Anyone ever have a close call, or worse? - Page 2

Major Dave (retired) · November 19, 2008, 10:59 PM

A buddy and I had been dove hunting on public land, and decided to drive to another tract to see if we could find the birds.

He was driving, and I was in the passenger seat of his pickup. We drove into the entrance road, a "2 track", and we came upon a dove which landed in the road, and stayed on the ground as we slowly drove up.

Well, my buddy got excited about the bird not flying off, and he stopped, turned off the motor, and whispered, "I'm going to get him", as he slowly opened the drivers side door, left it open to prevent the bird from seeing him, and sneaked back toward the tailgate to get his shotgun out of the truck bed. He got his gun, and sneaked back up to the open door, and took a shot, missing the bird, which then flew off, apparently unharmed.

Through all of this, I had remained motionless in the passenger seat. So, he went back to the back of the truck to put away his gun.

Suddenly, the windshield exploded with a deafening roar, right in front of the steering wheel. I was confused and alarmed, because I didn't know what happened. I realized a shot had been fired, but I didn't know which direction it came from.

Then I looked over my left shoulder, trying to locate my buddy, and I was staring through a one inch diameter hole in the rear window.

Somehow, he had accidently discharged his 12 ga while putting it away in the bed of the truck. I don't know to this day how he did it. I only know if the muzzle of his gun had swung a little farther to the right, I would have died instantly (or a slow lingering brain dead coma death).

"Yeah though I walk through the Valley of
The Shadow of Death,
I will fear no evel,
for Thy rod and Thy staff
they comfort me

Amen and Amen

.41 rem mag fan · November 19, 2008, 11:19 PM

Not really hunting but..........

My dad has always been a 12 gauge shot gun shell reloader. Well one day returning home from duck hunting, we keep smelling somthing burning while riding home in the Jeep Cherokee. Three of us sitting in the front seat. Well we smell this burning smell long enough to stop and find out what the smell is. Turns out Dad who was a smoker, dropped a butt instead of in the ash tray, onto a bag of reloads under the front seat. The reloads were in a shot bag. A hole about the size of a grapefruit burned in the shot bag

Thankfully Dad doesn't smoke anymore but still reloads sweet loads for our Browning A-5s.

SWMAGMAN · November 20, 2008, 01:16 AM

Guess its all what you grow up around/with...have had many sub-twenty yard encounters with black bears, and have kinda learned to take them for granted...but my hair stands up on end at the prospect of poisonous snakes. I remember the Vang incident clearly as well, and the mark it left on many in this area.
I had a friend who I frequently went pheasant hunting with that had an AD of his A5 while laying it on the back seat of his car during a break in the hunt. The discharge hit another friend standing outside the opposite door just above the knee. A frantic high-speed trip to the ER, with one person literally holding the femoral artery shut ensued, and the person who was shot survived and received a brand-new knee for his trouble. Fair or not, I never hunted with that guy again.

johnnypi45 · November 20, 2008, 01:50 AM

I know it's not hunting, but it's probably appropriate for the thread. I was out shooting at a fairly well known un-supervised public range in the Colorado Springs area. I was out on the 100 yd. range, shooting my nagant and .357 between 50 and 100 yards and i was on the far left side of the range. Well, another guy, about in the middle of the line was shooting at home-made steel plates at 25, 50, and 100 yards. Well, i wasn't really worried about this as i had been over and talked to him about it, just makin sure he wasn't shooting anything jacketed at them (he was shooting cowboy style loads out of a very nice 12ish in. barrel colt python). He def. looked like he had been doing silhouette type competition in the past. Well, as this range is sometimes known for, as it's a public, non-fee range, a bunch of "questionable" individuals set up with their ak's and polymer somethings at the far right side of the range. I was on the complete opposite side of the range, and didn't think much of it. Well, i'm happy as a clam cause i'm hitting milk jugs at 100 yards with my 357. Next thing i know, the brilliant individuals on the right side of the range decide to start shooting their jacketed ammo at the 25 yrd steel plates, and inevitably, i start getting hit with jacket splaters. I was p!ssed. The guy who owned the plates and i went over and politely (at least with as much candor as i could muster) asked them to stop shooting the steel plates. there were about 20 people on the line when this happened, and after that, i'd say about 15 of us just called it quits for the day. Certainly freaked me out and really shook me up. I haven't had the you-know-whats to head back up there yet. I'm just really thankful it didnt turn out any worse than a few scratches and come bullet jackets laying on my shooting gear.

siv · November 20, 2008, 11:21 AM

One of my cousins ended up on the wrong end of a Dick Cheney incident.

aquarius323@embarqma · November 20, 2008, 05:30 PM

Well guess I wasn't as lucky as most of you. The man who was the first to say "don't shoot unless you know what your shooting at" but was also a good shot managed to put a load of 12ga. no.4s in my head and upper body. lost an eye and some hearing but recovered. Had the whole outter body experience and that is a strange feeling. His eye sight was going and he thought I was a turkey in the tree. We all carried shotguns and the second round was buckshot. When he got to me he was in a panic and all he could say was "I almost shot you again". Seems he had already taken slack out of the trigger when I started yelling (now though I was a bear).

FrontSight · November 20, 2008, 05:59 PM

wow aquarius323@embarqma, so sorry to hear that.

i read of a turkey hunter who died from one single pellet in his eye that severed a blood vessel...after that I now always wear shooting glasses when hunting, as an added precaution

elkman06 · November 21, 2008, 09:30 AM

Two stories:

First, had a 14yr old kid shoot at us twice. Myself, my Father, and the kids' Father. They say that when a bullet goes by you sounding like a very angry bee on steroids, that is too close. Pretty much how it sounded.
Second, went in to get the last 2 quarters off of my mothers' moose. Got about 30yds away and realized there was a 4-500lb bear on the kill. Had been packing meat all day so...you guessed it, no rifle. I did have a .38spl smith. Shot once to the side and he ran about 10ft and sat down as if to say :that didn't hurt:..
Shot again and he didn't move. Finally did the jump and scream method which scared him off,,probably only briefly. We got the quarters and hauled butt.
elkman06

odsixer · November 22, 2008, 12:25 AM

My Dad and I were walking a cutline while whitetail hunting with about 2" of fresh snow, heard a couple of shots somewhere way behind us. well on the way back you could see where a bullet struck the ground at one of our footsteps, kicking fresh dirt and snow into one of our tracks.

Not really a close call but kind of freaked me out.

johnwilliamson062 · November 22, 2008, 12:36 AM

Hunting pheasants about two weeks ago someone from another group lobbed some bird shot at my group. 5-10 seconds between when we heard the first pellets hit and the last. Just stood there and listed to them go through the sorghum. NO one got hit and probably would not have hurt us as it was about 200 yards away and high angled.

cornbush · November 24, 2008, 11:43 PM

i was elk hunting in utah and blew my own hat off. while walking through some brush the safety on my remington 700 must have gotten snagged and pulled off. i reached back to adjust my belt and my thumb went through the trigger gaurd and off she went. blew my hat off and gave me some good powder burns on my neck, needless to say i was shaken pretty bad and went home. it wasnt the gun, it was my lack of sense that day, i usually check my safety often while out hunting. i know some guys dont load their guns till they get ready to shoot, but out here on public land you better be able to shoot quick when you jump em. dont ever put total trust into a machine, if man can make it it can and will fail at some point.

hogdogs · November 24, 2008, 11:54 PM

My dad had his sawed off .410 in his hand back about 1972 and was stoned as heck on weed... My aunt who lived in the adjoining apartment and babysat got all flustered at him and he says "It ain't loaded..." KABLAM.... Seems another viet nam vet paranoid, stoned and drunk had put a #4 in it and failed to remove it. This was there home defense iron. All I thought (I was 3, almost 4) was "COOL THERE IS A HOLE IN OUR CEILING"
then recently about 2 years back I was headed to my pickup in the yard next to my porch 250 feet from clay road hearing pistol fire in the woods a couple hundred yards diagonal away. I had a bullet whiz by guessed at just 3 or so feet above and to the side of my head 'tween me and my truck!

Man I woulda been miffed if they had hit that cab!

I walked up the road calling "SHOOTER COME ON OUT HERE..." Loud enuff he heard me but wouldn't reply.... A few minutes after rtuning to the house another one zinged by so I sent near 3/4 pound of lead his way... all his shooting stopped for at least a year. All he had to do was come out so I could point out the weaknesses in his backstop...
Brent

troy_mclure · November 25, 2008, 04:23 AM

ceasars creek ohio, anual thanksgiving pheasant hunt 1998.
my family had been participating for at least 10yrs.
the ohio dpw realeses a crapload of phesants, and the hunt starts at 8am sharp.

the last time we went, after the second load of shot passed over head (930am) we decided to pack it in. on the way out we encountered a guy who had just gotten his britany spaniel killed, it even was in an orange vest.
if a game warden handnt been right there somebody would hae been shot.

we havent been back since.

David_S · November 28, 2008, 01:34 AM

Many years ago a friend told me how he had been kayaking on a large lake down south in midwinter and noticed a "log" floating some way off. He thought it looked a bit strage so out of curiosity he paddled over and found a guy clinging to the remains of a canvas kayak and just about all-in.

After getting him to shore and reviving him he found out what had happened. The guy had been hunting black swans or something and kept his 12ga between his legs under the foredeck. In his haste to get out the gun to take a shot he accidentally discharged it blowing the front of the kayak to pieces.

Sounded funny at the time but the guy would have been a goner if my friend had not paddled over. No lifejacket and near freezing water.

Motown · November 28, 2008, 01:57 AM

About 10 yrs ago I was hunting in a small patch of woods that was surrounded by open farm fields. There was maybe 150 yds from one end of the relatively thick woods to the other. All of a sudden as I walked, I heard the "pop pop" of a .22 and then heard a lot of rounds zinging in my direction. I jumped behind a tree and yelled that someone was in the woods. The shooting continued and rounds were bouncing all over the place. I jumped from tree to tree until I got far enough away from the shooting to feel somewhat safe. Unsure if I was being hunted or not, I stripped my orange off and stashed it. I then took up a defensive position behind a fallen log with my own .22 rifle in case the perps came after me. I then got on my cell phone and called 911. Responding officers found a husband and wife at the other end of the woods. They had a .22 rifle and pistol and were shooting tin cans without checking what was behind them. Both were drunk, he was a felon in possession of a firearm,they didn't have the pistol registered, and they didn't have the owner's permission to be on his property. They also parked their car along railroad tracks, which is a no-no. On top of all that, I pressed reckless use of firearm charges against them. They both did 6 months in jail for the whole affair.

November 19, 2008, 10:59 PM	#26
Major Dave (retired) Senior Member Join Date: March 12, 2008 Location: Between Dallas and Shreveport, LA Posts: 569	How about almost getting your head blown off by a 12 gauge at 2 ft? A buddy and I had been dove hunting on public land, and decided to drive to another tract to see if we could find the birds. He was driving, and I was in the passenger seat of his pickup. We drove into the entrance road, a "2 track", and we came upon a dove which landed in the road, and stayed on the ground as we slowly drove up. Well, my buddy got excited about the bird not flying off, and he stopped, turned off the motor, and whispered, "I'm going to get him", as he slowly opened the drivers side door, left it open to prevent the bird from seeing him, and sneaked back toward the tailgate to get his shotgun out of the truck bed. He got his gun, and sneaked back up to the open door, and took a shot, missing the bird, which then flew off, apparently unharmed. Through all of this, I had remained motionless in the passenger seat. So, he went back to the back of the truck to put away his gun. Suddenly, the windshield exploded with a deafening roar, right in front of the steering wheel. I was confused and alarmed, because I didn't know what happened. I realized a shot had been fired, but I didn't know which direction it came from. Then I looked over my left shoulder, trying to locate my buddy, and I was staring through a one inch diameter hole in the rear window. Somehow, he had accidently discharged his 12 ga while putting it away in the bed of the truck. I don't know to this day how he did it. I only know if the muzzle of his gun had swung a little farther to the right, I would have died instantly (or a slow lingering brain dead coma death). "Yeah though I walk through the Valley of The Shadow of Death, I will fear no evel, for Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me Amen and Amen __________________ Artillery lends dignity to what would otherwise be but a vulgar brawl. Last edited by Major Dave (retired); November 19, 2008 at 11:21 PM. Reason: Typo error

November 19, 2008, 11:19 PM	#27
.41 rem mag fan Member Join Date: September 18, 2008 Location: Montana Posts: 23	yep Not really hunting but.......... My dad has always been a 12 gauge shot gun shell reloader. Well one day returning home from duck hunting, we keep smelling somthing burning while riding home in the Jeep Cherokee. Three of us sitting in the front seat. Well we smell this burning smell long enough to stop and find out what the smell is. Turns out Dad who was a smoker, dropped a butt instead of in the ash tray, onto a bag of reloads under the front seat. The reloads were in a shot bag. A hole about the size of a grapefruit burned in the shot bag Thankfully Dad doesn't smoke anymore but still reloads sweet loads for our Browning A-5s.

November 20, 2008, 01:50 AM	#29
johnnypi45 Member Join Date: April 12, 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 81	I know it's not hunting, but it's probably appropriate for the thread. I was out shooting at a fairly well known un-supervised public range in the Colorado Springs area. I was out on the 100 yd. range, shooting my nagant and .357 between 50 and 100 yards and i was on the far left side of the range. Well, another guy, about in the middle of the line was shooting at home-made steel plates at 25, 50, and 100 yards. Well, i wasn't really worried about this as i had been over and talked to him about it, just makin sure he wasn't shooting anything jacketed at them (he was shooting cowboy style loads out of a very nice 12ish in. barrel colt python). He def. looked like he had been doing silhouette type competition in the past. Well, as this range is sometimes known for, as it's a public, non-fee range, a bunch of "questionable" individuals set up with their ak's and polymer somethings at the far right side of the range. I was on the complete opposite side of the range, and didn't think much of it. Well, i'm happy as a clam cause i'm hitting milk jugs at 100 yards with my 357. Next thing i know, the brilliant individuals on the right side of the range decide to start shooting their jacketed ammo at the 25 yrd steel plates, and inevitably, i start getting hit with jacket splaters. I was p!ssed. The guy who owned the plates and i went over and politely (at least with as much candor as i could muster) asked them to stop shooting the steel plates. there were about 20 people on the line when this happened, and after that, i'd say about 15 of us just called it quits for the day. Certainly freaked me out and really shook me up. I haven't had the you-know-whats to head back up there yet. I'm just really thankful it didnt turn out any worse than a few scratches and come bullet jackets laying on my shooting gear. Last edited by johnnypi45; November 20, 2008 at 02:04 AM.

November 20, 2008, 05:59 PM	#32
FrontSight Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2005 Posts: 1,712	wow aquarius323@embarqma, so sorry to hear that. i read of a turkey hunter who died from one single pellet in his eye that severed a blood vessel...after that I now always wear shooting glasses when hunting, as an added precaution __________________ To kill something as great as a duck just to smell the gunpowder is a crime against nature. - Alan Liere Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. - George Bernard Shaw

November 21, 2008, 09:30 AM	#33
elkman06 Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2006 Location: Wyoming Posts: 885	Two stories: First, had a 14yr old kid shoot at us twice. Myself, my Father, and the kids' Father. They say that when a bullet goes by you sounding like a very angry bee on steroids, that is too close. Pretty much how it sounded. Second, went in to get the last 2 quarters off of my mothers' moose. Got about 30yds away and realized there was a 4-500lb bear on the kill. Had been packing meat all day so...you guessed it, no rifle. I did have a .38spl smith. Shot once to the side and he ran about 10ft and sat down as if to say :that didn't hurt:.. Shot again and he didn't move. Finally did the jump and scream method which scared him off,,probably only briefly. We got the quarters and hauled butt. elkman06 __________________ "The right of the citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves and of the state shall not be denied." Wyoming Constitution Article 1, Sec24 "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6"

November 20, 2008, 01:16 AM	#28
SWMAGMAN Member Join Date: October 12, 2008 Location: NW Wisconsin Posts: 45	Guess its all what you grow up around/with...have had many sub-twenty yard encounters with black bears, and have kinda learned to take them for granted...but my hair stands up on end at the prospect of poisonous snakes. I remember the Vang incident clearly as well, and the mark it left on many in this area. I had a friend who I frequently went pheasant hunting with that had an AD of his A5 while laying it on the back seat of his car during a break in the hunt. The discharge hit another friend standing outside the opposite door just above the knee. A frantic high-speed trip to the ER, with one person literally holding the femoral artery shut ensued, and the person who was shot survived and received a brand-new knee for his trouble. Fair or not, I never hunted with that guy again.

November 20, 2008, 11:21 AM	#30
siv Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Leota, MN Posts: 33	One of my cousins ended up on the wrong end of a Dick Cheney incident.

November 20, 2008, 05:30 PM	#31
aquarius323@embarqma Junior Member Join Date: May 28, 2008 Posts: 3	Well guess I wasn't as lucky as most of you. The man who was the first to say "don't shoot unless you know what your shooting at" but was also a good shot managed to put a load of 12ga. no.4s in my head and upper body. lost an eye and some hearing but recovered. Had the whole outter body experience and that is a strange feeling. His eye sight was going and he thought I was a turkey in the tree. We all carried shotguns and the second round was buckshot. When he got to me he was in a panic and all he could say was "I almost shot you again". Seems he had already taken slack out of the trigger when I started yelling (now though I was a bear).

November 22, 2008, 12:25 AM	#34
odsixer Senior Member Join Date: May 17, 2007 Location: great white north Posts: 316	My Dad and I were walking a cutline while whitetail hunting with about 2" of fresh snow, heard a couple of shots somewhere way behind us. well on the way back you could see where a bullet struck the ground at one of our footsteps, kicking fresh dirt and snow into one of our tracks. Not really a close call but kind of freaked me out.

November 22, 2008, 12:36 AM	#35
johnwilliamson062 Junior member Join Date: May 16, 2008 Posts: 9,995	Hunting pheasants about two weeks ago someone from another group lobbed some bird shot at my group. 5-10 seconds between when we heard the first pellets hit and the last. Just stood there and listed to them go through the sorghum. NO one got hit and probably would not have hurt us as it was about 200 yards away and high angled.

November 24, 2008, 11:43 PM	#36
cornbush Senior Member Join Date: September 29, 2008 Location: The retarded place below Idaho Posts: 1,408	i was elk hunting in utah and blew my own hat off. while walking through some brush the safety on my remington 700 must have gotten snagged and pulled off. i reached back to adjust my belt and my thumb went through the trigger gaurd and off she went. blew my hat off and gave me some good powder burns on my neck, needless to say i was shaken pretty bad and went home. it wasnt the gun, it was my lack of sense that day, i usually check my safety often while out hunting. i know some guys dont load their guns till they get ready to shoot, but out here on public land you better be able to shoot quick when you jump em. dont ever put total trust into a machine, if man can make it it can and will fail at some point.

November 24, 2008, 11:54 PM	#37
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	My dad had his sawed off .410 in his hand back about 1972 and was stoned as heck on weed... My aunt who lived in the adjoining apartment and babysat got all flustered at him and he says "It ain't loaded..." KABLAM.... Seems another viet nam vet paranoid, stoned and drunk had put a #4 in it and failed to remove it. This was there home defense iron. All I thought (I was 3, almost 4) was "COOL THERE IS A HOLE IN OUR CEILING" then recently about 2 years back I was headed to my pickup in the yard next to my porch 250 feet from clay road hearing pistol fire in the woods a couple hundred yards diagonal away. I had a bullet whiz by guessed at just 3 or so feet above and to the side of my head 'tween me and my truck! Man I woulda been miffed if they had hit that cab! I walked up the road calling "SHOOTER COME ON OUT HERE..." Loud enuff he heard me but wouldn't reply.... A few minutes after rtuning to the house another one zinged by so I sent near 3/4 pound of lead his way... all his shooting stopped for at least a year. All he had to do was come out so I could point out the weaknesses in his backstop... Brent

November 25, 2008, 04:23 AM	#38
troy_mclure Senior Member Join Date: November 17, 2008 Location: gulf of mexico Posts: 2,716	ceasars creek ohio, anual thanksgiving pheasant hunt 1998. my family had been participating for at least 10yrs. the ohio dpw realeses a crapload of phesants, and the hunt starts at 8am sharp. the last time we went, after the second load of shot passed over head (930am) we decided to pack it in. on the way out we encountered a guy who had just gotten his britany spaniel killed, it even was in an orange vest. if a game warden handnt been right there somebody would hae been shot. we havent been back since. __________________ There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wound, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time."

November 28, 2008, 01:34 AM	#39
David_S Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2008 Location: New Zealand Posts: 149	Many years ago a friend told me how he had been kayaking on a large lake down south in midwinter and noticed a "log" floating some way off. He thought it looked a bit strage so out of curiosity he paddled over and found a guy clinging to the remains of a canvas kayak and just about all-in. After getting him to shore and reviving him he found out what had happened. The guy had been hunting black swans or something and kept his 12ga between his legs under the foredeck. In his haste to get out the gun to take a shot he accidentally discharged it blowing the front of the kayak to pieces. Sounded funny at the time but the guy would have been a goner if my friend had not paddled over. No lifejacket and near freezing water.

November 28, 2008, 01:57 AM	#40
Motown Member Join Date: February 1, 2008 Location: Detroit,Mi Posts: 15	About 10 yrs ago I was hunting in a small patch of woods that was surrounded by open farm fields. There was maybe 150 yds from one end of the relatively thick woods to the other. All of a sudden as I walked, I heard the "pop pop" of a .22 and then heard a lot of rounds zinging in my direction. I jumped behind a tree and yelled that someone was in the woods. The shooting continued and rounds were bouncing all over the place. I jumped from tree to tree until I got far enough away from the shooting to feel somewhat safe. Unsure if I was being hunted or not, I stripped my orange off and stashed it. I then took up a defensive position behind a fallen log with my own .22 rifle in case the perps came after me. I then got on my cell phone and called 911. Responding officers found a husband and wife at the other end of the woods. They had a .22 rifle and pistol and were shooting tin cans without checking what was behind them. Both were drunk, he was a felon in possession of a firearm,they didn't have the pistol registered, and they didn't have the owner's permission to be on his property. They also parked their car along railroad tracks, which is a no-no. On top of all that, I pressed reckless use of firearm charges against them. They both did 6 months in jail for the whole affair.