Just a friendly reminder, Accidental Death Yesterday

[Ken07AOVette]

I do not have ALL the details, but a family member of a friend was killed last night, shot while bird hunting.

'WE' ALL know this, but take a second and help the new guys/gals you are mentoring, and remind people that may be lax in remembering firearm safety.

In the blind, around the blind, REMEMBER EVERY FIREARM IS LOADED, POINT THE MUZZLE IN A SAFE DIRECTION AND FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER until you are ready to kill whatever is in front of it. Buck and Duck fever has taken lives before, lets make sure it does not happen again.

What happened was an accident, and accidents happen, but just imagine that person next to you not being there tomorrow.

That would be impossible to live with.

[Jamie Black R/T]

damn....sorry to hear.

good reminder....be safe guys.

[winger7mm]

Thats really to bad, firearm accidents shouldnt happen, they arent like car accidents, you or the other person should have total control over the firearm regardless of weather conditions. Thanks for the reminder ken.
It always sucks hearing about these kinds of things

[pottymouth]

that's terrible Ken..our thoughts and prayers for his family and friends

[swift1]

Thats terrible, sorry to hear this.
It sad that something so enjoyable turns tragic.

[DiabeticKripple]

I was told "only point the gun at what you intend to shoot"

If your walking around, safety on, fingers away from trigger, open bolt.

[Bigwoodsman]

Good reminder Ken,

Condolences to the family.

BW

[Rocky7]

As tragic and sad as these stories are, they do serve to remind us that complacency can get expensive.

I had a hunting partner discharge his 12 ga. into the dirt about 2" from my right foot years ago when I asked him to check his gun before loading into my truck. When I looked down, all I could see was dirt at the end of my leg - no foot. I never forgot it and he probably never forgot my reaction, either. We never hunted together again.

[newguy]

my condolences to the family... another reminder of how precious life really is.

[catnthehat]

It pays to always be vigilent, for sure.
My condollences go out to the family.
last year I had an ID ( incidental discharge) while on a pheasant hunt, letting down one of my hammers.
muzzle was pointed up, nothing but embarrasment on my part.
Thing is, IF the muzzle had of been pointed in an unsafe dierction there is a very good chance that at the very least I would have shot a dog, or worse, my son or one of my hunting partners- I would never have recovered from that.
Cat

[Zuludog]

Thanks for the reminder, Ken.

It's really tragic that a death has to occur to remind us not become complacent with firearm safety. I know of an experienced hunter who accidentally put a hole in the floorboards of a truck last season, (NOT me.) so it can happen to anyone, that's why safety should become a habit.

[Okotokian]

Wow, I haven't heard of a hunting fatality locally in quite a while. That's terrible, and a sobering reminder. One life ended and a bunch of lives ruined, including the shooter's. Sad.

[score]

So Sorry! Horrible things can and do happen. It has even crossed my mind to pack in the shooting sports when my son was born. Fleeting thought but it's always there too. My God, what can be said? DON'T DRIKE! And if my son and I are out and we see another hunter around, we leave pronto. We also wear orange again, something I had given up. REMEMBER! A FIREARM DOES NOT HAVE A SAFETY! YOU ARE THE SAFETY!

[ShawnM]

I had a group of newbies out at the club a couple of weeks ago and one of the people I was instructing had an accidental discharge into the ground right in front of us. Fortunately she had it pointing in a safe direction and all that happened was the grass getting mowed.

It can certainly put the fear of God into you. It's better than a cup of coffee in the morning!

[CNP]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

It pays to always be vigilent, for sure.
My condollences go out to the family.
last year I had an ID ( incidental discharge) while on a pheasant hunt, letting down one of my hammers.
muzzle was pointed up, nothing but embarrasment on my part.
Thing is, IF the muzzle had of been pointed in an unsafe dierction there is a very good chance that at the very least I would have shot a dog, or worse, my son or one of my hunting partners- I would never have recovered from that.
Cat

We call it a ND (Negligent Discharge) in the military. Just about lost a foot to one of those "accidents".

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by ehntr

We call it a ND (Negligent Discharge) in the military. Just about lost a foot to one of those "accidents".

Yup, no matter what it's called, if it doesn't bother a person, I do not want to be around them!!
Cat

[Jamie Black R/T]

Originally Posted by ehntr

We call it a ND (Negligent Discharge) in the military. Just about lost a foot to one of those "accidents".

that does describe it better....there was a good article in AO a few months back on this topic.

at some point or another it will happen to you or someone you know....the vigilance of your muzzle control will be tested at that point.

scary stuff....ive had two ND's in my hunting career. one was a hammer on a model 94 that slipped on let down due to a numb thumb....round went off into the dirt 4 feet in front of me. The other was a poorly adjusted trigger (gunsmith) that tripped when i fell on a log buried under a white blanket...that one scared me bad as the muzzle couldnt have been more than 12" away from my face went it went boom....i dont push bush with one in the pipe anymore.

again...sorry to the friends and family....horrible to have something tragic come from something you loved so much.

[bigd]

had one AD back in my northern Ontario days. Bought a little Savage 340 bolt in 30-30 (from my old hunting partner Bruce Montague...). Was walking the bush with a friend, went to close the bolt on a loaded chamber when it went off. Scared the hell out of both of us but had the muzzle safely down and away. Brought it back to Bruce and told him to cut it up. Had no interest in that rifle any longer. This happened very early in my big game hunting/rifle ownership phase, nearly scared me off rifles for good.

Those that know me well know that I recovered quite nicely....

[Jamie]

I have seen it a total of 3 times.. Including a great amount of time at the trap club.

It's a scary thing when it happens. Keep your muzzels safe.. It will happen to you some day. It's not a "IF" it's a WHEN.

Jamie

[greylynx]

Originally Posted by ehntr

We call it a ND (Negligent Discharge) in the military. Just about lost a foot to one of those "accidents".

x2

Thanks for posting this.

You beat me to it.

I like that "negligent" line of thought.

I almost had an ND when I was 12. Darn near shot a herford with a .22 while figgiting to cock the rifle to shoot a magpie. But a little voice from dad in my head said treat all guns like they are always loaded. The old single shot went off into the dirt. Bye Bye auction sale gun. I got to shoot an Anshutz 125 after that.

[Whipper Billy]

Ken - sorry to hear about your friend. It serves as a sad reminder to control the muzzle. It's amazing the number of other incidents posted here and the fortunate non-lethal results.

I had an accidental discharge years ago. I had finished hunting and had my Rem 700 discharge when I pushed the safety forward to unload. It was pointed at the ground. It was eventually recognized as a problem by Remington who corrected the problem.

[NewAlbertan]

and thanks to Ken for the reminder to us all.
And remind your hunting partners!
No one should ever take offense at the safety commentary provided by another (I've seen that reaction too)

[xtreme hunter10]

Condolences!! Thats tough... sorry for your loss and your friends family.

[Tweedsider]

Originally Posted by NewAlbertan

and thanks to Ken for the reminder to us all.
And remind your hunting partners!
No one should ever take offense at the safety commentary provided by another (I've seen that reaction too)

x2
My father in law even puts a piece of masking tape over the end of the barrel to prevent debris/water from getting in, seemed a bit odd at first but i have seen some split barrels, scary stuff!

I have an uncle that shot his best friend while hunting Moose and killed him, he had hunted for years prior to that without incident. One second of negligence = a lifetime of misery for everyone involved!

Sad thread but a good reminder to all of us involved in the shooting sports!

[Dacotensis]

Terrible!
I know manty guys who where shot and paralyzed. What a life!. From what I hear the shooters never really were the same aftert the incident.
Raw deal!

[KWO]

A few years ago my barber had an ND after he got home from a goose hunt. The semi-auto 12 gauge he used that day was new to him. He thought that he had cleared all of the rounds, put a trigger lock on it, put it in a cloth gun case and put it in the extended cab of his truck. When he got home, he grabbed the shotgun case by the barrel end and pulled it out of the cab. The trigger lock must have caught on something and it discharged.

The shot completely destroyed all of the muscles in his forearm. Because this happened in the city, the emergency responders had to treat it as a dangerous situation until the police determined it was safe. He almost bled out before the EMT's were able to help him.

After about 6 surgeries over several years, he now sells cars. He is glad to be alive, but obviously his life is forever changed. I had traded hunting stories in the barber chair with him for years. It was easy to see the pain in his eyes when he talked about how a lifelong passion for hunting had ended up changing his life forever.

I think of him every time I pick up a shotgun. And I have repeated the story to my son many times.

[Moosetalker]

A very very sad thing to happen and something that will haunt your family forever.
So sorry for your loss!

Not a good way to remind everyone SAFETY the #1 priority.

[Tow Bow]

Terrible accident and I send my condolences to the family. RIP to the victim.

I almost wrote this following bit this morning but decided it was inappropriate but since everyone is telling their ND stories, let me tell mine. I have 3 although thankfully, none involve injuries.

1) 12 years old. Air cadets, on range. Range Sargent yells 'clear' or'stop' (can't remember the terms) and sends a person out to collect something (once again, foggy memory). Someone hadn't actually cleared the round out of their rifle and as the person got near the wall, the round went off and came pretty close to him. Was a bad week for all of us.

2) About 5 years later, a girlfriends cousin asks me if i want to see his collection. Turns out he has a ruger and I loved rugers at the time. Told me to go ahead and dry fire it. I was a bit unsure of it, asked him to make sure it wasn't loaded (never held one before). He told me not to worry, pushed barrel away from him and basically towards my GF. Split second before I pull the trigger, he screams STOP. Loaded. WTF. Had I been a bit older, he would have been on his way to a cell or worse.

3) This year. Buy a compound bow. Set up a target camp in the hills. Drawing bow back without keeping it pointed at target and the D-loop slipped. Punched myself in the face and the arrow shot quite far off target (high and right). Was an instant lesson to ensure that NOBODY is ever ANYWHERE in front of me when drawing a bow. I was alone but had a buddy been standing on the side, it could have been very ugly.

I'm not proud of any of these stories but by putting them here, maybe someone else can avoid having one of their own.

[Ken07AOVette]

That reminds me, about 25 years ago I was playing with my compound bow in the yard, the arrow clipped a branch, bounced the road and stuck in the neighbors wall just under the bedroom window. That was not fun explaining to him what an idiot I was, but he was very understanding.

About 30 years ago I had this old crossbow, and was shooting in my parents back yard. I shot under the target, the bolt shot right out across the arena parking lot and stuck in the door. I got rid of the crossbow the same day.

[Sooner]

Back when I was a bodyman, one fall I replaced a hood on a dodge ramcharger. Customer's friend was leaning over the hood shooting at something. Two shots, both went through the ridge in the middle of the hood and left two nice dents in the inner rib. He was upset that his friend did that to his truck. Flash forward to the next fall, in comes the same Ramcharger, this time there was a large bullet hole through the passenger floor and firewall. Right beside where a foot would rest. Barrel pointed down at least. Same friend of the owner. No longer a hunting partner is what the owner said. So lucky he didnt shoot his foot off but the owner said they couldnt hear for a hour due to the ringing in their ears. Gun safety is a life long endeavor. Sorry to hear about this tragic loss.