Hunting Accident in South Dakota

[roadrunner]

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.

Sure. No doubt. With accidents, the hindsight isn't 20/20. It's 20/10.

The only reason we know what the possible outcome is in any situation is because one time at someplace nobody knew the possible outcome and the result wasn't so good.

For the purposes of this thread, we don't know why a round was chambered or why it discharged. Only speculation because of the outcome.

Of course it was preventable. But it happened nonetheless and it was an accident. It certainly wasn't on purpose...

 

[Msengineered]

I know a guy who accidentally blew his head off when cleaning a shotgun. Can never be too careful

 

[Fowl Play]

The one thing I will say about my hunting safety class is my instructor really hammered home firearm safety. He dedicated like 30 min of the class going over especially terrible hunting firearm related incidents. Some of them still haunt me almost 30 years later. Like a picture of a father who blew his sons head off while they were rabbit hunting. Father saw his sons head running in a gulley and thought it was a rabbit.

I thought it was extreme at the time, but it works.

I am a complete asshole with anyone I am hunting with if they do anything unsafe, but I’ve also been shot while duck hunting before. So you can never be too careful.

 

[Fatcamp]

Holy cats. We aren't talking about every possible scenario, we are talking about accidents involving firearms.

4 simple rules would eliminate 99.9999% of all firearm accidents. If someone chooses to ignore those rules it isn't an accident, it's behavior.

 

[Dos Perros]

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...

I’m saying that there is evidence to suggest that a massive amount of effort is effective at mitigating the cause of “all” accidents. Even ones caused by stupid people. You can design in layers of redundancy, for example.

 

[TandKHunting]

"Know your target and what is beyond it"

This is another great one. I don't generally rifle hunt antelope, but I did pull a tag a few years ago. Opening morning and it was a complete zoo. Guys shooting at antelope with hunters in the background, people cutting into other peoples fields of fire, and guys frantically jumping out of pickups with their guns pointed at everything. I packed my stuff up and left 2 hours into opener. Went back out during the week and filled my tag. I won't go out during the weekends anymore. Far too much negligence occurring for me to have a good time.

There really needs to be an annual firearm safety course to renew your license. Even if it's an online slideshow going over the basic rules. A lot of people only pick up a firearm during hunting season and whatever safety they were taught during their hunter safety course has been long forgotten.

 

[jmez]

There is no such thing as an unloaded gun.

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[Vaultman]

"never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy". This one saved human injury at a gate crossing I was at one morning. A fat glove slid beyond a trigger guard when a firearm was being loaded causing negligent discharge, but the barrel was pointed safe.
Those four rules are such that if one of them isn't met, the others will cause safe situations. Keep them all at all times to your 100% best.

 

[Superx3]

Prayers to those involved. I had a factory rifle go off once when I flipped the safety off. Ever since then if I have a round chambered my bolt is lifted.

 

[Weldor]

You guys remember a few years back, a guys bird dog punched the trigger on his shotgun in the cab of a pick up. Crazy stuff but safety first. I really hate to read about hunting accidents. Should not happen. At my place no firearms in the Cabin , all stay outside and unloaded. I know of more than one place that has a hole in the wall from a unloaded firearm.

 

[Whaledriver]

Great topic to discuss. Here is my 2 cents. Safety is a mindset. Complacency can kill you and/or people around you. My hunter safety instructor had a presentation about a hunter being shot and critically wounded turkey hunting. He discussed the injuries, showed x-rays, the setup of the accident. At the end, he said that guy was me. Hit me hard. Thirty eight years later I still think about it. I work in the aviation business where safety is always number one. Most accidents are a culmination of events. Anything we can do to break that chain of events will increase safety.

I do try to read everything I can about accidents, both aviation and hunting. Use that information and apply it to yourself. Making damn sure the same mistake isn't repeated!!

Be safe out there!!

 

[ABK]

Sounds like I'm the only one that carries a pistol everyday...

Be sure to carry a dull knife so you don't accidentally cut yourself.

 

[dtrkyman]

Duck hunting years ago I watched my cousin close the action on and old 870, as soon as the bolt closed BOOM, damn thing fired.

Scared the living chit out of us, fortunately he was point the gun in a safe direction and the only thing ruined was his underwear!

If I hadn’t been watching him I wouldn’t have believed it!

Safety is no accident, always be vigilant!!!


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[KurtR]

Sounds like I'm the only one that carries a pistol everyday...

Be sure to carry a dull knife so you don't accidentally cut yourself.

Cc isn’t hunting

 

[gelton]

Had a friend that got shot by his dog while duck hunting. Gun was loaded and in the back of the boat, he was up in the front and his dog knocked over the gun and apparently stepped on the trigger and shot him in the back. Luckily he had on one of those float jackets and turned out okay.

Another friend of mine was picking me up for a hunt at like 4 in the morning and was showing me his new pistol and negligently discharged into the road out front like an idiot.

Had a boss one time who got home late at night after a few drinks and opened his safe to mess with his guns and negligently discharged a 9mm that he didn't think was loaded right through the ceiling of the first floor and through the roof of his house on the 2nd floor (the floor where his wife and children were sleeping). Like an idiot.

When I was a teenager I had a .30 cal lever action and was sitting in the deer stand bored and would pull the trigger and catch the hammer before it struck the firing pin (like an idiot) and one time I didn't catch it.

But I treat all guns like they are loaded because most of mine are.

 

[gabenzeke]

Sounds like I'm the only one that carries a pistol everyday...

Be sure to carry a dull knife so you don't accidentally cut yourself.

What gives you that impression? Heck of a first post.

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[TandKHunting]

Sounds like I'm the only one that carries a pistol everyday...

Be sure to carry a dull knife so you don't accidentally cut yourself.

You are manipulating a firearm constantly while hunting. Just like going to the range. A majority of bad things happen when a firearm is being loaded, shot, unloaded, etc. Not when it's being thrown on a belt and not touched for the rest of the day.

 

[ABK]

What gives you that impression? Heck of a first post.

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Sounds like most here are of the opinion that you shouldn't have a round in the chamber. I assumed that meant all firearms since the topic is safety.

I was taught that the safety was between your ears. I'm not telling anyone not to keep your gun and ammo separate if that's what you believe is in your best interest. Thats just not my opinion.

If I have an accident feel free to point and laugh and call me a dummy.

 

[Superx3]

Sounds like most here are of the opinion that you shouldn't have a round in the chamber. I assumed that meant all firearms since the topic is safety.

I was taught that the safety was between your ears. I'm not telling anyone not to keep your gun and ammo separate if that's what you believe is in your best interest. Thats just not my opinion.

If I have an accident feel free to point and laugh and call me a dummy.

I agree a big majority of safety is between your ears. One thing that most pistols have is TWO forms of safety grip and trigger or grip and thumb. I have never seen a pistol have an accidental discharge. I have how ever had a rifle that was 100% factory go off while flipping the safety off. No I was not touching the trigger. Scared the hell out of me, but it was a non event because I was pointing it down range. That is why I have adopted the bolt up safety on my rifles instead.

 

[Randle]

Sad to hear.
One thing I started doing with my son and Grandsons . I taped our muzzles with orange electrical tape.
My grandson said it really helps him keep track of his muzzle better.