Worst thing to happen to your rifle while hunting

[brnsvllyjohn]

In another thread I posted you can read about an older model 70 30-06 I own. In around 1990 I was hunting along the coast of Northern California and shot a medium 4x4 buck that was almost on the beach. I had a difficult time working my way down to the buck and once I got there there was no way to go back up. It was late evening and I got him field dressed and hung then headed down the beach to a better location to climb back up that mountain. I had to go past a rocky point that had water all the way to the base of the cliff. I had taken deer there before but at low tide and I could just walk on the sand at low tide. The water was about 2' deep along the rocks but there were enough rocks to rock hop and not get my feet wet. Wrong. I slipped and fell in the water and even my head went under. The gun of course wound up being submerged in salt water. 2 hours later back in camp I completely disassembled the gun and put all of the parts I could in warm water. After cleaning as thoroughly as I could I then oiled every thing with lots and lots of WD 40 and then gun oil. I carry a complete gun cleaning kit in my RV and of course a can of WD 40. Someone on the other thread mentioned how good the bluing used to be and I can tell you that gun never had a rust issue.
No that fall is not why the gun is not a tack driver.
I decided after that fall I will not rock hop in a situation like that ever again. I will just wade and save my dignity and my equipment.

 

[Tradewind]

Simple. I've taken 3 tumbles in the last eight years and knocked the scope off of center.
Now I bring plenty of ammo and targets to get it dialed back in

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Simple. I've taken 3 tumbles in the last eight years and knocked the scope off of center.
Now I bring plenty of ammo and targets to get it dialed back in

I always bring a back up rifle on hunting trips (back up bow too if on archery trip). Too many things can happen on a hunt to a weapon not to have a backup. To me it’s a small cost insurance policy.

 

[COEngineer]

Wasn't a rifle, but when I was 12, I got a brand new 12 gauge as a gift. I think it was the first time on a hunting trip, we got back to the truck and I leaned the shotgun against the truck (unloaded) and we put everything else in the back. Somewhere along the way, we must of jostled the truck enough that the gun slid over and tipped in between the bed and the cab. We got in and my dad started driving and I was like, "What's that noise?" It was the rocks getting kicked up on the gravel road by the butt of my shotgun. When recognition of what was happening hit me, I must have yelled before I opened the door and my dad stopped the truck. Amazingly, the gun was undamaged other than some nicks and scratches. I still have it and use that shotgun to this day.

 

[noharleyyet]

Root heeled....azz over teakettle. Nothing like body slamming an optic to bring on an acute epsiode of OCD.

 

[Birddog916]

My uncle left his rifle on the bumper and forgot he hadn’t put it away. He ended up running it over and cracking the walnut stock. We duct taped it together and he sill managed to kill a buck the next day.

 

[88man]

NOT HUNTING
1. I bought a brand new browning citori sporting clays gun and I take it with to a charity fundraiser shoot. A friend who is attending the shoot see's it in my truck and asks to borrow it for the shoot> I take it out of the box and give it to him. Anyway somehow he drops the gun on a pavement trail and it bounces off a piece of concrete. Wow so thats what one looks like NIB crazy.
2. A Different friends own browning citori falls out of golf cart while shooting as he is driving away from a station and the gun goes sliding down the cart path.

 

[LuketheDog]

My buddy's scope fogged up internally so I let him borrow my brand new, perfect rifle after I tagged out. He shot a buck and I hiked out to meet up with him, where I found my perfect, clean rifle laying in the dirt, full of crud...he could've at least set it on the grass if he wasn't going to treat it well, what a butthead

I also slipped in the snow and dented the forend on my Beretta 390 this spring while turkey hunting, that made me mad too

 

[Guest member 25165]

Worst thing that's ever happened to my rifle is lack of the trigger being pulled due to no deer sightings.

 

[MJE]

On the first day of my Montana deer hunt last November I sat my frame pack on the ground (rifle was attached) while getting ready by the truck. Muzzle of the rifle inadvertently touched the ground causing some soil to lodge inside the end of the barrel. Tapped the barrel while pointed at the ground to clear the muzzle. All the dirt popped out, or so I thought. Next day I get a shot opportunity at a nice buck and set up for the shot. Pulled the trigger and CLICK, thought I forgot to chamber a round do I cycled the bolt, pulled the trigger again and was greeted by another click. Started investigating the firing pin location on the bolt face and noticed some of the sticky clay that had initially been in the muzzle had packed into the firing pin opening. Thank goodness for plastic tipped bullets as I used the end of one of my 140 SST’s to clear the hole. I did end up getting back on the same buck about 20 minutes later and made a great shot at approximately 200yds.

 

[shootbrownelk]

The ejector broke on my Ruger #1 and shell was stuck in the chamber after I shot an antelope buck. He was down but not out, I had to finish him with my knife. That was a bit of a rodeo.

 

[JohnCushman]

I always bring 2 back up rifles. Main rifle, backup bolt action to that, and my 30-30 for if it's raining or foggy enough that a scope would be worthless. I have had to go to the back up bolt rifle a few times over the years. It was nice to only hike to the truck and pull another rifle out than to spend the afternoon resighting a bumped scope.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I had a back-up in my truck, but it was a long ways away. Since then I usually carry my S&W revolver as a backup.

 

[ashersdad]

Wyoming opening day of the deer hunt and I had started hiking at 3am. Got to where I wanted right at first light and slipped and fell landing right on a boulder. Front of gun scope was crushed and glass was broken. As I sat looking at my predicament, I see a shooter buck at less than 200 yards...

Needless to say the hunt was over and I always take a backup rifle now. Lesson learned the hard way.

 

[Zarn]

Rolled a 4 wheeler over on top of my custom build .280. Broke the stock at the hand grip completely off. A few dings on the barrel and a dented scope. A new stock and new scope got me back in action. I also cut my eye lid loose and had to have it sewn back on. The dings remind me to be a little more careful.

 

[2rocky]

I wish I could share the story of the rifle one of our hunting partners used. He found it sticking up out of the ice along a river in Alaska in the 70's.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Two years ago while deer hunting I was standing on a hillside glassing with my rifle slung over my shoulder. I feel my rifle leave my shoulder backwards and hit the dirt. The sling swivel had broken. The darn thing only lasted 38 years.
Luckily I always bring my wife's .270 as a back-up and in 30+ years I've only needed it a couple of times.

 

[406dn]

I've got nothing for my own rifle other than close to fifty years of wear. When it was fairly new, my youngest brother customized the stock with a ball point pen. I had laid it on a bed to warm up after a hunt in very cold weather. At the time I was pi$$ed but now its just one of a number of battle scars. And my kid brother is now my big game and bird hunting partner.

A friend of mine buggered up his rifle pretty badly while riding the horse in my avatar. He is perhaps the most hapless person around horses I have come across. We were hunting one morning when the mountain soil was frozen and frosty. So yes it was slick. I told him we had to be careful and not to sidehill unless we were riding a trail. Well at some point, I hear a loud thump behind me. He was riding sidehill and Smokey lost his feet. Luckily, my friend cleared his leg, but my horse body slammed his rifle. I was also grateful that Smokey did not break a rib or two from the fall.

 

[jeff_gibbons]

Rifle - not much but a barrel full of water after getting caught in a storm. Used tape after that.
Daughter's shotgun - that one was very different. We were dove hunting in Yuma. It was her second season and she graduated from 410 to 28 ga single shot. She plugged the barrel with sand while resting between flights. I was standing behind her when she fired at the next bird and thought the debris in the air was from the wad. When she cracked it open i noticed the muzzle which looked like a peeled banana. No one go hurt and we kept hunting with the "yosemite sam gun" for the rest of the morning. She shot several dove after that. I trimmed the barrel in the hotel with a hacksaw that night.

 

[HandgunHunter]

The lucky part about being a handgun hunter....99% of the gun is well protected