BucksnDucks
Well-known member
The recent death of a man while elk hunting got me thinking about a past incident I had. It's easy to dismiss the tragedy as people being idiots, uneducated, or hunting slobs. My story is a simple one, easily avoidable and never should have happened. I still have hard time thinking of how stupid I was at that moment.
At that point in my life I was a fairly experienced hunter with around 15 years in the field. I had many successful, safe hunts and may have become a bit complacent. I prided myself as a well educated hunter and perhaps thought I knew it all. A momentary lack of awareness nearly cost myself and my family everything.
I was deer hunting a new area solo that day. I had checked out a few spots, lots of hiking and glassing until a couple hours before sunset. I was driving to a spot that looked great on the map to hike a ridge for the last hour of daylight. I was a little tired and hungry. I recall while driving I was eating a salami sandwich. I think I remember the sandwich because I had to wipe my hands before the shot, you know safety first. I was nearing the spot, and saw a glade with an obvious deer trail. I thought this looks nice, bet there's a buck around here. There was, right at the end of the trail by a scrub oak and thick manzanita. The buck was maybe 100 yards, probably less. This isn't a story about road hunting, so let's not focus on that.
I stopped the truck, wiped salami grease off my hands, and grabbed my unloaded rifle. I got out, loaded my 30-06 and moved behind the truck and just down the bank for a shot. The buck stood there broadside, down slope. I kneeled and shot. The shot felt good but the buck was nowhere insight so I chambered another round. After a minute there was no movement so I went downhill to the spot he was standing to look for blood or the buck. When I returned to the truck I took a steeper route and was climbing up the bank with my rifle in my right hand. BOOM! The hillside directly in front of my face exploded with dirt, my ears ringing. The muzzle was a few inches from my head, pointed straight ahead. A little to the left and I would be dead. It's as simple as that. In my haste after the shot, I either forgot I reloaded or forgot to unload or at a minimum engage the safety. Doesn't really make a bit of difference. A stick must have entered the trigger guard and as I pulled the rifle forward the shot went off.
So that's my story. I'm not proud of it, actually very embarrassing.
Please everyone, just take a moment and don't be a headline. I've responded to a handful of hunting accidents over the years and not all have been rookies or complete dummies. Many have been older, very experienced hunters that just stopped thinking for a moment.
At that point in my life I was a fairly experienced hunter with around 15 years in the field. I had many successful, safe hunts and may have become a bit complacent. I prided myself as a well educated hunter and perhaps thought I knew it all. A momentary lack of awareness nearly cost myself and my family everything.
I was deer hunting a new area solo that day. I had checked out a few spots, lots of hiking and glassing until a couple hours before sunset. I was driving to a spot that looked great on the map to hike a ridge for the last hour of daylight. I was a little tired and hungry. I recall while driving I was eating a salami sandwich. I think I remember the sandwich because I had to wipe my hands before the shot, you know safety first. I was nearing the spot, and saw a glade with an obvious deer trail. I thought this looks nice, bet there's a buck around here. There was, right at the end of the trail by a scrub oak and thick manzanita. The buck was maybe 100 yards, probably less. This isn't a story about road hunting, so let's not focus on that.
I stopped the truck, wiped salami grease off my hands, and grabbed my unloaded rifle. I got out, loaded my 30-06 and moved behind the truck and just down the bank for a shot. The buck stood there broadside, down slope. I kneeled and shot. The shot felt good but the buck was nowhere insight so I chambered another round. After a minute there was no movement so I went downhill to the spot he was standing to look for blood or the buck. When I returned to the truck I took a steeper route and was climbing up the bank with my rifle in my right hand. BOOM! The hillside directly in front of my face exploded with dirt, my ears ringing. The muzzle was a few inches from my head, pointed straight ahead. A little to the left and I would be dead. It's as simple as that. In my haste after the shot, I either forgot I reloaded or forgot to unload or at a minimum engage the safety. Doesn't really make a bit of difference. A stick must have entered the trigger guard and as I pulled the rifle forward the shot went off.
So that's my story. I'm not proud of it, actually very embarrassing.
Please everyone, just take a moment and don't be a headline. I've responded to a handful of hunting accidents over the years and not all have been rookies or complete dummies. Many have been older, very experienced hunters that just stopped thinking for a moment.
