Hunting Accident in South Dakota

[Fatcamp]

A coworkers son shot a friend last weekend while pheasant hunting.

Sad deal. Kids full of shot but gonna be ok.

 

[Maki35]

Identify your target before pulling the trigger.

Too often, some hunters are in a rush to shoot and fail to identify their target.

 

[robby denning]

I’m in my 20th year of hunting and prior to this weekend had never been around a negligent discharge. We had 2 NDs in the same day last weekend. One by a newbie and one by an old timer. The one by the old timer was a moment of stupidity. The one by the newbie was more worrisome because there were several points leading up to that moment where two other experienced hunters definitely should have done a safety check with the newbie. Thankfully the muzzles were pointed in safe-ish directions.

I’m adding my post here to add a little more weight to this thread and say:
- don’t get complacent
- make safety checks part of your hunting party’s culture

I had one ND in my hunting career. Was in 2019 and I pulled a rifle out of a horse scabbard. I chambered a round as I was alone and leaving the horse. I had big gloves on and I still don’t know what I did for sure, but gun was pointed up when it went off. I very well my have just pulled the trigger on purpose. I don’t know because it scared me (and the poor horse) annd by the time I gathered my thoughts, I wasn’t on the trigger. It was not a gun malfunction. But it reminded me about all this stuff we’re talking about. It can happen! And per my earlier post is why we never chamber in company until in position before shooting.

Edit, and just remembered I had a REM 700 back in ‘91 that went off when I closed the bolt (bad trigger job). Found out when I was getting ready to shoot at a buck. Tested it later and it did it again! Fixed promptly!

 

[roadrunner]

Not enough info for me to pass judgement. Accidents can and do happen. Not everything is 100% preventable.

I once heard a long time power plant engineer say "there are no such things as accidents, everything is preventable." He couldn't be more wrong.

The human action and behavior varibale is not predictable...

 

[Musky]

My old man took me to a clay sporting range for my 14th birthday. Usually those places are loaded with people around here. We were walking from the station we just shot at down the hill to the next station. Of course there was a group immediately behind us. Now this place you hired the throwers so there was always an employee with each group pulling and throwing targets. We went 150 yards down the hill when a shot rang out and stuck a bb dead center in my old man's neck. Didn't break skin, but he was able to pull the bb that was just barely lodged in his neck. We made it a point to high tail it outta there, haven't been back since. Could've ended so much worse.

 

[rideold]

So sad......I never keep a round in the chamber. Just not worth it.

 

[Still Hunter]

Not only do we not put a round in the chamber, we always open the bolt or the action on any rifle going into a vehicle or a deer blind. Can't fire with an open bolt or open action. On a Ranch I used to help guide on in South Texas, we removed the bolts off each hunters rifle and the bolts were placed back in the rifles once the hunters were placed on the stands. Rifles were unloaded and bolts removed before anyone exited a blind. It was mandated after too many completely stupid and preventable occurrences. When I was a young man, about 13, a Orthodontist we knew shot and killed his son on a deer hunt when getting in and out of a high seat rig on a jeep. Devastating. Totally preventable.

I always shove my pinky, "Pinky check", inside a rifle when it is handed to me to make sure nothing is in the chamber. Had a buddy open his bolt and hand it to me to try the trigger on a new rifle. I watched him cycle the action in front of me. The rifle was empty, Ruger Model 77. It was a brand new rifle and he had just out come to the ranch from sighting it in. We were outside and he told me to aim at the Ranchers night lite on the Electric pole feeding the ranch house. I at first raised it up and looked at the light and then my fundamental firearm training kicked in and I lowered the rifle and pointed to it to the ground nearby facing away from us and I slowly pulled the trigger. The report on that 270 was quite loud! Scared the crap out of everyone standing around. The extractor on the bolt was not catching the rim of the cartridges correctly. I would have sure lost my spot on that deer lease. He sent the rifle to get repaired.
Since then I always stick my pinky in. I get some strange looks and people get annoyed when I still check it even after they cycle the actions to show me its empty, until I explain to them what happened. All my family does the "pinky check".

 

[Laramie]

Not enough info for me to pass judgement. Accidents can and do happen. Not everything is 100% preventable.

I once heard a long time power plant engineer say "there are no such things as accidents, everything is preventable." He couldn't be more wrong.

The human action and behavior varibale is not predictable...

I disagree with you regarding gun related accidents. Name an accident that happened that wasn't preventable.

 

[roadrunner]

I disagree with you regarding gun related accidents. Name an accident that happened that wasn't preventable.

Please reread my post and pay special attention to "paragraph" 3.

 

[hunterjmj]

I disagree with you regarding gun related accidents. Name an accident that happened that wasn't preventable.

Agreed.

 

[Dos Perros]

Not enough info for me to pass judgement. Accidents can and do happen. Not everything is 100% preventable.

I once heard a long time power plant engineer say "there are no such things as accidents, everything is preventable." He couldn't be more wrong.

The human action and behavior varibale is not predictable...

Are we talking about the like one in a billion trillion type things? I would wager the vast majority of 'accidental hunting shootings' are preventable. The world is going on 80 years without an accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon.

 

[hunterjmj]

Good reminder for all us fathers/mothers to teach our children proper gun safety.

 

[JohnJohnson]

If I'm moving around I don't have a round chambered, only when I'm about to shoot something or if I'm in a tree stand out east since whitetails are extremely jumpy. My rifle isn't suitable for offhand shots (and I don't have any experience with them) anyway so if I don't have time to chamber a round, I shouldn't be taking the shot.

 

[MuleyFever]

Just because something is preventable doesn't mean it wasn't an accident.

 

[Laramie]

Just because something is preventable doesn't mean it wasn't an accident.

I disagree.

I have a discussion regarding this with my kids and other hunting partners. If something is preventable, then a choice needs to be made to focus on the necessary steps to avoid it. Choosing not to focus is intentional- not an accident.

Everyone I hunt with gets safety talks frequently. There is no animal worth losing your focus on safety. I choose to not allow me or anyone in my hunting party to be the cause of an "accident". If everyone had that mentality, they simply wouldn't happen.

 

[MuleyFever]

I disagree.

I have a discussion regarding this with my kids and other hunting partners. If something is preventable, then a choice needs to be made to focus on the necessary steps to avoid it. Choosing not to focus is intentional- not an accident.

Everyone I hunt with gets safety talks frequently. There is no animal worth losing your focus on safety. I choose to not allow me or anyone in my hunting party to be the cause of an "accident". If everyone had that mentality, they simply wouldn't happen.

So your saying accidents don't exist and the existence of the word is useless? Everything is preventable.

 

[Bluefish]

So your saying accidents don't exist and the existence of the word is useless? Everything is preventable.

There is actually a industrial safety program based on the theory that all accidents are preventable. While it is a true statement at some point the cost to avoid said accident is quite high. Ie you can avoid all car accidents by not leaving your house and having said house not next to a roadway. Would make for a boring life. Most accidents are preventable and what many consider accidents are very preventable. It may be as simple as not hunting with people who show poor gun handling.

 

[BugleMeTimber]

When I first started hunting in my teens I had an accidental discharge standing next to my brother. Had levered a round into my 30-30 but when lowering my hammer it slipped out of my thumb and the gun discharged. Thank God I followed my firearm safety and had the barrel pointed in a safe direction. Since that day I've never carried a round in the chamber some 20 years later. After reading the great replies on this thread I'll be using the pinky check and making sure everyone in the group is following safe practices. Thoughts and prayers to the families involved in the accident.

 

[roadrunner]

Are we talking about the like one in a billion trillion type things? I would wager the vast majority of 'accidental hunting shootings' are preventable. The world is going on 80 years without an accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon.

Any accident, and the detonation of the last nuclear weapon was planned.

Prime example today at work:

Field guys removing threaded plugs from an energized system. Field supervisor gave instruction to bleed off pressure. In a hurry, a younger inexperienced hand lossened a fitting and a threaded plug came shooting out and hit him in the shin.

Was it preventable? In this instance absolutely. The unpredictable human error is not preventable. Because of this, it's absurd to say all accidents are preventable and there are no such things as accidents.

You can plan and safe away as much as you please. Human behavior will always put someone in the line of fire, pun NOT intended.

That's why in industry we have safety meetings all the time as constant reminders of how easy it is to do stupid human tricks...

 

[JohnJohnson]

You can plan and safe away as much as you please. Human behavior will always put someone in the line of fire, pun NOT intended...

Sure but in the context of a hunting incident like the one mentioned in the OP (as far as we know), wouldn't an accident be impossible if not for having a round chambered? You can control that part easily and it's black/white with no real grey area for just not having a round chambered.