them away he accidently shot my grandpa in the mid area of the body. when he realized what he had done, he passed out and grandpa had to pack him out to the car and take himself to the hospital. he died in a car accident at the age of 85 with many pellets still in his leg and such.
second story: was up north hunting with friends of the family. three of us went up the mountian to a burn and started our hunt....(I was all of 14 and in my first couple years of hunting) this one individual was in his 40's and hunted most of his life. we got back to the truck and he was unloading his gun when it went off, scared the shite out of me...... he had his finger on the trigger when he took out the clip...BOOM!!!!! he also had a bad habit of driving around with rounds in the breech, bolt open!!!!!
third story: My little french buddy for his first years hunting here he WILL ALWAYS KEEP IT UNLOADED!!!!!! he only chambers a round when we are set to shoot. I also instructed him to get into a habit of checking his safety every so often when walking..... especially just before we go into a bushy area, or coming out of an area like that. I watched him one day as he walked toward me after going for a walk by himself, he checked his safety at least four times in the time that I viewed him in the binos...... good habit!!!!!!:-D

[madrona sh]

I've been lucky.Never had any situations (Knock on wood).That was one of the selling features of the Sako when I bought it.There is a second tab so that the safety is still on when you open the action to remove your shell.I know that it doesn't make up for proper gun safety but every little thing helps.And always check your safety is operating properly.

[GoatGuy]

Obviously it's terrible when an incident like any of the previous posts happens but....completely freaking out on the person and not ever going out with them again may not be the answer. The person obviously needs training. I think as stewards of the "shooting" world, we should take the opportunity to carry these folks under our wing and turn the scary close call into the best learning experience with gun safety they will ever get. Not addressing the incident immediately and having them learn from it, you could be sending them off on their marry way to perhaps have a repeat with not so fortunate results.

When you go out with a "new" hunter or "new to you," they aren't going to be offended if you cover off some basic firearms safety points before you even leave the truck. Might prevent potential issues that day and in the future, keep a person who just needs some extra training in the shooting sport. The ones that had a close call and learned from it will probably be one of the most anal firearms safety folks out there!

wise words, although the freakin out thing sometimes help reinforce the point. :wink:

[Big7]

wise words, although the freakin out thing sometimes help reinforce the point. :wink:
True but...might scare them away from the sport on day one instead of taking advantage of a situation that will create one of the most safety minded hunters out there!

[GoatGuy]

True but...might scare them away from the sport on day one instead of taking advantage of a situation that will create one of the most safety minded hunters out there!

yep, freaking out probably means different things to different people as well.

[OutWest]

True but...might scare them away from the sport on day one instead of taking advantage of a situation that will create one of the most safety minded hunters out there!

That's a good way to look at it. Most incidents are preventable but at times accidents do happen.

[Big7]

Had a friend who's wife had an "accidental disscharge" of a .22 into the dirt the first day he convinced her to go shooting...probably happened becasue of the lack of training on his part...anyway he freaked on her and she'll never touch a gun again. Was she going to accidentally kill somebody or did she just need proper guideance and be still shooting today? Just a thought....

[shoot2kill]

when I was 10 - 12 yrs old I was out shooting starlings on the farm with a .177 pellet gun, tripped and fell, dropped the gun, it went off, and it got me in the shoulder. No way I was gona tell my parents cause the "wrath" of DAD would a hurt a whole lot more than me getting shot and digging the pellet out with apair of tweezers and pouring iodine in the wound so I wouldent get an infection. (don't know if the iodine did any good, but I figured if the vet used it on the cows it would work on me) Could'nt take my shirt off for weeks in front of my parents. Got a dime sized scar 2" away from the scar that most kids got from the vaccine shots in those days.
PS iodine in a wound hurts like fire on the skin!

[hunter1947]

I was lucky when I was at the age of 19 ,my friend shot my other friend in the chest with a 303 ,he died in my arms ,it could have been me that got that bullet http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon13.gif thats why gun safety is a must when you hunt with me.

[bad arrow]

Thats it, I'm making my kids read this thread from start to finish.

[cnsteve]

Me too. While proceedures seem to be MUCH better now, this illistrates how quickly things can go sour. I am never offended when someone asks me to double check.

[Dragginbait]

About 15 years ago I was hunting with a guy that I worked with and we rode the Honda 110's about 5 miles back from McClure lake and as we were walking back to the bikes from checking out a small landing I stopped to unload my gun and he was to my right and behind me when I hear the 30/06 go off and see a big in the ground just in front of me. I turn around and reamed him out and all he said was "my finger wasn't on the trigger". All I could think about was it was at least an hour and a half drive just to get into Cowichan and if anything happened you would be on your own for quite awhile. The rifle he tried to shoot me with was one that I lent him and that didn't happen again because we no longer hunt together or even talk to each other.

I lent a buddy(so I thought) a .22 to use for grouse when he went deer hunting and he was ex US Coast Guard so he said he was professionally trained and when he returned it to me I naturally open the bolt before I put it in the safe and a round flies out of it. Go figure.

[Dragginbait]

AFTER HEARING ALL THESE STORIES about guns going off I would like to inform everyone on the recall for RUGER rifles go on the site to ruger recall and read if you have a ruger without a t stamped under the bolt handle it would be wise to ask for the screw that will prevent misfires when you load the gun.........I just don t want to see anyone get hurt out there and if there are more recalls of guns I don t know about maybe the members should put some up ........Happy hunting and a safe new year
I had mine go off and I was positive I was no where near the trigger and I checked Rugers web site and found the recall after it happened. Luckily no one was hurt.

[hunter1947]

This hunting accident shook me up so bad that I gave up hunting for one year.

When I did get my gun back from the RCMP the next year it took me months to get enough guts up to handle this rifle.

The next 3 or 4 years I could only hunt in remote areas where I new there would be no other hunters in the area,

If I did see a hunter in the area I was hunting I would exit the area real quick.

Even to this day I will try to hunt remote areas if I can and even then I have that terrible feeling that I carry with me ,its with you at all times :(.

For all you hunters out there always keep that muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

[Chuck]

Holy shit! no wonder i hunt alone:mrgreen:

My sentiment exactly because senility and safety don't go hand in hand.

[Cariboospeed]

I only hunt with one other person, and we both know the rules. Muzzle down unless its on your back, chamber is empty until you know you're going to fire it.

Rather than people thinking I'm being an a$$hole about it, I just hunt alone.

[dave_83golf]

This is a second hand story, but I tell you what its unbelievable. 2 best friends.... and I mean best friends, attached at the hip type friends... On a whitetail hunt. We will call friend 1 adam and friend 2 bill. Adam gets up in the morning, tosses on his plaid shirt, and jeans, Bill throws on a tan skinned jacket and jeans. Off they go for the day. (This was sometime in the 70's I believe.) Sometime in the afternoon they spot a nice whitetail buck. They had been smashing antlers together to try and attract the beast of a whitetail. They take one shot at this whitey, and make contact. They head over to where he was standing and Neither Bill nor adam see the beast, but they do pick up a blood trail. they track the animal for a few hundred yards and the blood trail stops. Adam says, lets walk about 30 yards apart, and we will see if we cant find this guy. Bill agrees and tosses the antlers, attached by a shoestring, around his neck. Off they go. 10- 20- 30 minutes pass, and out of the corner of his eye, Adam spots the deer, sitting low in a thicket. He takes one shot, and down it goes. He excitedly walks to the kill site, and sees adam laying in the ground dead. Adam saw the Tan skinned jacked, and antlers that Bill had on, which strangly looked similar to a whitetail deer.

Best Friends, Imagine that. Telling the story still gives me the Hibi Jeebies!

[green machine]

sorry if i am hijacking, but i had an incident about 3 years ago were me and my buddy were coming back to the truck to get in so i do what i always do and point my gun away from all thongs and take the safety off and BOOM off goes the gun. so after refraining from shiting my pants or pukeing and that is what it felt like. my buddy says you must have hit the trigger. and to this day i swear my finger was no were near the trigger. and now hearing a couple guys talk about the mauser action i am wondering if that is what did it. i have a sako with a mauser 98 action on it. i will say that this has never happened again. BUT i don't want it to either. does any one know what to look for on this action.

[green machine]

OOPS that is suppose to be THINGS not THONGS don't need any one getting the wrong idea

[Spokerider]

When hunting with a partner, I ALWAYS make a point of informing my partner the state of my firearm as we hike on foot or return to vehicle......as in: "one in the chamber, mag empty", or " no rounds in the gun", "three in the mag, chamber empty", "all unloaded, gun clear" etc.

Some may find this annoying, but I feel safety-related communication is paramount, and expect the same from my partner.

[Will]

I don't give a crud whether somebody has a round chambered or not, uses the safety or doesn't, carries it loaded or doesn't etc....it really makes no difference, but point it at my guts and I'll stick the barrel right up your ars ! Butt stock first ! :-D

AD's happen and always will with firearms....muzzle control is the only real Safety we have........ it works 100% of the time too BTW :wink:

[hunter1947]

I don't give a crud whether somebody has a round chambered or not, uses the safety or doesn't, carries it loaded or doesn't etc....it really makes no difference, but point it at my guts and I'll stick the barrel right up your ars ! Butt stock first ! :-D

AD's happen and always will with firearms....muzzle control is the only real Safety we have........ it works 100% of the time too BTW :wink:


Well said Will pointing a muzzle in a unsafe manner is what kills.

[Spokerider]

Empty chambers do not, can not and will not fire......

It takes more than just muzzle control to ensure incident-free / safe firearm handling.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I was just a greenhorn out hunting by myself with my Dad's 300 savage. I was walking/hunting along an old road and blew a hole in the ground about 6" beside my foot. I thought had put the safety on but with that rifle you had to squeeze the lever first and then put the safety on. Luckily, I knew enough to practice muzzle control at all times.
From that point on my finger never goes near the trigger guard.

SSS

[Will]

It takes more than just muzzle control to ensure incident-free / safe firearm handling.
Sorry friend but a chambered and loaded firearm won't kill you until it's aimed at your guts:wink:

Muzzle direction & control....Trumps ALL.

[Gateholio]

Muzzle direction & control....Trumps ALL.

x2:-D

Whenever I train new shooters, I go through the safety precautions and tell them that even if they screw up everything else- finger on trigger, no safety, whatever....That if they remember to KEEP THE MUZZLE POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION then no harm will be done!
:-D

[Riverratz]

Not about guns, but closely related........Wife and I found an old campsite once, it was after dark so decided to use it for the night. Old fire-pit there, circle of rocks, some charred chunks of wood. Scavenged up some wood, threw it in the pit and lit it up, then set about pitching the tent. 10 min. later multiple explosions (probably 15-20) from the fire-pit. We took off like scared rabbits and laid in the bush behind trees and logs for about another ten minutes. What a feeling.......didn't know when it would be safe to come out of hiding. Wife was terrified and I was gonna kill anything and everything in sight.
Some demented lunatic moron had tossed or hidden live .22 shells in the fire-pit. Since that lucky incident we always stir around and dig in any old fire-pit before using it.

One more forever life altering stupid mistake,...... we know of a bunch that went hunting/camping together......multiple family outing so to speak. First evening, some drunk threw an "empty" beer bottle into the fire. The bottle exploded and his 6 yr. old daughter permanently lost an eye to flying glass.

[The Hermit]

I guess Ill post up my bad one.

I was about 10 years old when my uncle and I headed out to the dump, with the .22 pistol in tow to shoot a few crows or whatever I could find to shoot while he was unloading the truck. I made the mistake of holstering the little ruger in my waistband. Needless to say, the gun fired, bullet entered my tighty whiteys, exited them just a few .000ths to the left of my junk, enterd high into my left thigh, and settled a few inches above my inner knee.
To this day I still have the bullet in my leg.....its a very good reminder of what stupidity will get cha!

WOW did your old man smack the daylights out of your uncle? WTF did he have a loaded pistol in the vehicle for and especially with a 10 year old kid around?? If my kid got shot because of something like that .... oh man.

[The Hermit]

When hunting with a partner, I ALWAYS make a point of informing my partner the state of my firearm as we hike on foot or return to vehicle......as in: "one in the chamber, mag empty", or " no rounds in the gun", "three in the mag, chamber empty", "all unloaded, gun clear" etc.

Some may find this annoying, but I feel safety-related communication is paramount, and expect the same from my partner.

Buddy that is a great thing to do! Franko and I usually do that too!

[green machine]

i absolutly agree that muzzle direction trumps all. remember the most dangerous gun is the one that is'nt loaded

[mikeman20]

Not nearly as close as alot of these stories here, but I was using my buddys pump action .22 for alittle plinking a few months back and after cycling the action forward to load it, it shot and hit the ground about 20 feet infront of me (was pointed down range). Definitely a good way to keep me reminded that you ALWAYS keep it pointed down range.

[zimbu]

I know a guy that learned his lesson at a young age. Before the days of trigger locks he was upstairs and started playing around with his dad's .22. He even carefully loaded it and the next thing CRACK! The bullet hit the concrete floor in the basement near where his old man was working, came back up throught the floor past him and exited the roof. "Just a 22."

This season I watched a guy jump out of his truck followed by a 30-30 that landed on the ground. His truck starts rolling backwards now he's standing on said 30-30 trying to get his truck stopped. I burst out laughing at the time but shudder to think that if he was dumb enough to put on that little performance he was probably dumb enough to have it loaded too.

[Spokerider]

Sorry friend but a chambered and loaded firearm won't kill you until it's aimed at your guts:wink:

Muzzle direction & control....Trumps ALL.



Not in my mind.......
Unloaded AND muzzle control are both needed.

Question: How do *most* hunters carry their rifles in their trucks when "road hunting" [ for those that do so ] when enroute to and from their favorite foot-hunting area?

I'll bet some if not most have the rifle butt on the floor of the passenger side with muzzle pointed up.

Now tell me "unloaded" isn't part of the safe firearm handling equation. Muzzle control is difficult at best in a pickup with two or more people aboard.

[green machine]

the barrell is always pointed at the floor and the bolt is open and no shells in the mag. when i am in the bush walking with some one the gun is in my arms pointed in the other direction or on my shoulder

[farside]

I'll bet some if not most have the rifle butt on the floor of the passenger side with muzzle pointed up. .

Geez - I have seen many things but I have NEVER seen anybody do that before. Not even once.

Curious though how many have seen somebody do this. Ergonomicaly it just doesn't "worK" for most people as it is not natural. Your brain is trained to always take the "handle" of an object if one is available. So - your brain usually makes you keep that "handle" closer to your grasp.

[farside]

We had a "new to us" hunter in camp this year. Guy had me on edge from square one. Always brought his rifle in the tent which is not our practise unless we are in bear country. Seriously - does it need to come in the tent for LUNCH!!

Anyways - I asked him if he could please please leave the action open so we can all see at a glance the thing is safe!! The man was not happy with me - not at all. I had offended him and his proficency with a fire arm. I got told off in a 1st class manner. I didn't care! He complied in the end and I honestly felt safer. He left the next day. Oh well.