Be safe out there

[Walksalot]

It is coming up to the tenth of September and the anniversary of the biggest hard lessons learned of my hunting career. I have hunted with a Remington 700 for most of my hunting years and felt very confident with that rifle. A crisp 2.5 lb trigger pull and lots of practice got me to that feeling of confidence. That confidence went out the window in but a few seconds. I had purchased a new to me hunting knife and upon affixing on to my belt realized the handle was more substantial than my other knife and upon shouldering my rifle I realized the handle pushed the rifle stock farther away from my hip. I have always worn my knife on my right side and I had always shouldered my Remington 700 on my right shoulder because the safety was on the right side and I noticed, shortly after purchasing the rifle, that if I wore it on my left side it brushed against my clothing and more than once had flicked off the safety. With not a bit of concern I headed out, with my buddy on the opening day and agreed to meet in a meadow some distance in the woods. Upon arriving at the meadow and meeting up with my buddy we were discussing our next move. I reached behind me to get my GPS out and my finger brushed against the trigger. The next sound I heard was the sound of the rifle going off sending a bullet into the sky as the rifle was on my shoulder. I ALMOST LOADED MY BLOOMERS!!!! Say nothing about my buddy being a bit concerned also. After gathering my composure I tried to figure out what happened, to no avail. We hunted the rest of the day with no problem and it was not until the next time out, with my son, did I find out what went wrong. My son and I were walking in the bush then my glove on my right hand brushed against the rifle and both of us heard the safety click off. The hunting knife had pushed the rifle stock far enough from my hip to allow the cuff of my glove to catch and flick off the safety. The stock was also pushed far enough away from my hip to allow my hand to brush against the trigger and the trigger being light as it is released. So this leads me to this moment in time, a week away from the tenth of September. I am getting ready for opening day but things are a bit different. My hunting knife is in my pack and my hunting rifle is now a Ruger M77 with a tang safety. My trigger pull is now 5 lbs, took a bit of getting used to, but I feel one hell of a lot better about the opening day of hunting season. It is what you learn after you know it all that counts.

[Wrj]

Thanks for sharing, gotta be safe out there!

[leftfield]

Maybe the lesson to be learned here is to not walk around/hunt with one in the chamber. It's always dicey that way and an unloaded rifle won't go off by accident.

[one-shot-wonder]

Maybe the lesson to be learned here is to not walk around/hunt with one in the chamber. It's always dicey that way and an unloaded rifle won't go off by accident.

I agree, empty is the way it should be.....thanks for sharing though, something for many on hear to think about.

[Walksalot]

Maybe the lesson to be learned here is to not walk around/hunt with one in the chamber. It's always dicey that way and an unloaded rifle won't go off by accident.

Excellent suggestion but I hunt the bush and when you see an animal it is usually in close quarters. Going through the motion and resulting noise of putting one in the chamber equates to all you see is pink eye.

[fearnodeer]

Good of you to bring this up, i personaly walk with an unloaded weapon but know of a few that hunt with loaded, so to each there own.

[finngun]

Maybe the lesson to be learned here is to not walk around/hunt with one in the chamber. It's always dicey that way and an unloaded rifle won't go off by accident.
i do walk around bullet in the chamber,,,but im very safty because bolt is NOT pushed down,,i do that only when i start shooting..
that dosen't work with every gun .. but with mine it's good.. and pushing bold down takes very little time..no more than pushing safety off..:idea:

[black mountain]

a few years ago i was walking down a road with a guy i had just met he was a friend of a friend we were almost back to the truck when his gun went off not sure what happened but scared the shit out of both of us , not a good feeling

[skibum]

Is it common to walk around with a bullet in the chamber and the safety on? Generally I just chamber one if we start the stalk and unchamber after. I get muzzle control... but crap.

[quadrakid]

No matter if you have one in the chamber or not because you ALWAYS assume there is one in the chamber and act accordingly.Muzzle control,finger off the trigger etc

[walnutz]

I dont chamber a round when walking myself but to each there own. Either way a good reminder to stay safe out there!!

[riflebuilder]

When I was 12 I met some guys while I was fishing who were hunting deer so being 12 I said I know where they hang out follow me. 10 minutes later while walking up a powerline the guy behind me trips and his gun goes off . I had just steped to the side to go a round a stump so the bullet missed me but hit the guy in front of me. I ran the 4 miles home called to police and ambulance then fainted from exhaustion. Unfortunatly the guy whom I had only just met never made it. Saftey needs to always be paramount in everyones mind when hunting. I try to never put myself in a situation like I experinced as a 12 year old. Always follow gun saftey rules don't get lax. It only taxes a split second for an acident to occour. Hunt safe have fun and make it back home in one piece. Any game harvested is a bonus.

[hunter1993ap]

No matter if you have one in the chamber or not because you ALWAYS assume there is one in the chamber and act accordingly.Muzzle control,finger off the trigger etc
exactly. i always hunt with one in the chamber and always will.

[TESKELLY]

That's why I like the style of safety on my Savage and the accutrigger as extra protection. However I still do not chamber a bullet until ready to shoot.

[The Dude]

I walk with one in the pipe, so I had to retire my old gun. It was a wing-safety Parker Hale, on the leaft side. (DUH!) and the damn thing was constantly coming off when i carried it.
Really poor design.
Now my Husky has a Tang-style safety, and never, ever comes off until I'm good to go.

[Gateholio]

No matter if you have one in the chamber or not because you ALWAYS assume there is one in the chamber and act accordingly.Muzzle control,finger off the trigger etc


Exactly. The reason nobody was hurt in Walksalot's story i due to muzzle control. I believe it is the #1 factor in gun safety. Follow Coopers 4 rules:



All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.

[Walksalot]

Just a thought for those guys(gender neutral) who only chamber a round when they see an animal. Do you automatically put on the safety after you chamber a round? If not you are holding a rifle with a shell in the chamber and the safety off during the most intense time in a hunt. What happens if the animal moves and you have to hesitate? Do you automatically put the safety on? I only release the safety when the rifle is at my shoulder.

[brian]

Generally I just chamber one if we start the stalk and unchamber after.

What works for one method of hunting won't work for another. Often you won't have the chance to chamber a round while still hunting dense bush. What I usually do is go unchambered while hiking and one in the pipe while hunting (if that makes sense). If I have to cross rough ground then I take the round out of the chamber. If I am hunting with someone uncomfortable with chambered rounds, then I will unchamber. Situation guides my choice.

But Gates right, muzzle is always under control no matter what! Early in my hunting career I had a close call with an animal and took the safety off. Afterwards with my heart pounding and brain a little wonky, I forgot to put the safety back on. No muzzle control and that could have been deadly. My father in laws 300 win mag went off when he took the safety off to unload. That could have been deadly if he wasn't practicing safe handling. Lesson learned, don't rely on safeties (although now I compulsively check my safety... I know its a contradiction) and muzzle control.

[moosey]

As a guide the rule is none in the chamber until you're ready to shoot. I think of that as my own insurance policy and in all my years of guiding and hunting I have yet to encounter a situation where this has caused any kind of inconvenience.

The only exceptions has been when waiting in an ambush position from which the hunter was going to shoot (and only because he was carrying a semi-auto).

The case of still hunting where you might flush something out at close quarters presents a special case (not the type of hunting I'd do with a client) - rifle in the ready carry position, on terrain that you can easily and quietly navigate (otherwise you wouldn't be still hunting).

If you have to sling your rifle you're not still hunting and you shouldn't have one in the chamber.

[hunter1993ap]

As a guide the rule is none in the chamber until you're ready to shoot. I think of that as my own insurance policy and in all my years of guiding and hunting I have yet to encounter a situation where this has caused any kind of inconvenience.

The only exceptions has been when waiting in an ambush position from which the hunter was going to shoot (and only because he was carrying a semi-auto).

The case of still hunting where you might flush something out at close quarters presents a special case (not the type of hunting I'd do with a client) - rifle in the ready carry position, on terrain that you can easily and quietly navigate (otherwise you wouldn't be still hunting).

If you have to sling your rifle you're not still hunting and you shouldn't have one in the chamber.

if i was a guide i would feel the same way as you as you never know what your hunter would be like. he could be very skilled in the bush, or a complete idiot.

[TESKELLY]

Just a thought for those guys(gender neutral) who only chamber a round when they see an animal. Do you automatically put on the safety after you chamber a round? If not you are holding a rifle with a shell in the chamber and the safety off during the most intense time in a hunt. What happens if the animal moves and you have to hesitate? Do you automatically put the safety on? I only release the safety when the rifle is at my shoulder.

My Savage has a middle safety which allows me to chamber the round all the while having the trigger still locked out. I then shoulder, aim, and flick to full safety off, then fire.

[gamehunter6o]

Be careful with your Ruger M77 safety. I don't trust mine as it slips off safe very, very easily.:shock:

[The Dude]

Something odd about this story.....

Hunter dies after being accidentally shot by friend While cleaning rifle in remote cabin, buddy shoots other in the leg.

By LISA DEMER
Anchorage Daily News

Published: September 3rd, 2012 10:33 AM
Last Modified: September 3rd, 2012 10:34 AM

A hunting trip with two friends ended in death Saturday night when one of the men accidentally shot the other while manipulating his rifle in a cabin, Alaska State Troopers said.

Kyle Strong, 29, of Wasilla, and Cody Parry, 26, of Trapper Creek, were staying in a cabin owned by Parry's family about a half-mile off the Parks Highway at the Alaska Railroad crossing, around Mile 169 near Denali State Park. They had scouted around on Saturday and planned to go moose hunting Sunday, troopers said.
Strong cleaned his 30.06 rifle and was still working with it when a round discharged around 10:30 p.m., troopers said. Parry was on the couch and the round entered and exited his leg, inflicting a lot of damage, troopers said.
Strong called 911 on his cellphone and the call went first to Palmer police then was patched through to troopers.
An off-duty trooper based in Cantwell headed to the scene, as did medics from Trapper Creek.
In the meantime, Strong tried CPR and take Parry to the highway. They got on a four-wheeler but it overturned on the narrow trail to the road, trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said, adding the trail was bumpy and ran through a swamp.
"He ran out to the road and flagged someone down to help him right the four-wheeler so he could bring his friend out," Ipsen said. Strong and the motorist who stopped were able to turn over the four-wheeler and the group made it to the highway, she said.
Medics from Trapper Creek pronounced Parry dead.
His body was sent to the state medical examiner for an autopsy, but troopers said they don't suspect foul play.

[Gateholio]

If I am unable to follow Coopers 4 rules, I will unload the chamber.

Basically, if I am in a situation where I cannot control the muzzle direction or keep the muzzle pointed in a safe spot, then the chamber gets unloaded. Otherwise I keep one in the chamber, safety on.

[Spy]

Happened to me many years back on a bird hunt! Sun was starting to set & I offered to walk a km back to the truck and fetch it! I was walking with my 12 g side by side,broken but with 2 rounds in,incase my 2dogs flushed something! 50 m from the truck , I fell into a hole , the gun closed & both rounds went off ! I sprayed/peppered the truck with bird shot, causing a fair amount of damage! Luckely my dogs were on heal & not quatering in front of me ! I was lucky to get off so lightly , lesson learned & something i still get ragged about years later !
Be carfull out thre , shit happens when you least expect it !

[NdnHunter]

Well this story has nothing to do with walking with one in the pipe but long time ago when I was a kid my dad had an old break-action .410 shotgun similar to a H&R Pardner or Rossi single barrel (that I eventually got as my first grouse gun) with the old style opening latch that you switch either side to open and center to lock it. Anyway, we were going down this dirt road and my dad passed it over to his friend to squeeze off a shot. He loaded, shouldered and when he pulled the trigger the barrel violently broke open & next thing we knew we were all looking at a hole on the ground literately 1/4" - 1/2" away from his foot. Apparently the opening lever wasn't properly latched or locked center when he shot it so he almost shot himself in the foot, literally. Accidents do happen.

[300H&H]

Rem 700 have a safety defect !!!
It is well documented that the rifle can "self fire" when the safety is just "flicked" off.
In one case a hunter was going to unload the 700, flicked the safety off and the rifle fired.
The bullet went thru their motor home and killed their son standing on the other side.

Remington s position is their gun is just fine.

I will try to find the story and start a new thread.

[300H&H]

Rem 700 have a safety defect !!!
It is well documented that the rifle can "self fire" when the safety is just "flicked" off.
In one case a hunter was going to unload the 700, flicked the safety off and the rifle fired.
The bullet went thru their motor home and killed their son standing on the other side.

Remington s position is their gun is just fine.

I will try to find the story and start a new thread.

[300H&H]

Here is a link, http://www.cnbc.com/id/39554879/

Search out on Google for more info.

[The Dude]

The Model 700's supposed defects have been well documented as being media hype. Look it up.

[YAMMY-CA]

I guess that investigation will unravel the truth-not all deaths that occur while hunting are accidents-some are murder/some are suicide/some are due to natural causes.Some of course are accidents.There was a boy shot off of a snowmobile in an open field near Dawson Creek in the mid 80's--guy said he "thought it was a moose"