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Should NEVER Happen

This happened not too far from where I hunt. I hunt almost exclusively on public land and have a couple instances where there were bullets flying in my direction. I always have orange on during gun season and like noted above almost always hike in some sort of stand. I never heard of this story though but does seem to happen at least once a year somewhere in the state...
 
A few years ago I was in my treestand on private land...and the guy on the next land (I was about 150 yards from the boundary) decided to shoot at something. I literally heard the slug hit and ricochet off of several trees...either that or it bounced off of several trees. He shot something like 3 times and each time I could hear the path of the slug. I was not in a saddle but I literally jumped out of the treestand and swung myself behind my tree using my safety tether and yelled for him to quit shooting. A "sorry" echoed out of the draw and I gave him a few choice words. Went looking for him to talk to him but he was not found or never owned up to it. The landowner I was on went and had a talk with that landowner. Never had another problem with them. My landowner died about 8 years after that and I lost that land after his widow sold it. Still miss Vernon...
 
It always baffles me that people are shooting at things without knowing what it is. I'm not taking a shot unless I can see it and be able to aim for the vitals. People just shooting at things moving saddens me because they're clearly not trying to make an ethical kill, and I wonder how many animals they've wounded and let suffer during their hunting career.

I always wear an orange hat and vest during gun season and I've added orange to my pack now too. If I get to a spot I want to hunt in the morning and there's other cars there, I move on and go to a plan B because I don't know where they are and what type of hunter they are. I also make sure to always have my headlamp on during the walk in and walk out and lowlight conditions. I'm not trying to die out here!
 
Whatever happened to identifying your target BEFORE pulling the trigger? It's not an accident and that dumba$$ should rot in jail for the rest of his life.

Just another example to remind me why I stopped hunting with a firearm and strictly bow hunt in archery only areas during firearm season.
 
I’m amazed at how frequently violence is brought upon hunters by accident, despite incredibly low odds, yet there are dozens of posts each year looking for the best way to confront an armed stranger in the woods over hunting style disagreements. You don’t need to go manufacturing the circumstances to get shot or killed. There’s plenty out there.

I wear an orange headband if there is any legal firearm season open in the county I’m in, regardless of it applies to the public land I’m hunting. And my headlamp is on at any point I’m not up a tree prior to or after shooting hours. And I’m allergic to huntjng near anyone else. I’ll move.
 
I stopped hunting public during gun season for a lot of years because the very pull off I hunted in yankee springs someone was shot and I believe died. Two people hunting by each other (believe they knew each other) and a deer ran between them...the guy ended up hitting the other guy.

Also I hunted there the week prior and was sitting on an escape route...got out super early like 2.5 hours before light. Well someone came off private land and sat down 50 yards from me with me being between where the deer would be coming and going up towards him. I flashed my light at him and he just sat down. I was maybe 17 or 18 just hunting on my own for a few years...
 
I'm from Rochester, North of where that accident occurred but hunt around the Finger Lakes area. Made all the local news. Seems like there is at least one of these accidents in our area each year. This is the first year NYS DEC made wearing blaze (either orange or pink) mandatory during gun. Thanksgiving day I watched 5 guys through my binos, some wearing no blaze, some wearing brown Carhart type pants (yes, it's true) putting on a drive through some thick State Land while 2 more guys stood in the hedgerow right on the property line of the private piece I have permission to hunt. I almost never hunt gun season any more and this was just another example of why.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
Only the hunter must wear it here. On blinds, that size requirement is awfully small if you stay at the minimum...thats only a 12x12 patch. A multiple person blind, the orange would be rather spaced out, even on one man blinds its sketchy to me.
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It's 144 in² in each direction.
 
Loucamp said:
I'm from Rochester, North of where that accident occurred but hunt around the Finger Lakes area. Made all the local news. Seems like there is at least one of these accidents in our area each year. This is the first year NYS DEC made wearing blaze (either orange or pink) mandatory during gun. Thanksgiving day I watched 5 guys through my binos, some wearing no blaze, some wearing brown Carhart type pants (yes, it's true) putting on a drive through some thick State Land while 2 more guys stood in the hedgerow right on the property line of the private piece I have permission to hunt. I almost never hunt gun season any more and this was just another example of why.
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I bow hunt a lot in Webster but gun hunt in Lodi. I just found out that the guy shot lives in Lodi on a small plot of land surrounded by a ton a state that I've hunted. Sad he was shot this way...he wasn't even hunting in his own yard or surrounding state land he was 40 min north. After opening day in Lodi though you'll see everyone driving deer and many don't wear orange because they also drive right through the surrounding private properties...it's sad. There's a bunch of Amish in this area that do the same thing. They hunt anywhere and anytime they want.

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Decades ago my brother-in-law and I were bowhunting on private land. We both were wearing Carhart brown coveralls. I was in a tree stand and watched a deer walking by at a distance. As it crossed a barbed wire fence it morphed into my brother-in-law. I never picked up my bow or intended to shoot. I’m just saying that you can’t always trust your eyes.

When I was in seminary I did a research project on the grief of losing a spouse. One man told me he was in a mall and saw his dead wife. He knew it couldn’t be her but he said he also knew what he saw. He saw Betty. I interviewed multiple people with similar stories. They all were fearful they were losing their sanity and were hesitant to speak of it.

I learned this is normal for couples married for decades. The mind gets so used to interpreting the familiar information sent by the eyes that it takes “shortcuts”. Over decades it becomes automatic. You recognize your wife more quickly than a stranger.

So a man glances at a woman with features similar to his dead wife’s. As the information is coming to the brain from the eyes, the brain says, “Oh I know this face!” And his mind supplies the stored information to quickly complete the image he sees. The actual new information from the eyes is ignored, and considered not deserving of closer inspection. The result is that he literally see what he expects to see. And that shortcut served him well for decades. But now he has to develop a “new normal”. It happens with the other senses too.

It can happen in the woods as well. It happened to me.
 
That's a heartbreaking story. It would be equally troubling regardless of when it happened, but the timing undoubtedly stained an otherwise cheerful holiday for a lot of friends and family. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the deceased...and equally to the gentleman who pulled the trigger. I can't imagine that regret.

I'll never understand these types of accidents. I'll admit that I've watched monster bucks turn into deadwood at first light and bushes turn into deer as light fades, but I'd never even consider aiming at something I couldn't see well enough to execute an ethical shot. These days, I rarely hunt with a firearm, but I live by the words my uncle told me when he handed me a .22 at age 4. He said, "This is a tool, but it's a deadly tool. Guns are not scary, but if you don't respect them, scary things can happen. It should stay pointed up or down until you know exactly what you're shooting at...and just as important, what's behind your target."

I'm not getting all preachy, but we can all do our part to avoid tragedy by making sure to emphasize safety over success to those we introduce to this amazing way of life. From firearm safety to treestand safety, the most important thing is that we all get home safely when we leave the woods. Wishing y'all a safe and happy end of the season.
 
Harleycharlie said:
This is the very reason why I no longer gun hunt. Maybe if I have private land I would. Opening day of Ohio gun season my landlord brings his grandson hunting on 80 acres about 4 pm I hear a shot down the hill. Of course I think they got one. I grab my Binos walk down the hill to check it out. Get down the hill at the power lines and on the next ridge over I see the buck on his feet. I watch him to see if he’s hit. Buck is fine. Bam !!!! Another shot fired !!! I’m standing where I can see but hopefully not get shot at. Still don’t see any hunters. Buck is standing about 400 yards over the next ridge. I’m thinking undoubtedly they not shooting at that deer. Because behind where the buck is at one ridge over is two houses behind him. Long story short they was shooting at the buck. The grandson , which is a grown man in his late 20s shot at the deer less than a 100 yards missed. Then waits to shoot again 400 yards out. The deer or no one else got hurt that day , but he had no idea where the second shot went or what stopped the bullet. Just to crazy for me to be roaming around in the woods during gun season.
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Lets do away with gun season and bow hunt year round. No one would get shot, just fall out of their tree stand.ha.
 
sweats said:
I'd wager some would still get shot with arrows unfortunately.

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Might be true with how popular crossbows are becoming. Also some states are considering air bow legalization during archery season.

Its a double edge sword.... Get more people out into the wood enjoying nature, more advocates for our passion, but also more bad apples.
 
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